John Vaughen

In my family, there is a tradition that mushy bananas are not discarded or baked but rather peeled, placed into a large bowl, mashed together (a spoon works nicely), to then be gloriously microwaved into an oblivion of saccharine substance that our family affectionately calls "banana mush". Upon hearing of my family's quasi-dessert, Austin was skeptical but interested. And so one evening that Austin and I were loitering in his apartment following his delicious enchilada dinner, I noted with glee that Austin had bananas in his apartment, and could make good of his promise to try "banana mush". Unfortunately, these bananas weren't ripe enough to make a good banana mush, and the final product was less than desirable. But Austin was brave enough to eat the microwaved banana and still dub it "interesting". It reminds me that adventures can extend beyond the great outdoors to every aspect of our lives, even the mundane quotidian, including what and how we chose to eat. Austin took great joy in learning and executing new recipes; and he certainly didn't shy away from the oddity of microwaved bananas (despite his earlier childhood inclinations to eat only white, bland foods). Try something new to eat! (And if it's microwaved bananas, make sure that you watch the microwave- they boil over really easily).