Pomegranates and Blue Java Bananas

Red Pomegranates and Blue Bananas

We've got pomegranates and blue java bananas at Meshek Muslow!

Pomegranates

We have about 40 pomegranate trees and that’s a lot of pomegranates. This summer our volunteers, Steve and Shelley wrapped each pomegranate in paper bag to keep the bugs out.

It took them several weeks to do all that work but look at these pomegranates.

I love pomegranates. I found some recipes but I’d rather just eat them fresh.

The way I open a pomegranate

Since it can be very messy to open a pomegranate, I use the water method. I just open the fruit in a bowl filled with water. That way the juice spurts into the water. I’m not very organized about how I peel it but you can choose the peeling method that works best for you.

1. Fill a bowl with water
2. Open pomegranate and place in the bowl
3. Remove the seeds
4. The seeds sink to the bottom and the white pieces float to the top
   

   
5. Remove any white pieces that are floating
6. Drain the seeds and eat
   

   

Blue Java Bananas    

Our Blue Java bananas are ready too. The Blue Java banana is a sweet tasting fruit. It’s sometimes called the “ice cream banana” because it has such a creamy sweet taste with a hint of vanilla. Before the banana ripens to a yellow color, it’s peel is aqua blue and the plant is beautiful.

As soon as they're ripe and yellow, it's time to eat and with such a great taste they're perfect for baking sweet banana breads.

I’ve made a few loaves with these sweet bananas and date honey. I'm sure this recipe works with any type of banana and regular honey.

1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup date honey
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 bananas)
2 eggs
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup flour
optional add walnuts and raisins

1. Mix oil, honey, bananas, and almond milk
2. Add eggs and mix
3. Add baking soda, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg
4. Mix in flours
5. Add walnut and raisins if using
6. Pour into loaf pans
7. Bake 325 for 45 to 50 minutes