Well, it’s time to talk about bites and breaks. The bites are delicious (see below) and the break…it will involve a newborn, so perhaps also delicious.

First, I managed to make a hot weather treat I’ve been dying to try for ages: frozen chocolate banana bites. I first got the idea last summer when we were on an island camping trip and came across someone selling frozen chocolate-dipped bananas. They were even better than they sound. And so simple–it’s crazy that it took me a whole year to try them myself. But then I found this recipe for a bite sized version–with endless topping options–and I was on board. Plus, they store so neatly in the freezer when they’re little rounds as opposed to long bananas. Not that I wouldn’t find space for those if they needed it. But you know. Who doesn’t like cute little things?

So the only tweak I made to this recipe is to add more coconut oil to the chocolate because I like the way it melts more willingly when you eat it. I got this idea from the chocolate bombe shell Jeni makes for her ice creams, and which I drizzle into mint or vanilla ice cream when I make her recipes. So I used 12 ounces of chocolate to 1/3 cup oil. Other than that, I chopped up some almonds, used the last of my unsulphured coconut, promptly ran out of both while dipping the banana slices and made the rest just plain chocolate. Which it turns out is more toddler-friendly anyway. So please try these and let me know what you think: what toppings do you like? Do you prefer larger banana pieces? Have you tried dark/milk/white chocolate? Oooh, white chocolate would be so amazing…

And so, the break. You see, there is this new baby coming into our family. And because we are always looking for people in new and interesting situations to give us a window into their lives, we thought it would be a neat little transition for me to take a ‘maternity leave’ and a new and exciting voice to join Fork & Fiction while I’m away nesting. That makes it sound like the baby will be writing the posts, but no, it’s much better than that, though I don’t want to give the surprise away yet. I, for one, can’t wait to read the posts of the adventures to come, so stay tuned.

So I wish you all a happy summer/winter! I’m sure there’ll be lots to catch up on when I’m back.

XO

Ria