Many kids in the U.S. get excited over a banana split, a.k.a. banana boat. Some grown-up kids still do, as evidenced by variations of the dessert on menus of restaurants catering to adults.

With a banana split, the fruit comes straight from the peel. It may not be perfectly ripe, thus contributing a slightly hard rawness instead of supple sweetness.

No matter, we eat it anyway; the sauces, whipped cream, and nuts compensate. But what if that banana were tender and sweet, every time?

Try something more reliable: sautéed bananas, which are caramelized in butter and brown sugar. Add ice cream, and you have a more sophisticated version of the childhood treat. The bananas can be whole, split, or cut into chunks.

The grandfather of the dish is Bananas Foster, a more elaborate version of caramelized bananas. Sliced bananas are sautéed in butter with brown sugar, banana liqueur, and Grand Marnier (orange-infused brandy) or rum. It is then flambéed at the table for a dramatic effect and spooned over vanilla ice cream.

A yummy recipe for a Bananas Foster sundae with sautéed bananas (and optional hot fudge!) is below.

But first, a brief history of bananas in the U.S.
 
 
BANANA SPLIT HISTORY

In 1870, a Cape Cod fishing boat captain named Lorenzo Dow Baker imported 160 bunches of bananas from Jamaica to New Jersey: the first bananas in the U.S. Shopkeepers hung the bunches and cut off the number of bananas requested by the customer.

By 1900 Americans were 15 million bunches of bananas annually; 40 million by 1910 [more].

Bananas were welcome hand fruit, but cooks also began to incorporate them into recipes.

The banana split was created in 1904 at a pharmacy’s soda fountain in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. A 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist, David Evans Strickler, created it [more].
 
 
YOUR CREATION

You don’t have to make a sundae. You can serve the sauteed bananas simply on a plate, with a dab of dessert sauce, a drizzle of saba, a bit of whipped cream, crème fraîche, mascarpone, or even a drizzle of heavy cream.

Or perhaps, several of them. Plus a garnish of choice: berries, cookie crumbs, nuts, etc.
 
 
RECIPE: SAUTÉED BANANAS FOSTER SUNDAE

This dish creates a complex sundae with a base of cookie crumbs. The sauce is saba, a grape must reduction that is far less sweet, and far more elegant, than conventional sundae sauces.

You can add liquor, for a true Bananas Foster experience; or leave it out.

Look for smaller bananas, which are more in proportion. You may be able to find small varieties, such as Lady Finger Bananas, which are also sweeter.

As with any recipe: Have fun with it!

Ingredients For 4 Servings

[2] Design the sundae as you wish. This version, which splits a medium banana in half, is from Pampered Chef.

[3] A deconstructed sundae, with berries, pools of whipped cream and a caramel corn garnish, at Sushi Samba. Large bananas were sliced in half horizontally,
then in half vertically.

Kid-friendly: omit the liquor, add hot fudge (photo courtesy Weber).

1. CRUMBLE the cookies in a plastic zipper bag, using a rolling pin. Add to the bottom of bowls and set aside.

2. CUT the bananas if desired. You can cut them in half lengthwise (photo #2), or in chunks crosswise; or, you can leave them whole as in photo #1.

3. MELT the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves (about 2 minutes—this creates a caramel sauce). Add the bananas and cook on both sides until they begin to soften and brown (about 3 minutes). While they cook…

4. WARM the dessert sauce in the microwave. When the bananas are softened…

5. ADD the banana liqueur and stir to blend into the caramel sauce. Add the ice cream to the bowls.

6. LIFT lift the bananas carefully from the pan and place in each bowl. Then spoon the pan sauce over the bananas and serve immediately.
  
 
 
FOOD FUN

Bananas Foster Grilled Cheese Sandwich

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*Many people use terms through ignorance or indifference. That is true with butterscotch and caramel. Butterscotch and caramel are different sauces and candies. Caramel is typically made with granulated sugar, cream or milk, butter, and sometimes vanilla. The primary flavors of caramel are sugar and cream. Butterscotch is made with brown sugar and much more butter. Its primary flavors are brown sugar and butter. While it also contains cream or milk, that flavor is not as prominent as in caramel. What about toffee? In candy, toffee is butterscotch that has been cooked to the hard-crack stage.
 
