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Yellow makes me think of bananas, and bananas makes me think of Curious George (known around my house as “George the Monkey”) and the Man in the Yellow Hat. I can’t think of a more perfect color-food-literary connection than that, thanks to H.A. Ray.

Curious George books and cartoons have always been popular with kids and adults. However, with the recent success of the Curious George movie and the subsequent PBS kids television series, there are now lots of Curious George things to do.

Online you can visit Houghton Mifflin Books’ Curious George or PBS Kids Curious George websites. Both feature games, printables, actvity suggestions, and teacher/parent guides. The PBS game Banana 411 was a big hit with Lucie, so I have a feeling we’ll be spending some time on the PBS Kids site.

(Summer learning hint: there are so many tips and suggestions on both sites that you could plan weeks and weeks worth of reading and activities just around the Curious George books.)

The Houghton Mifflin site has a recipe for Curious George Banana Bread. (It’s a PDF, so make sure you have Adobe Acrobat.) Another banana treat comes from Betty Crocker. This recipe won an honorable mention in the 2007 Mix It Up with Betty Contest.

Banana Flip Cookies (Cookie Mix)
Prep Time: 1 hr - Start to Finish: 1 hr 40 min
Makes: 16 sandwich cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

1. 1/3 cup mashed ripe banana
2. 1/3 cup butter and margarine, softened
3. 2 oz cream cheese, softened (1/4 cup)
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla
5. 1 egg
6. 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
7. 2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

Filling Ingredients:

1. 3 cups powdered sugar
2. 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3. 1/3 cup Yoplait® Thick & Creamy banana yogurt

Topping Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir banana, 1/3 cup butter, the cream cheese, vanilla and egg until well blended. Add cookie mix and flour; stir until soft dough forms.
2. With medium cookie scoop or by heaping tablespoonfuls, scoop dough 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
4. In large bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Beat on high speed about 2 minutes or until lightly and fluffy.
5. To make each sandwich cookie, spread about 1 tablespoon filling on bottoms of 16 cookies. Top each with one of the remaining cookies; gently press cookies together.
6. Sprinkle tops of sandwich cookies with powdered sugar. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Increase flour to 1/4 cup.

Nutrition Information:
1 Serving: Calories 340 (Calories from Fat 130); Total Fat 14g (Saturated Fat 8g, Trans Fat 1 1/2g); Cholesterol 40mg; Sodium 160mg; Total Carbohydrate 50g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 38g); Protein 2g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 8%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 0%; Iron 4% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat

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