Bananas left in the cold

HINTS FROM HELOISE

Bananas left in the cold

Dear Heloise: Is everyone like me when it comes to keeping BANANAS from spoiling too soon? It is hard to find them before they get soft, but they spoil quickly when home. I tried banana stands, storing them in the refrigerator and separating them. Nothing worked.

I separated them, wrapped

each in a paper towel and placed them in the crisper

drawer. To my surprise, they

kept perfectly for a week or

longer. I hope you will try this

and share the message!

— Linda F., via email.

Linda, first, don't buy one whole bunch. Get two that are green, two almost yellow, two almost ripe and two that are

ripe. They will be ready to eat when you are!

Putting bananas in the refrigerator stops them from

ripening. If they are NOT ripe, keep them at room temperature

to ripen faster. Separating them or hanging does not affect how

they ripen, except they are in a

warm environment.

Putting them in the paper

towel and then into the crisper

worked because of the cold.

— Heloise

P.S.: If you are eating bananas for the potassium, as many people on blood-pressure medicine do, there are other foods you can eat or drink. Take a look at low-sodium tomato or vegetable juice. One cup has about 450 mg of potassium (more than a medium banana), under 60 calories and no storage problems. Get out of the banana rut! SAFE COOKING Dear Heloise: I use my slow cooker a lot for soups and stews. I sit the slow cooker on my glass-top stove so that if anything boils over (which thankfully has never happened) it will not cause a huge mess.

— Julie W. in Maine

By Heloise