Fruit @ MindSay

The people in the Family are possessed of talents.  Some cook or bake, some sew or fashion leather garments, chain mail.  Some farm, some do metal smithing, paint or make music.  Others' talents lie in the areas of warcraft, statecraft or are the keepers of tradition and the well of stories and the past.

 

One of my talents is that I brew...something which starts out as Adult Fruit Salad.  Please note the word 'adult'.  Coming from California to Texas, it never occured to me to explain any farther than this was 'adult'...meaning loaded with alchohol...in this case rum....a lot.  There are now certain people who eye anything I make with the word 'adult' in it as suspect and approach with caution.  This adult fruit salad is sweet and strong and sneaks up on you....

 

Recipie is a watermelon cut in half, scooped out, bunch of other fruit cut up and added to large bowl, large bottle of rum poured over, stir often and let marinate for minimum of 24 to 48 hours.  Scoop fruit back into watermelon shell and serve.  KEEP what ever juice and fruit is left over.

 

Add any fruit salad or juice left..mash fruit.  Put fruit and juice into sterilized jars with plastic wrap between the metal jar lid and the jar.  Shake every other day for 3 months.  Strain.  Rebottle into clan sterilized jars with plastic wrap and lids.  2 months later strain again until all setiment is gone....= Evil brew.  Or what has other wise become known as "The Man's Birthday Rum".

 

The Man is eagerly awaiting the current batch...which should be available by Thanksgiving, with a late summer batch just recently having been jarred which should be available around Valentine's Day/May Day. 

 

For those who scoff at making home made brew...in this case enhancing a product, or that this is actually done... A photo montage accompanies this post.

 

 

How did I forget that tangerines have seeds?

 

I don't normally eat citrus fruit straight. I usually like to have them in things; mandarin chicken salad, for instance. Those little slices of mandarin oranges make the salad. Don't ask me why... it's just one of my weird little quirks.

 

That being said, I was shopping at Trader Joe's over the weekend and there they were in one of the produce carts: teeny, tiny tangerines smiling up at me in their red, netted bag, all orange and cute. "Pick us!" they seemed to cheer. "We'll make you love citrus fruits again. Take a chance on us!"

 

I stood there to contemplate for a moment, remembering the tart tang of an orange, which was sometimes enough to make my face screw up in a grimace. And these things looked suspiciously like mini-oranges. "But," I thought, "they're so small. How bad could they be?" So I grabbed a bag and tossed them in my basket.

 

Cut to today, and me practically choking on a seed. After spending a few minutes peeling the thing, sectioning off the slices, and popping each piece into my mouth one by one, and savoring the juicy sweetness, thinking "Wow, maybe I should give eating citrus fruits another try" ... I crunch down on a seed.

 

And now I'm spending as much time on digging out the seeds and trying not to get tangerine juice all over my hands and clothes as I did on peeling the whole thing.

 

Screw you and your stupid hard-ass seeds, tangerines. I'll stick to my seedless oranges in salads.

 

 

iFeel:  hurt

iTunes: crunch

 

 

"Wait, that's not a fruit.  That's me." -- Me

"Where the hell would an atheist church be?  Right next to the Amish Circuit City?" -- a boy in my brother's math class

"Look at that magnolia tree!"
"You look at it!"
"Did you see that magnolia tree?"
"How could I not?!"
"Aren't you glad you looked at the magnolia tree?"
"Yes I am!  My life has been changed because I looked at the magnolia tree!  I am saved !"
-- My uncles Steve and Lou

And that's all I can remember for now.  =P

~G~

My mom recently got my brother and I a juicer.  It's a fancy one that separates the pulp out so you can put apples complete with skins in them and stuff. 

After a week, I'm really not seeing the point in it.  I could understand if this thing was meant to make juice a pitcher at a time, but the spout is too low for that to happen.

Seriously, why do these people expect me to cut up a couple apples into quarters, feed the pieces in one at a time, disassemble the machine, run the pieces through the dishwasher, then reassemble it all for one glass of apple juice?