 

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[2] Kiwi, short for kiwifruit, has a tan rind and bright green flesh. Learn more about kiwifruit from Live Eat Learn.

[3] Namesake for the fruit: the kiwi bird (photo courtesy Ecobirdy; here’s more about the bird).

This cocktail from Pampered Chef says “spring” to us, but it can also say “St. Patrick’s Day.”

Kiwis are a very nutritious fruit: 20 vital nutrients, including five times the vitamin C of an orange and as much potassium as a banana. It is also is rich in vitamins A, B, E and K, plus copper, fiber, folate and others. A medium kiwi has 42 calories.

So if you need an excuse to have a sweet cocktail, call this a better-for-you tipple.

For a mocktail, leave out the bourbon.
 
 
RECIPE: KIWI MINT JULEP

Ingredients For 2 Drinks

 
Preparation

1. Combine the sugar and water in a bowl and let it cool slightly.

2. COMBINE the sugar mixture with the other ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely puréed.

3. POUR over ice and garnish with mint.
 
 
KIWI HISTORY

Kiwifruit, Actinidia, deliciosa, is the edible berry of a woody vine in the family Actinidiaceae, commonly known as the Chinese gooseberry family.

The family comprises temperate and subtropical woody vines, shrubs, and trees, native to Asia.

Native to China, kiwifruit (photo #2) was introduced to New Zealand by missionaries in the early 20th century, where it was commercially grown.

In New Zealand, a distributor named it “kiwifruit” to give it market appeal. The kiwi is a flightless bird native to New Zealand, and the fruit was small, brown and fuzzy like the bird (photo #3)*.

Growers bred different variations. The most common cultivar is oval, about the size of a large hen’s egg. Other cultivars range in color from light to very dark green, orange, purple, yellow, and a green variety where the seeds are in a red-colored ring.

Kiwifruit was planted in the U.S. in the late 1960s. Today, Chile, France, Italy, Japan, along with the U.S. are major producers of two varieties: green and gold kiwis.

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*The national bird of Australia is the emu.
  

What’s groundwater?

All of our water comes from two channels:

 
Ninety-nine percent of all available freshwater in the world is groundwater, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That means all the world’s rivers, lakes, streams and reservoirs make up only one percent.
 
ALMOST EVERYONE NEEDS GROUNDWATER

We couldn’t exist without groundwater. Along with oxygen, it is arguably the most important natural resource for human life, according to the National Groundwater Awareness Association (NGWA).

“Life as we know it would quite simply not be possible without groundwater. It provides drinking water to about 132 million Americans (44.5 million through water wells), supplies surface freshwater bodies, waters crops, and supports ecosystems,” said NGWA Public Awareness Director Cliff Treyens.

 
Irrigation uses an estimated 53.5 billion gallons of groundwater a day, supplying water to some of the most productive agricultural lands in the world.

Livestock and aquaculture use an additional 3.5 billion gallons of groundwater a day.
 
If you see any abuse of groundwater—uncapped wells, pollution seeping into the ground—report it to your local authorities.

[1] An underground lake (image courtesy iStock).

[2] An illustration of an underground aquifer feeding an above-ground stream (image courtesy Groundwater Directory | New Zealand).

[3] This image shows an above-ground well tapping into the layer of groundwater beneath the surface (image courtesy SCM Waterproof Porous | Blogspot).

For more about groundwater, visit the National Groundwater Association. Their goal is to protect the quality of groundwater via responsible development, management and use of water.

Check out the different types of water in our Water Glossary.

[2] You can bake it in a loaf pan or a conventional round layer (photo courtesy King Arthur Flour).

[3] Buckeye candy: chocolate and peanut butter, shown here on a stick. It’s equally delicious without the stick (photo courtesy Wikipedia).

A nut from the buckeye tree (photo © Ohio-Nature.com).

So in addition to a supply of Justin’s peanut butter cups, we baked her this cake.

This recipe was sent to us by King Arthur Flour, with the title Peanut Butter Fudge Buckeye Cake. Since not everyone knows what a buckeye is:

The Buckeye is the state tree of Ohio is the buckeye, and the state’s nickname is the Buckeye State.

The name “buckeye” stems from Native Americans, who called the nut from the tree “hetuck,” which means buck eye, because the markings on the nut resemble the eye of a deer.

