Banana

A recipe for moist, flavorful banana bread is a find. A half-dozen of them, all in one book, is a discovery. And if they all come together quickly with wonderful results, well, that's a gold mine. Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews McMeel) isn't the kind of book that captures a baker's imagination. There are no pictures, no fancy ingredients, no special techniques - only recipes. Each begins with a brief introduction, and each is backed by Heatter's reputation as the doyenne of desserts.

In a Labor Day demonstration, Philadelphia union dock workers dumped cases of Del Monte pineapples into the Delaware River today to protest Del Monte's decision to switch its banana shipping business to a different port. The International Longshoremen's Association Local 1291 will lose 200 to 300 jobs - 400,000 labor hours a year - when Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. shifts 75 ships and a half million tons of banana cargo from Camden to the privately-owned Gloucester Terminals L.L.C.

BACK IN THE DAY, way back in the day, when Steve Carlton was doing wonderful things with his left arm when he wasn't thrusting it deep into a tub of rice . . . when he was still speaking, warily, to the media, he said, "Most people use only 10 percent of their brain capacity. " Shazam. We ran with it. Lefty was going to outpitch, outwork and outthink everybody in major league baseball and win 27 games every year. That statistic about the brain . . . Bunk! Hokum. An urban myth.

While inspecting a container of bananas at the Port of Wilmington, customs agents discovered two brick-like objects hidden in the ventilation system. Then they found two dozen more. Inside those bundles were about 63 pounds of cocaine with a street value estimated at about $2 million, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The seizure was made June 6 by tactical operations officers from Wilmington and Philadelphia. The refrigerated container was aboard the M/V Dole Chile, part of the Western Hemisphere fleet of produce giant Dole.

Honduran Gen. Oswaldo Lopez Arellano, 89, who led two military coups and served as president for more than a decade, died Sunday of prostate cancer in Tegucigalpa. With armed forces' backing, then-Col. Lopez Arellano ousted President Ramon Villeda Morales in 1963 and two years later held a constitutional assembly that formalized his position as president of Honduras, then a banana-producing country under the sway of Washington. He remained in power until 1971, when he backed elections won by Ramon Ernesto Cruz of the National Party.

Dole Fresh Fruit Co. has renewed its lease until 2025 with the Diamond State Port Corp. at the Port of Wilmington, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell announced Friday. The long-term contract "secures more than 800 jobs at the port," he said. Financial terms were not disclosed. Wilmington is the largest banana-receiving port in the world. In 2009, Dole made 57 ship calls in Wilmington. Dole is the largest banana company in North America and brings in more than 60 million individual bananas and over 1 million individual pineapples a week into Wilmington, said Stuart Jablon, Dole's vice president of operations in Wilmington.

CLASSIC CAESAR SALAD 4 anchovies 2 cloves garlic 1 egg yolk Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 3 drops Tabasco sauce 1/2 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon Pecorino romano cheese 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese Fresh ground black pepper Romaine lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces 1 cup seasoned croutons In a large wooden salad bowl, mash anchovies and...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A summer Sunday food memory, circa 1974: I'm sitting at the table watching while my mother makes banana pudding and my older sister discusses her latest date. One talks about the frustrations of romance. The other listens, nodding, while patiently, steadily, assembling dessert: Lining the casserole dish with vanilla wafers from a box. Slicing bananas and placing the circles just so. Spooning on a layer of vanilla-flavored pudding. Building the layers until the casserole is full, then covering it with a final layer of fluffy, white whipped topping.

During striper season, when boat captains worry about having the right bait as they head to sweet spots where the prized fish are biting, there's one thing they do not want on board. Bananas. "I always make sure nobody has any bananas. They're bad luck," said Bill Bittmann, who captains the Top Shelf, a 44-foot Henriques sportfishing charter boat that leaves Cape May and North Carolina in quest of striped bass, tuna, shark, and other species. The bearded, white-haired Bittmann - who looks like he was sent by Central Casting for The Old Man and the Sea - has been on the water more years than he cares to count.

Here's an exotic recipe - courtesy of World Cafe Live chef Matthew Babbage - to go with those new ingredients in your pantry. BANANA FLOWER SALAD 1 banana flower 1 pound chicken breast 3 large shrimp 1 cup coconut milk 1 tablespoon fried, slivered shallot 1 tablespoon fried, sliced garlic 1 teaspoon torn cilantro, stems and leaves, washed well to remove grit 1/4 cup roasted cashews 1 heaping tablespoon Thai...