Here are two of the amazing banana dishes we found on TheBananaPolice.com. There’s quite a selection of them, turned into create fruit plates and cereal.

And there are simpler versions that any of us could create. See them all at TheBananaPolice.com: boats, butterflies, cars, dogs, dolphins, elephants, horses, snails, sunsets, trees and more.

The website is the creation of Katy Koontz and Kelsey C. Roy, the writer and illustrator, respectively, of a children’s book called The Banana Police.

The story takes place in a jungle town where the formerly loveable elephants become increasingly annoying to their neighbors. When the Mayor calls on the Elephant Police to devise a scheme to get the elephants to leave, the town ends up buried in all the extra bananas that the elephants usually eat. The tale underscores the value of peaceful co-existence and cooperation between inherently different groups.

A banana tree, cantaloupe giraffe and honeydew grass. Photo courtesy The BananaPolice.com.

The website also has family-friendly banana recipes and trivia, some of which is included below:

Here’s more banana trivia.
 
 

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Most people don’t understand Fair Trade. One of the reasons is that, unlike the USDA Certified Organic Seal that appears on all organic product packaging—regardless of the particular certifying agency (there are certifiers in every state)—the different Fair Trade-related certifying organizations have their own logos. Some, like Equal Exchange and Rainforest Alliance, aren’t even called anything related to “fair” or “trade.”

Rather, the complexity is more like kosher certification, where hundreds of different kosher certifiers are involved, each with their own logo or mark (called a hechsher, pronounced HECK-sure). Consumers decide if they want to buy products certified only by the largest and best-known, or if they’ll trust a hechsher they don’t know—or recognize that it’s a hechsher in the first place.

Pick just one product you use regularly, and make it Fair Trade. Photo courtesy Green Mountain Coffee.

But let’s start with the basics.

WHAT IS FAIR TRADE

Fair Trade International, Fair For Life, Rainforest Alliance and other certification organizations ensure that farmers are paid fair value for their products. Without Fair Trade, brokers can strike deals that pay the farmers less than it costs them to grow their crops.

Fair Trade affords money for adult (instead of child) labor, sound agricultural practices and a minimum standard of living, including healthcare and education for their families.

The term “Fair Trade” is used generically, but it is a trademarked term authorized by TransFair USA, a nonprofit organization that audits transactions between U.S. companies offering Fair Trade Certified™ products and the international suppliers from whom they source.

TransFair is one of some twenty members of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), and the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the U.S.

Fair Trade is completely separate from organic certification. Some products pursue both certifications.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

You are one of the stakeholders in Fair Trade. In addition to helping some of the world’s poorest people improve their lots, you help with sustainability.

Small actions build into large ones. You can help the Fair Trade movement buy buying just one Fair Trade-certified product. Whether it’s your coffee, sugar, or anything else, your purchase tells retailers that Fair Trade products are important to consumers.

If no one buys them, they won’t stay on the shelf.

So browse your store shelf and buy one—or more—items. Help to make the world a better place.

NOTE: If you can’t find Fair Trade Certified products in your supermarket, try a natural foods store.

Following the growing preference for spicy flavors in everyday foods, Bumble Bee launched new Prime Fillet Gourmet Flavors. The seasoned premium white albacore tuna is ready to go directly onto salad greens, pasta or rice—along with the healthful olive oil they’re canned in. There’s no need for mayonnaise here!

To add to a burrito, sandwich, wrap or other “holder,” drain the oil—but save it to use with a can of plain tuna.

Bumble Bee’s latest canned tuna offerings. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

A new non-flavored variety, Omega-3 Prime Fillet Albacore Tuna, offers amped up levels of Omega-3 EPA and DHA. Each serving contains 500 mg of EPA and DHA—312% of the 160 mg daily value. For consumers who want to add more of these important nutrients to their diets, it is used as any canned tuna, in all your favorite tuna recipes.

Salmon with garden pesto. Photo courtesy
Bumble Bee.

BUMBLE BEE SUPERFRESH PREMIUM FRESH
FROZEN

Bumble Bee fish and shrimp never get to the cannery. Instead, they’re filleted and turned into all-natural, premium frozen fish entrees in parchment paper, ready to heat and enjoy. The flavor-rich, protein-rich gluten-free choices include:

 
We all know we should eat more fish, and research confirmed that consumers are looking for high-quality seafood that tastes fresh and delicious. These new frozen entrées are flavorful and moist and taste freshly made: a restaurant-quality meal.

Each premium fish fillet is wrapped in parchment paper, which seals in flavor and juices. The packets go from freezer to table in 20 minutes or less. The shrimp entrées sauté quickly on the stove top.