The name took hold during William Henry Harrison’s 1840 presidential campaign, and local confectioners soon were making balls of peanut butter fudge mostly enrobed in chocolate (photo #2). The open top of peanut butter makes the candy look like the buckeye nuts, the nuts; and the confections themselves are called buckeyes.

Hence the cake. Says King Arthur Flour: “We replicate the flavors of the classic buckeye candy in this towering four-layer cake, highly recommended for your next birthday party.”

Hence the cake.

Prep time is 20 to 25 minutes, bake time is 35 to 38 minutes.
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BUCKEYE CAKE

Ingredients For The Cake

 
For The Filling

 
For The Icing

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour (or grease, then line with parchment, then grease again) two 8″ x 2″ round cake pans. Note: These pans need to be at least 2″ tall. If you have non-standard, shorter 8″ pans, substitute 9″ round pans.

2. MAKE the cake: Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, oil, and vanilla, beating until smooth. Gradually add the water, beating until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

4. MAKE the filling: Mix the sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla until crumbly. Add the milk and mix until smooth, adding more milk if necessary to make a spreadable filling. When ready to serve the cake…

5. DIVIDE the cooled layers in half horizontally, to make four layers. Place one layer on a serving plate and spread with filling. Repeat with the next two layers. Top with the final cake layer.

6. MAKE the icing: Combine the chocolate chips, cream, and corn syrup in a microwave-safe measuring cup. Microwave until the cream is very hot, and the chips are soft. Stir until the chips melt, and the mixture is smooth. Spread the icing atop the cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

7. SERVE in thin slices; the cake is very rich. Refrigerate any leftovers for several days or freeze for longer storage.

 
TIPS

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National Ranch Dressing Day is March 10th.

In the category of bottled dressing, Ranch surpassed the previous favorite, Italian dressing, as America’s favorite—way back in 1992.

Here’s something most people don’t know: Ranch is buttermilk dressing, a popular dressing that originated in the southern U.S. in the 1800s or earlier.

By the 1980s, buttermilk had long fallen out of fashion; so old-fashioned buttermilk dressing was commercially rebranded to Ranch.

Why ranch? The name came from the buttermilk dressing served at Hidden Valley Ranch, a dude ranch in the Santa Ynez mountains, near Santa Barbara, California. It was so popular that guests asked to buy it; and sales slowly expanded until the dressing caught the attention of big-company executives.

Ranch dressing is made from buttermilk, mayonnaise, seasonings (black pepper, garlic, ground mustard seed, lemon juice, paprika) and herbs (chives, parsley, and dill). Sour cream or yogurt are sometimes used for all or part of the buttermilk or mayonnaise.

Here’s more of the history of buttermilk dressing.

And, a recipe for homemade ranch dressing.
 
 
RANCH DRESSING: A CULINARY CANVAS

“People are passionate about ‘their’ ranch [dressing],” says Andrew Hunter in Flavor And The Menu, a magazine for chefs.

But even favorites can stand sprucing up. Where would we be if pizza had never gone beyond a fresh basil topping?

Hunter offers ways to make ranch dressing “fresh and unique, while staying true to its populist form.”

1. Stir in other ingredients. Superiority Burger in New York, a vegetarian restaurants, serves tahini-laced ranch dressing. Nosh & Grog in Medfield, Massachusetts, seasons its shoestring fries with Spanish piment d’Espelette and ranch dressing powder.

But there’s so much more you can do with it. Start with these ideas:

 
2. Use fresh dairy (photo #1). Many chefs and home cooks use powdered ranch dressing. But blend fresh, ice-cold buttermilk into the powdered ranch. To make a richer, thicker version, add an equal part of sour cream or Mexican crema. For a more gourmet version, stir in a spoonful of crème fraîche or mascarpone.

3. Add fresh herbs. The herbs already in ranch dressing are dried parsley, chives and dill. Supplement those with chopped fresh versions of the same herbs. Or, augment the standard herbs with incremental fresh herbs such as basil and tarragon.

[1] Add fresh buttermilk to packaged mixes (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

[2] Add fresh herbs. In addition to fresh dill, this ranch is sprinkled with chile oil (photo courtesy Chobani).

[3] Switch out the classic chives-dill-parsley for jalapeño and cilantro. Here’s the recipe from Melissa’s Southern Style Kitcen.

Use ranch dressing: