Several years ago, I attended a trade show in Orlando, Fla. The day I arrived was hectic with traveling, riding with a cab driver who couldn’t find the venue (everything is basically on the same street in Orlando), setting up the booth and attending an opening ceremony. I was tired and cranky and had a small altercation with the association hosting the trade show because they couldn’t understand why I needed a press badge. So, I very much needed dessert. That night for dinner I had what I remember as the best pineapple upside-down cake I have ever tasted. Well, except for the fact that it was loaded with bananas and topped with a butterscotch sauce. It wasn’t until a year later when I located the restaurant’s recipe, titled Bananas Supreme, and forwarded it to some co-workers that they pointed out that the recipe did not contain a single pineapple. Yes, memory is malleable and shifting and can betray us when we least expect it. And that’s the driving force behind Julian Barnes’ latest novel, “The Sense of an Ending.” Continue reading →