Kid Vs. Produce

Oh, how I love the random produce that ends up in our major grocery chain here and there.  While shopping a few weeks back, we stumbled onto some star fruit and cherimoyas, and thought it was high time for a special two-fer edition of What The?  Foods.

Since we started this challenge of ours, we find ourselves poking around a bit, looking for odd shapes and colors.  And okay, I’ll admit my first real exposure to the idea of either of these fruits was through some sort of Baby Einstein knock-off video.

In any case, I’ll admit that up until this point, I’ve never been all that curious about strange looking fruits.  The basics, available year-round, more than filled my personal needs.  But when a kid says “Mom, we should try THAT ONE!”  it seems like a pretty good thing to do.  So!  First up:  The Cherimoya.

According to good ole Wikipedia, in 1866, Mark Twain called the cherimoya “the most delicious fruit known to men.”   We shall see, Mark Twain.  We shall see.

The fruit itself is a lizardy looking green, shaped like a heart.

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Well, hello, honey!

At the farmer’s market this last weekend, we picked up two quince.  Quinces?  What the heck is the plural of quince?  Anyway, I had never seen a quince before, to my knowledge, although I believe I have had quince jam before.  Maybe.

I asked the farmer how someone with produce-resistant kids would be advised to approach these awkward looking fruits, with their scummy fuzz on the skins and rock-hard texture.  She winked and said “slow bake them with honey.”  That sounded do-able, but when I got home, I just wasn’t all that motivated to get it going.  I’m the same girl who let a cherimoya rot on the counter because I kept forgetting to get to it, and then they were out of season and we missed our big chance.

Am I ever glad I got over that particular hump.  I wish I had bought a dozen. Quince rocks my socks off.

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We took the kids to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, and had ourselves a rip-roaring good time.  One of the items we pick up was a bunch of Golden Globe turnips that the farmer assured us were tender and sweet and delicious.  She was absolutely adorable, with her hair in two golden braids and she didn’t mock me when I prodded her wares and looked suspicious.  The Boy actually suggested we get these, since he had fond memories of the last turnip trial we did.

Back at the Brat Cave, we decided to poke around for some recipes online.  At Culinate, we turned up what looked very much like a winner: Maple-Glazed Baby Turnips and Carrot Coins.  Maple and butter – what could be better?

The only problem?  The recipe called for Hickory Bacon Salt, and I don’t have any of that.  Granted, it sounds like a fabulous product, but we’re trying to really keep our sodium to a minimum.  We just omitted it, and moved ahead with the recipe.

My camera has been acting up lately – I think I need to clean it after using it so frequently in the kitchen.  The focus is sort of hit-or-miss.  Anyhoo:  Here’s the cast of characters:

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Yesterday, I posted the first part of this whole filo dough extravaganza.  Basically, what happened is that I had used only 1/2 a box of filo, and I didn’t want to put it away, so I decided to make some apple pies for treats.  Here’s what I started with:

• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• about 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• about 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• three small fuji apples
• a splash of vanilla extract
• 1/2 box of raisins (the kid’s snack size box – left over from our Cuban Ground Beef and Plantain meal)

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Many moons ago, well before I was married with kids, my parents took my siblings and I to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a Christmas holiday. We spent a glorious sunny week at a lovely resort, and my mom and I decided that vacation meant that Pina Coladas for breakfast were a-okay with both of us. The hardest decision to be made was whether we would like it served pool side or if we’d like to swim up to the bar. Seriously, that was one of the most relaxed holidays ever.

Since I’m on vacation for the holidays right now, I’ve been craving those tropical flavors. I always seem to have a bag of frozen pineapple on hand, and I had a few cans of light coconut milk in the pantry, so I rallied the kids and announced that we were going to be making pineapple and coconut smoothies.

While the Sous Chef loves pineapple like her mama, both The Boy and the Chef are not fans. It doesn’t matter if it is the sweetest, freshest pineapple in the entire universe. They won’t drink pineapple juice, and won’t eat the fruit. You know what time it is? TIME FOR A CHALLENGE.

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