some little things..

I've had a week off work recently, so have had some nice down time and a chance to kick back. Several Banana type treats have been consumed over the period, so here's a little breakdown..

Ma Baker Giant Banana Bars

Ma Baker Giant Banana Bar

 I'm starting this blog post with my ultimate nemesis over recent weeks. Had I not been cycling to work and back daily, this bar would have completely destroyed my diet. As it happens, at 391 calories of what it nearly my perfect banana and oats bar, I still had to do a bit of extra exercise most days, as I was eating more than one a night after randomly buying a box of 20 through Amazon. Without a doubt, to date, this is my favourite banana snack bar of all time. It has the banana and oat combination taste which works incredibly well and at 90g is a decent size and quite filling.

Do try one of these if you find it anywhere, they're just lovely!

Nākd Nibble Banana Bread

Nākd Nibble Banana Bread

I'm quite into a bit of healthyish baking, so on a shopping trip I found myself in the Gluten Free section of Sainsbury's. There was a box of these nākd nibble banana bread bars, so in the interests of banana lovers everywhere I took it upon myself to experiment with this new find.The bars are quite small (nibble sized), but are absolutely completely bananaery and delicious! At only 92 calories for each 30g bar, they're not a diet killer either.. though unfortunately, they're also very moorish so you have to be careful not to overindulge :)

These are highly recommended and delicious!

Cioccolato Di Modica Alla Banana

Cioccolato Di Modica Alla Banana

Walking around Rome in the middle of the night, I stumbled (almost literally) into a small artisan pasta shop with this lovely expressive Italian lady shop owner. Thankfully her English was considerably better than my Italian (non-existent), so she showed me her pastas, sauces, etc. explaining the origin and history of each of the products I showed an interest in.. then in the corner of my eye I caught the unmistakeable image of a banana.. of course, I just had to add a couple of these (rather expensive) chocolate bars to my list of purchases. She didn't recommend this to me at all, but the lure of the Banana was too strong and I had to have some. I didn't get a hint of Banana in the flavour of this, which was somewhat disappointing, but the ingredients list certainly did have banana in it. Perhaps the bitterness of the dark chocolate was too strong to support the 'subtle' taste of the Banana? I probably won't buy it again (at the same price), but I'd be interested in trying it again in other circumstances. I'm betting, however, that the pasta and sauces I bought (at her recommendation) will be wonderful!

Chef Bernie's Banana Ketchup

Chef Bernie's Banana Ketchup

I went to the West Dean Chilli Fiesta in August this year with a couple of friends and took great delight in trying samples of many of the different Chilli Flavoured sauces on offer. I was giving it a bit of bravado after being a joint winner of a local Chilli eating competition not too long before this. Admittedly, in between events I hadn't had an awful lot of chilli in my food, having had more than enough in the short time sitting on the stage destroying my taste buds with millions of scoville units of raw chilli.

Quite early on at the Chilli Fiesta I was trying some Chilli sauces near the entrance and there was a small bowl of Chef Bernie's Banana Ketchup on display. Of course.. I had to try it, and try it again, and try it again! (In fact I spent most of the Chilli Fiesta trying numerous Chilli/Banana combo's - some more of which will be mentioned in a later post). WOW! It was fantastic.. It was so good that I bought the entire range of Chef Bernie's sauces, which I am still working my way through and enjoying every moment of it.. Hands up.. the Banana Ketchup is finished and I need more, and soon! You can check out the full range of Chef Bernie's products by following this link.

Soreen Banana Malt Loaf

I was recently reminded of the Soreen Banana Malt Loaf, something that I recall trying not long after it was first released in the UK. I seem to remember that I enjoyed it at the time, so was pretty happy when I was given the reminder via a facebook post. What could possibly go wrong? It's made by Soreen who make the delicious staple that is the Malt Loaf, that I have enjoyed for years, with the added bonus of Bananas! What a great combination.. or so I thought..

I got myself one on a recent shopping trip and eagerly tore open the wrapper when I got home. The first sign of disappointment was immediate.. instead of a beautiful Load of Banana Malty yumminess, I was greeted with a sunken & burnt facsimilie. Clearly something had gone badly wrong in the bake somehow and the Soreen Quality Control had failed badly. The taste was alright (well, I had to try some), but it looked completely unappetising, so much so that I actually made an email complaint to Soreen. I should point out that I have never gone this far before, but I really was that disappointed.

After a short email exchange, it was explained to me that the likelyhood was that there had been a problem on the production line and it was possible that the loaf that I had purchased was probably stuck in the oven when the line was stopped, leading to the burnt appearance (I'm not sure how this led to the cake sinking like a bad soufflé, but I'm no chef). This explanation and a couple of vouchers recompense and I thought I all would be well with my next purchase.

As it happens, my housemate, on a shopping trip, picked me up two more as he felt sorry for me after the problems with the first one. These ones were much better in appearance compared to the first one, they weren't sunken for a start and although the top was darker than I would have expected I was anticipating some gooey loveliness.. again, disappointment reigned.. both of these loaves weren't so much gooey as dry. I tried them with both peanut butter and almond butter, but it wasn't enough to save them, so I'm afraid I will, for now, consign them to the nice idea box and perhaps give them another go when my luck turns. That said, I am rather more enamoured with the results of my own Banana Loaves, which have been delicious.. perhaps it was unfair to try these so soon after baking my best ever home made Banana Loaf? ;-)

To balance this out a little, other people have found the Soreen Banana Malt Loaf to be really nice - here's an alternative viewpoint : Porridge & Parsnips Blog (scroll down a bit for Lucy's positive opinion).