Get Juicy with Mango Fruit!!!

Hey Fruit Friends!

Check out my latest video on the Ataulfo mango!                                                        ~Traci

Mandolin Slicer Injury WARNING GRAPHIC!!

Hello Fruit Friends!!  March 20th is the first day of Spring!!  I am so excited for the Spring and Summer crops.  I just put all of my seedlings in the ground and I'm hoping we don't have too many more nights below freezing.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying my spotted bananas, papaya, dates, tomatoes, pineapple, oranges, and DURIAN!!  

FRUIT WIN:  I scored an incredible durian at my local Asian market.  It was about 6 pounds and had hints of vanilla and papaya.....SO GOOD!  I found that I'm getting faster at opening durian.  I used to fuss with it for several minutes and saw away at it with a serrated knife.  Now, I just find the "zipper" line along the body of a pod and press firmly into the zipper with both thumb pads as if I'm spearing it.  The zipper just splits open and I can pull it apart.  Sometimes I can pull it open so that the durian splits in half!  Then, I just do the same thing with all of the other pods.

Splitting the first pod

Aerial view of 5 split pods

FRUIT CHALLENGE:  I used my mandolin slicer for the first time last night and made a careless mistake.  I was slicing cucumber and got impatient with the guard slipping, so I just used my hand to slice.  I got my fingers a little too close to the blade and sliced my fingertip off of my right hand ring finger!!  I didn't get stitches, but it was a serious cut.  Lesson learned.  So, please be careful when you are using a mandolin.  They make beautiful slices for raw pizza or lasagna, but use care and don't be in a hurry.  

My ouchie:

Sur La Table actually has some pretty nice looking mandolines and there are instructional safe use videos on their website:

http://www.surlatable.com/category/SCA-5833/Mandolines-and-Slicers

Xoxo, Traci

Spotted bananas and blender benders!!!

Hey Fruit Friends!!

FRUIT WIN:  I have been enjoying all of the beautiful papayas I scored recently.  They are so lovely and sweet when they turn golden in color and give to gentle pressure.  I also scored some beautiful spotted bananas at my local salvage food store for $0.29/lb!!  Make sure to ask your grocer what they do with their spotted bananas.  Some grocers bag them and discount them, but others simply throw them out.  You may be able to arrange to regularly pick them up at a certain time at the discounted price!  :)

FRUIT CHALLENGE:  I have been blending my fruit dressings in a food processor, but it is limiting in terms of creating a smooth creamy texture and I can't put tough-skinned fruit or ice in my food processor!  I've heard that BlendTec blenders are the best.

http://www.blendtec.com/

I went to Amazon and even the used Blendtecs are close to $400!!!  Yikes!!!  Do you guys know of any other good blenders that work just as well for whipping up fruit and ice?  I used to own a Vitamix blender and got it used on Ebay.  It worked for blending softer fruits, but struggled when it came to blending ice and tough-skinned fruit.  Let me know what you guys think!!                                                  
                                                                                                                                       ~Traci

Persimmon Seeds!!