A Special Post for our Second Blogoversary!
This Frozen Bananas Dipped in Chocolate post marks Sis Boom Blog’s second “Blogoversary”! I’m still blaming and cursing Ms. Fig for this whole thing and now I see she hasn’t even posted since April! Sigh. If I quit I can I blame her for that too? Every time I think I should stop something happens to suck me back in. I am the Michael Corleone of food bloggers. I will get a lovely email of thanks, I make a new fabulous friend, or… and as if on cue today I received some incredible news regarding this blog! It actually gave me the energy to not hang it up on my anniversary. I am back in!
I will tell you about it all in the next several days but this particular post will have to stick to the topic and my annual custom: a simple and reflective annual review. So my beloved “Sis Boom Ten” you will just have to wait!
We are supposed to be in the “lazy-hazy-crazy days of summer”. So how come I can’t seem to muster even an hour to sit quietly and reflect on the last ear? Is this near constant hectic feeling a sign of the times or is it just a sign of MY times? Surely I am not the only one who can’t remember the last time I actually felt ‘bored’ or had nothing to do (or due). Does anyone remember what free time used to feel like? I don’t think I’ve had any in two years. Coincidence? I think not.
Sis Boom Blog has always been purposed with keeping me inspired, creative, and passionate about exploring the ‘new’ in my daily life. In that regard it has succeeded beyond my dreams but man it can take up a lot of time! Shuttering the blog and ceasing operations would certainly open up a big chunck of time and each year I have to admit to giving it some considerable thought but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Especially now that…
I managed to crank out 86 posts during this past year and yet I still have too much more to learn. And much MUCH more to tell you about. Who needs time anyway?
Turns out that Cy Twombly doesn’t. He ran out of time and died during the past year leaving me quite sad. This world famous artist was my artistic and thematic inspiration for most of the early life of this blog. My redesign a few months ago moved us along from his inspired look and feel toward the current menu look. I wonder if it that did him in? Nonetheless this great man will be missed. Rest in peace Cy.
I had a lot of fun sharing stories and observations with you along that 86 post pathway. Of course I also shared some recipes as well — although they often seemed incidental to the post at hand. Truthfully and I’m sure you can tell, I like it that way. The idea reminds me of how the great dinner parties may have amazing food to set the mood but is the company and conversation that is the thing that makes the evening memorable. If you read this blog with any regularity I know you know exactly what I mean!
And guess what? There were quite a few more of you enjoying our dinner parties this year. Sis Boom traffic has gone up nearly 50% from the end of our previous year so if you are doing the math that means that only 6.667 of you were reading last year.
The number one trafficked post of the year was about my itch for a manly lemon bar. In the end my unrequited love, David Lebovits, satisfied me when he came to the rescue with his big, fat lemon bars. Made with the whole lemon, of course. Not content with that success in these parts, David’s ice cream book was probably my biggest inspiration of the year. The gift that keeps on giving! How did I ever get along without an ice cream maker?
The admission of my a steamy summer affair with Nigela Lawson proved to be quite popular and was the second most read of all last year’s posts. Candy making for my the first time was also quite memorable as it is one of the few new things I outright failed at and still shared. I persevered and prevailed giving me quite a sense of accomplishment. Recollections of the French houseguest who came to visit and turned my life upside down had even my real life friends and family shaking their heads trying to understand (and remember!)
Of course, any reflection of Year Two at Sis Boom Blog would be incomplete without a nod to my beloved Doristas. In fact I would probably have to subtitle this year: “The Rise of the Doristas”. I coined the term nearly a year ago to describe the wonderfully wacky people I joined up with to inaugurate a communal cooking effort through Dorie Greenspan’s instant kitchen classic “From Around My French Table to Yours” (or something like that.) I have been questioning my sanity ever since.
Just kidding. Sort of. Yes, the effort is a huge time hog and takes up quite a bit of valuable blog real estate. The rewards in terms of new online relationships has made it all worthwhile and has taken my culinary adventure to all sorts of new places. I admit to teasing Dorie a bit on these pages but I really do admire her and have to admit that she has rarely lead anyone astray with her many books and recipes. One of my prouder moments of the past year was when she visited this blog and left a comment on one of my favorite “Dorie Posts”. To my knowledge she has never been back! Or maybe she has and didn’t appreciate the name “Dorista”?
Frozen Bananas Dipped in Chocolate
So there you have it, Year Two. Time to leave you with the traditional brain dead simple recipe. (Last year we did mint tea and that was perhaps a bit too easy?) For me, nothing says lazy-hazy-crazy days of summer than a frozen banana. They take me back to my childhood on Balboa Island where tradition has it the Frozen Banana was actually born back in the 1940’s or something like that. That may or may not be true but making them certainly takes me back to that time when my summers actually were lazy, hazy, and crazy.