The line launched in the Northeast in June, and is rolling out nationwide. The MSRP ranges between $8.99 and $9.99 for two portions.

That’s the buzz!
*Romesco sauce (salsa romesco) is a nut and red pepper-based sauce that originated in Catalonia, Spain. It is typically made from roasted or raw almonds, pine nuts, and/or hazelnuts, roasted garlic, olive oil, bitxo chiles and/or nyora peppers (a small, round, variety of red bell pepper). Other common ingredients can include roasted tomatoes, red wine vinegar and onions. It is a popular sauce with seafood (with fennel or mint leaves added) and anything from poultry and lamb to vegetables.

The Lovely Candy Company of Woodstock, Illinois is committed to all natural, gluten-free and non-GMO candies made from the best ingredients. Its products include caramels, fruit chews and licorice.

We love good caramels, and devoured the two bags we received: Original (vanilla) and Chocolate Swirl. We also received Fruit Chews—not our thing—which were devoured by the rest of THE NIBBLE team.

Buttery and soft yet chewy, no dentures or fillings will compromised by these tender caramels. They’re made from brown rice syrup (a lower glycemic* sweetener), sweetened condensed whole milk, butter, dried cane syrup, molasses, vanilla and lecithin, with chocolate liquor† added for the Chocolate Swirl variety.

Our preference is for the Chocolate Swirls, which are less sweet than the Original. We’ve earmarked them for stocking stuffers.

But give us either flavor—the contents will disappear just as quickly.

The line is certified kosher by KOF-K.

Or, head to Amazon.com for:

 
You can also find the Fruit Chews on Amazon.
 
ABOUT BROWN RICE SYRUP

Brown rice syrup, also called rice bran syrup and rice malt, is a low-glycemic sweetener. This means that its complex sugars are absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream—usually a boon for people with diabetes (see the next paragraph). It’s about half as sweet as table sugar and one-third as sweet as agave syrup/nectar.

Although brown rice syrup has a GI (glycemic index) of 20,* it is not recommended for diabetics. That’s because its sweetness comes from maltose, which causes spikes in blood sugar. But, check with your healthcare provider if you are a diabetic who’d like to try brown rice syrup or products it contains.

*Table sugar has a GI value of 60-65. Pure maple syrup maple syrup has a GI of 54.

†A misleading term, chocolate liquor contains no alcohol. It is a thick, gritty, dark brown paste. Here’s a longer explanation of chocolate liquor.
  

[1] Angel food cake with strawberry glaze (photo © American Egg Board).

[2] Berries are a perfect garnish for angel food cake (photo © Anna Ozerova | Dreamstime).

[3] Angel food cake is baked in a tube pan because the hollow center provides support for the delicate, egg-white based batter as it rises, preventing it from collapsing in the middle. The tube allows the batter to climb the sides of the pan evenly (photo © Chicago Metallic).

[4] Light and fluffy angel food cake made with egg whites is the opposite of dense, heavy cakes. (photo © Bhofack | Dreamstime).

[5] You can also make a roulade of angel food cake. This one is filled with lemon curd; here’s the recipe (photos #5, #7, and #10 © Taste Of Home).

[6] How about a chocolate angel food cake? Here’s the recipe from Martha Stewart, with a double fudge frosting (photo © Martha Stewart).

[7] Bake one, invite friends.

[8] You can ice it if you like (photo © Wilton | Facebook).

[8] Fusion food: a lemon meringue angel food cake. Here’s the recipe (photo © King Arthur Baking).

[9] An ice cream cake—or in this case, a rainbow sherbet cake. Here’s the recipe.

October 10th is National Angel Food Cake Day. Bake one from scratch, or pick up a ready-made cake and serve it with this delicious strawberry glaze.

Angel food cake is a white sponge cake: a light, flourless cake made with sugar, cream of tartar, salt, vanilla or almond extract, and a dozen or so egg whites, depending on the recipe. There is no leavening.

Chocolate angel food cakes were developed much later, adding cocoa powder.

The cake is popularly served with berries and whipped cream, although it can be served plain or with a dessert sauce (caramel, chocolate, custard, fruit, etc.).

Angel food cake originated in the U.S. and first became popular in the late 19th century. See the history of angel food cake below, along with Fanny Farmer’s 1884 recipe, the first time the recipe appeared in a cook book.

Angel food cakes are generally made in a tube pan (photo #4). If you’re going to purchase one, get one with a removable bottom.

BONUS: Check below for a third recipe, the original Fanny Farmer Angel Food Cake recipe from 1884, plus the history of angel food cake.

