Bananas in a Bowl

My memory is really bad.  I was happy to see that the medical world actually has a word for it:  Momnesia.  At least now I can blame it on something (sorry kids!). This morning, my nearly-six-year-old son was getting ready for summer camp and he came running into my bedroom.

“Mom, do you remember when we went to that carnival at the field downtown?” he asked in a hurry.

“Yes, I do.”  My memory might not be good, but it’s not THAT bad.

“Ok, do you remember those shorts that I was wearing that night?”

Are you kidding me?  That was four weeks ago. Crazier than that is the fact that HE remembers what he was wearing!

Although my memory leaves something to be desired now, when you ask me about food memories growing up, I can still point to many highlights. My momÂ’s Spinach Cheese Squares and Cheese Delights were favorite appetizers when she entertained, and she makes this amazing creamy rice dish with salmon that Â… now that IÂ’m thinking about it Â… is going to be a perfect request for my birthday in a few weeks.

But what about breakfast? ThatÂ’s an easy one. At some point during our childhood, my mom introduced my sister and me to the simplest breakfast ever. Fill cereal bowl with milk. Slice a banana or two and slide it into the bowl. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of sugar into the bowl. Gently stir and devour. I honestly wasnÂ’t a big fan of drinking milk by the glass when I was a kid, but put a bowl of this in front of me, and it was a done deal. Oftentimes, IÂ’d even go back for a second bowl, just to get every last bit of the now-syrupy sugar at the bottom. A nice healthy serving of dairy (or two!), a little bit of fruit and I was on my way, no arguments, no fuss, no muss. And certainly way less sugar than those cereals (you know the ones) that are big hits with kids, young and old.

My memory-like-an-elephant son loves bananas too, and after a little trepidation, I managed to get him hooked on our “Bananas in a Bowl” as well. Given he’s a growing boy, it’s more important than ever for me to get all the dairy goodness into him that I can. 

When I asked my mom where the tradition started, she said she had forgotten all about the Bananas in a Bowl until I brought it up. Memory is a funny thing, isn’t it?  Maybe mine isn’t quite as bad as I thought. It turns out that my French grandmother used to make it for my mom as a child. I love the fact that we have a fun breakfast tradition that, so far, spans four generations.  Perhaps it will start to be a new tradition in your family too. Bon Appetit!