This stuff is bananas...

B-a-n-a-n-a-s!

Did you know that I am a HORRIFIC speller? Like, the WORST? It's a common joke with my math students when someone asks me to spell a word - they immediately say "she teaches MATH, not ENGLISH."

So sad, so true.

Anyway, I say this because the Gwen Stafani song spells bananas. While spelling is not my forte, I can memorize lyrics to any song. So, there you go.

Where was Gwen in the 2nd grade?

Anyhow, speaking of bananas - I kind of lost mine last night. I'm on this mission to want not, waste not. Well, wouldn't you know this weekend I bought 6 bananas to use in my tropical muffins? Wouldn't you know I nailed them on the first batch? This meant I had many, MANY bananas to go.

So, I went to my food bible and went to work.

Recipe one - Banana Chocolate Chip Dessert.

I had high hopes for this one. I mean, come on, bananas and chocolate? Yum! The problem was that I was expecting a cookie, and got more of a brownie. It's almost like the chocolate and the bananas sort of canceled each other out into nothing? Not terrible, but not worth the calories, in my mind. If you do want to try them out, don't be surprised when the batter sort of comes out runny. I also had to cook mine for an extra 10 minutes.

Recipe two - Banana Bars.

What attracted me to this one was the banana frosting. Again, not bad - but I found it to be too sweet. The frosting was so strong, that it overpowered the cake. I might as well just eaten the frosting. I guess that's not so bad!

Recipe three - Bailey's Banana Colada.

Do you like Pina Colada, and getting caught in the rain? Well, I don't like either. So sue me. I'm not sure what possessed me to try this. Probably the Baileys (who doesn't love Bailey's) and the bananas that I was on a mission to use up. It was okay. I'll never make them again.

The verdict? I should have made banana bread and eaten it warm with butter.

Darn.

As a final piece of spelling trivia - did you know that http://www.allrecipies.com/ and http://www.allrecipes.com/ will get you to the same lovely site? It seems I'm not the only chef with an ineptitude in spelling.