Two recipes follow, but first:

> The year’s 55 cake holidays.

> The different types of cake and the history of cake: a photo glossary.

> The history of angel food cake is below.

> The history of cake pans.
 
 
RECIPE #1: STRAWBERRY GLAZE FOR ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Ingredient For The Strawberry Glaze

 
Preparation

1. STIR orange juice into cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Add strawberries, sugar and marmalade. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

2. REDUCE heat to low; cook 2 minutes, stirring, or until sauce thickens. Cool or chill.

3. CUT cake into 12 slices. Spoon sauce over each slice. Garnish with optional whipped cream.
 
 
RECIPE #2: ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 375°F, with rack in the lowest position.

2. MIX the powdered sugar and flour in medium bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy.

Both the bowl and the whisk attachment must be clean, dry, and free of grease in order to get the maximum volume from the egg whites.

Similarly, angel food cake pans are not greased so that the batter can cling to the sides of the pan as it bakes, and reach its full volume.

3. BEAT in the granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, on high speed, adding the vanilla, almond extract and salt with the last addition of sugar. Continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not over-beat.

4. SPRINKLE the powdered sugar-flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, over egg white mixture, folding in with a rubber spatula just until the sugar-flour mixture disappears. Use the spatula to cut down vertically through the center of egg whites, across the bottom of the bowl and up the side, turning the egg whites over.

Rotate the bowl one-fourth turn and repeat. Continue folding this way until the ingredients are just blended (do not over-blend). Use the spatula to break large air pockets, pushing the batter gently against the side of the pan and the tube.

This folding technique is used so that the batter will not lose its volume. At each step, take care not to over-mix, over-blend, or over-combine the cake batter; this will deflate the meringue, creating a dense cake.

5. PUSH the batter into an ungreased 10 x 4 inch angel food cake pan (tube pan). Cut gently through the batter with a metal spatula or knife to break the air pockets.

6. BAKE 30 to 35 minutes or until the cracks feel dry and the top springs back when touched lightly. Immediately turn the pan upside down onto a heat-proof funnel or an empty wine bottle. This is so the baked cake will maintain its volume and not shrink as it cools.

7. KEEP the cake inverted about 2 hours or until it’s completely cool. Loosen the side of the cake with a knife or long metal spatula; remove it from the pan.
 
 
RECIPE #3: FANNY FARMER’S 1896 ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Fannie Farmer’s 1884 angel food-like cake was published in The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Although it wasn’t yet called angel food cake, you can see that her recipe was nearly identical to today’s cakes. Some earlier recipes used cornstarch flour.

Cornstarch, a starch, is a thickening agent. It is not a substitute for cream of tartar, which is an acid used for helping to stabilize the egg whites when whipped (leading to a better rise in cakes and meringues), leavening, and preventing crystallization.

This cake was sometimes called snow-drift cake or white sponge cake before angel food cake became the official name in later edition in the 1886 edition of the cook book.

> See the history of angel food cake below.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

Editor’s Note: For ease in reading, we have numbered the steps and given them modern formatting.

1. PREPARE the oven and pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Use an unbuttered tube pan (the batter needs to climb the sides).

2. SIFT the dry ingredients. Sift the flour and salt together four to five times to ensure a light texture.

3. WHIP the egg whites. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.

4. FOLD in dry ingredients. Gently fold the sifted flour mixture into the egg whites, a little at a time, using a spatula. Add vanilla extract and fold gently to maintain the airiness.

5. BAKE the cake. Pour the batter into the unbuttered tube pan and smooth the top. Bake for 40–50 minutes, or until the top is golden and springs back when touched.

6. COOL upside down. Immediately invert the pan over a bottle or on its feet (if it has feet). Let cool completely before removing the cake. [Source: ChatGPT 2025-01-24]
 
 
THE HISTORY OF ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Angel food cake likely originated in the early 19th century. The first angel food cakes were probably baked in the South by enslaved African-American, due to the strength required to whip the air into the whites. They evolved from sponge cakes (the history of sponge cake).

Other names for sponge and foam cakes included Hot Water Sponge Cake, “”Sunshine Cake,” and “Moonshine Cake.”

These cakes relied on beaten eggs for leavening, resulting in their characteristic lightness—although unlike Angel Food Cake, they recipes used the egg yolk as well as the white (Angel Food Cake is whites-only, thus the white color).

By the late 1800s, with the invention of the egg beater, it had become a widely recognized and beloved American dessert.

The earliest known recipes for angel food cake appeared in the late 19th century, specifically in the 1870s and 1880s. Here are some key milestones in its recorded history:

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