Nothing could be simpler.
This is what you will need:
- 6 Bananas
- 4 cups chocolate chips
- 1 cup nuts chopped by pulsing in food processor.
This is how you make it:
- Prepare tray by lining it with parchment or foil. Peel the bananas and remove any stringy fibers. Cut the bananas in half, widthwise, and push an ice-cream stick through the cut end of each half. Freeze for about two hours, uncovered.
- Place the chocolate chips in a double boiler and cook on low to medium heat until melted and smooth. Do not over heat.
- Dip bananas one by one and roll in the toppings and place on parchment lined tray. Return to freezer for 2 hours. When frozen let sit for 5 minutes before eating. Uneaten bananas can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and will last a couple weeks.
Congratulations, Trevor! Breathlessly awaiting your news…I’m thinking book offer!
Happy Blogoversary- so glad you’re back in for another. 🙂 I’d forgotten about frozen bananas, but this is definitely the right time to be reminded of them. I know there’s room in my freezer for at least a few!
Happy ‘versary from one of the wacky & hopefully wonderful 🙂
And now I must move off this page before my girl sees it and I am forced to spend my day making frozen banana creations – they look lovely!
It has been a while since I saw the frozen chocolate banana deal – I can remember a yellow box with brown writing that they used to sell in the produce aisle in the ’70s for accomplishing this mean feat. And I will never forget the angst of taking one to my catholic school and finding that someone had stolen it out of the school freezer before I could eat it. It is a wonder I am not in therapy. Nana and I muster along on the FFWD trail and have fun each week – whether the recipe is a keeper or not. Not sure if you counted us among your 10 readers as one unit or two :)… but we enjoy your posts. And we kill alot of time blogging or reading blogs too. Good thing we have nothing else (ahem) we are supposed to be doing.
You have a way with words my friend. As my blog nears three years old I find myself nodding along to most everything you wrote here. However unlike Ms. Greenspan I do l like the phrase Dorista, as long as it’s not directed at me! Just teasing… Long live Dorie. GREG
Don’t you dare quit this blog! Your fellow Doristas would pitch a fit! Can’t wait to see what year 3 brings for you, my friend~
Congratulations, what a year and another year!
I’m so happy with your choice of frozen chocolate dipped bananas for your recipe choice to celebrate your blog and I love the way you sealed them up for your freezer, way cool;-) I love the name Dorista but it does sort of sound like a cheesy corn tortilla chip but that just makes it more fun;-)
I love your blog! You can’t stop. I always credit you with coining “Doristas”. And, these frozen chocolate-dipped bananas remind me of “Arrested Development”. “There’s always money in the banana stand!”
Happy Anniversary, Sis Boom! Glad you’re sticking around.
Aww, you gave me a shout out. That is so sweet it *almost* makes all the snark drain from my body … I feel quite special that I happen to know your big news. Don’t worry, I’ll never tell! Do you know we started blogging at almost the exact same time … soul mates for sure. You realize I will NEVER let you quit right? P.S. I love your top photo, it’s quite suggestive.
Happy Blogoversary!! You can’t quit…who would I read to get my weekly smile! Love your blog, your writing and being a Dorista!! Years ago I use to make chocolate covered bananas for my kids. Thanks for reminding me how good they were…I will have to make them when my grandkids come for a visit.
I hardly think that a banana constitutes a Second Anniversary, do you? Maybe braised calves tongue. This can get kind of messy. Happy 2blogiversary. I’m heading on 3 myself, with a readership up1.873%. Woot! Actually, I want to make these for my ice cream social on Friday – minus the ice cream. I’m sure David won’t mind, will he? 🙂
I had a taste of this when I was in college. I only tasted it once because it was too expensive, and I feel so glad because I found this recipe, I’m going to make one!
I wanted to make your frozen bananas but was too lazy to get Popsicle sticks so I just sliced up a banana and dipped them in chocolate and had frozen chocolate covered banana bites. Honestly, this was perfect for me as I could sneak one here and there when I needed something sweet. I actually prefer them in the fridge since the chocolate is hard and the banana is soft. I tried it in the freezer too, it’s nice if it’s really hot out, but easier to eat if they are in the fridge. Thanks for inspiring me to create a new favorite, love the blog!
I am a big fan, and delighted you are continuing! I have been a little hit-or-miss this summer, so had to search you out. I’m hoping that the ffwd group will get a little momentum back (I think Tricia and Nana should be voted most consistent).
Happy to have visited. I’ll be back! Candy