missing bananas

What does it say when you buy bananas that cost $6.99 per kg?
That they've been a lot more expensive than that!

Since the cyclone wiped out the crop in Queensland, most of us have refused to buy bananas - $12/kg was just too rich!

Over lunch my colleagues talk about bananas and how much we miss them, and how we can't wait until they drop back to their normal price, and how we used to eat them, and what we'll do with them when they return to the shelves. I've noticed that patient's are brought bananas as a special treat instead of chocolates - I don't dare throw any away no matter how brown and squashy they are. They probably cost $2 each!

When we went to China in July our eyes bulged - they were about 40 c... that's right. 40 cents a kilogram! The friend we were visiting declined to buy any at a stall one day, because they were trying to charge 80 cents a kilo and she felt this was way to expensive! It's all relative! I pushed in and payed for them myself because to my mind they were incredibly cheap.

On our return to Oz I decided that if I saw bananas below $8 a kilo I would buy two as a very special treat. The price sat and sat and sat at $12 and I refused to buy. A couple of weeks ago it dropped to $10 and I still refused to buy. To add insult to injury, the expensive bananas never look that nice despite their price.

Then it happenned. I went into my favourite fruit and veg shop the other day and there were bananas for $6.99 per kilo. Oh wow - they'd hit the golden cheap price. Not that they were anything flash - the standard price remains $10/kg. These were the reduced stock that were a bit past it. So believe it or not, I bought 2 over ripe bananas for $6.99 a kilo! (They were pretty small bananas and cost exactly $1.28... which isn't so bad I suppose)

I'll use them in cooking - have been hankering for banana muffins or banana cake or caramel banana dessert. Mmmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

And before we know it there will be cheap bananas back on the shelf. The rumour on the ground is that the bananas are on the trees and not too far away from harvesting.

Bring it on - I've missed them.