And brilliant hack!

Are you busy absorbing the last of the summer – or for our readers down under, the last of winter – and free time is at a premium? I’ll keep this short with just two little kitchen-life hacks that might bless you, regardless of season.

Part of this is credited to my dear friends, Betty and Eli, in Roseville, California. Thanks, y’all!

Okay, here’s the problem. Have you struggled with the ripeness of bananas?

Seems like I am always throwing out the last one because I just couldn’t eat them all fast enough. For many, a banana that goes beyond speckling and is on the verge of mushy black oblivion, is sadly tossed in the garbage with feelings of guilt for wasting food.

Yes. There are those who consider black bananas better than a dozen roses, but I have good news for you, too.

Bananas are a kind of fruit that produces ethylene gas. This gas is a hormone that acts as a natural growth regulator – ultimately promoting the ripening process. Some of the other ethylene-producing fruits include apricot, kiwi, mango, avocado, cantaloupe, and others.

Armed with this information, I didn’t know about the gas before, but I knew the hack – many people know to put these fruits in a paper bag to ripen. So, if that banana pudding is due for the Sunday social and you have green bananas on Friday, toss them in a bag, roll up the top of the bag, and in a day or two, you won’t disappoint that hungry crowd.

The black banana-loving people can do the same thing to kill … eh – age their speckled bananas faster – and they can experience total bliss.

What about a bunch of bananas that are going to age all together like a bunch of racehorses, all getting to the finish line at the same time?

Instead of going to the store to buy one banana a day, simply pull off the one you’re going to eat, and then … drum roll … wrap the stem end of the remaining bananas – where they hold together – in plastic wrap.

Cue the angel choir: “Ahhhhhh!”

Yes. This is me, recommending the use of plastic wrap. Even better – use the sticky kind (Press and Seal). This is the hack I learned from my friends.

When plastic wrap seals in the ethylene gas, keeping it from escaping, it won’t wash over and ripen the bananas. Pretty cool. Now, you will not be able to keep a banana green for a week, but you can easily extend the counter-top life of bananas so you can consume them to your desired level of ripeness.

And … oops … this is a third hack … the banana’s ethylene gas is also ripening your avocados. Remember, avocado is part of this gas-producing group. It’s best to separate counter space for those two items by several feet.

Just saying, because you don’t want to miss that 15-minute, magical time frame when your avocado is perfect because its neighbor has gassed it.

As always, please click on the MORE button below to discover all the options to share this helpful article. And to my dear readers in Poland, feel free to translate and share with your friends!

In ripeness and in health-

Deidre

NOTE: Additional information can be downloaded HERE.