Tally Me Bananas

We had some hush-hush banana dealing going on in the ball field parking lot a few days ago.  The mom of one of Kate's teammates worked at a local fun run in the morning, handing out bananas.  At the end of the run, she still had a boxful left and was told to take 'em home.  So, she asked a few of us in the stands - did we want some bananas?  If so, meet her in the parking lot after the game. 
Now we have bananas coming out of our ears!  So, I made banana muffins with mini chocolate chips.  I always make a quarter of the batch without chocolate for Mark, as he prefers them straight up banana.  When it comes to muffins, I want the chips, but with banana bread, I prefer plain.  So after all the chocolate ones vanished, I had to cut this one into slices - trick my brain into thinking it was bread!
In the mid 90s, I went to the Jazz Festival in New Orleans with my friend Lisa.  One of the popular food vendors that year was bananas on a stick, dipped in chocolate.  I don't remember which bands we saw that day but I do remember standing in line for a chocolate dipped banana on a stick; standing in line behind Counting Crows front man, Adam Duritz!  Well, I'm pretty sure it was him anyway - he's fairly distinctive looking.

At the bookstore yesterday I got (besides It's a Book) this beautiful copy of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Books.  In July, our Mom Blook Club will be reading The Tiger's Wife.  As I've read that it deals with fairytales and fables and, specifically, Kipling's The Jungle Book, I'm looking forward to this reading.  We (John, Kate, and I) have read and loved Kipling's Just-So Stories (our favorite is "The Beginning of the Armidillos), but not The Jungle Book - add it to our summer stack.