The monkey placed the banana on his head and looked at himself in the mirror.

“All ready!” he said, scampering down the sidewalk to where the man with the safari hat was waiting.

“Come on George!” shouted the man. “We must hurry!”

George scrambled up onto the man’s shoulders and they took off, pedestrians and bicyclists careening out of their way while others stood frozen, their mouths open. It wasn’t every day that you saw a man with a monkey on his head, with a banana on the monkey’s head, running through the streets. They reached the train station in double time, ran up the steps, across the bridge, down the steps, and jumped through the doors of the train just as it was pulling out of the station.

“Whew!” said the man. “That was close!”

The monkey pulled the banana off his head and began to eat it. “I’ll say.”

“You know, there will be plenty of bananas where we’re going.”

George narrowed his eyes at the man and stuck the banana behind his back.

The man laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to steal your banana.”

The monkey sidled away from him nonetheless and finished the piece of fruit, button nose pressed to the window.

“What’s so fascinating out there?”

George swept his arm across the glass, beyond which lay towers of sheet glass and sparkling bridges and hundreds of busy city-goers strolling around on their lunch walks. There were esplanades lined with funny box-shaped trees, and a zoo where cockatoos strutted, stopping to drink from silver fountains.

“First things first,” said the man. “When we get to the city we’ll go to my favourite café. They make fresh baked goods every day.”

George scrunched his nose. He didn’t much care for baked goods, and the one time the man had given him coffee he had spat it out all over their vinyl lunch table. He never understood what was wrong with humans that they wouldn’t take a nice, yellow piece of fruit over some brown crumbly thing that looked like a bird sat on it. Nevertheless he strolled along with the man as they passed under blooming cherry trees and made their way to the corner café, from which a warm, fragrant smell wafted.

“Salut, Céline!” said the man to an older lady who stood behind the counter, awash in flour powder, her reedy form belying her profession.

“Bonjour Arnaud!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together with a cloudy puff. “Tu as amené ton ami! You must be George!” she said, her accent melting into air.

George cocked his head modestly.

The lady swung around and pulled out a tray from the counter. “For you I have just the thing. Arnaud told me how much you like les bananes – is it true?”

George’s eyes widened. A bevy of golden brown concoctions stared up at him, moist with molten goodness. Instantly he knew what magic fruit had produced that lovely caramelization.

“We’ll take the lot,” said Arnaud, patting George on the head. They bustled happily out of the café, the monkey carrying his bounty, and set off for the office.

Chocolate/Carob Banana Muffins (paleo/AIP, vegan) Save Print Prep time 5 mins Cook time 30 mins Total time 35 mins Author: Julie Hunter Recipe type: Breakfast, brunch, muffins, snack Cuisine: Paleo, autoimmune protocol (AIP), vegan Serves: 10 muffins Ingredients 3 medium ripe bananas

⅔ c cassava flour

⅔ c tigernut flour

4 tb coconut oil

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ c chocolate (non-AIP) or carob chunks [if you can't find AIP ones, you can make your own, also here]

1 tb apple cider vinegar Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix ingredients together well in order listed (chips and ACV go in last). Spoon into silicone molds and/or greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-30 minutes until muffins brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean. Eat on a picnic with your closest monkey friend. 3.5.3226

This post features on Phoenix Helix’s Paleo AIP Roundtable.

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