22 in 2022: Try a new Fruit -- Raspberry Orange Trials

 I get a lot of emails from various stores and authors. Most of them I just glance at. Rarely do I read one in it's entirety. However, one email from Meijer caught my eye. It said they were selling raspberry oranges. They were an orange that tasted like raspberries. I like raspberries and tolerate oranges. I thought this combo would be pretty good. The next time we went to Meijer, I checked them out. I could only get them in a 3 lb bag and decided not to just in case I didn't like them. I suggested to Erin that she should bring them to our crepe party. And she did.

Raspberry oranges inside can vary from a deep dark red to an almost pink color. It almost looks like the oranges were injected with raspberry syrup to get the raspberry flavor. They are quite juicy.

The raspberry oranges were much better than the kumquats. They do taste like raspberry and have a tartness to them. Because I really don't eat oranges but just suck the juice out them, raspberry oranges aren't really good for that. You kind of have to eat the pieces as they tend to break off when you try to suck the juice. 

I would get raspberry oranges again. Maybe I can find just one or two at a clip as I never would get through 3 lb bag myself. I don't think they would juice up very nicely either. If you get a chance to try them, I would definitely suggest doing so. It breaks up the regular orange routine.

Stay tuned through the year to see what other weird and exotic fruits I end up trying.

22 in 2022: Try a new Fruit -- Kumquat Trials

 I enjoyed trying new fruits last year so I thought I would like to continue to try new fruits this year. At our crepe brunch, Erin surprised me and brought kumquats for us to try. 

Kumquats look like little mini oranges and are citrus fruit. You eat the rind and all.

I do not like kumquats. I do not like them at all. They are nasty little sour buggers that probably might be work as an alcohol infusion and that's about it. 

I took one bite and spit it out. Definitely won't be having them again any time soon. Maybe if I found a use for them besides popping them in mouth, I would be more apt to eat them again but straight up kumquats are not for me. Janis on the other hand loves them.

My Adventures with Buddha's Palm

I am not an adventurous eating. However, when Stacy said she bought this fruit and then discovered there are only two ways to eat the fruit and I needed to try it, of course I did.

For Halloween Stacy bought Buddha's Palm. It is a yellow citrus fruit with tentacles that kind of look like goblin fingers. It smells good and makes a great centerpiece. That is all it's really good for. You really can't eat it. 

After some googling, Stacy discovered you can candy it or infuse alcohol with it as well. She opted to candy. So that's how I ended up trying Buddha's palm. She candied it and brought me some. She also used the candied liquid as a simple syrup in a drink and it was really good.

What does Buddha's palm taste like? Citrus peel. It is like you are eating the peel of a lemon or an orange. It is tart yet sweet because it's candied. It was actually really good and I will enjoy the Buddha's Palm that she left me. 

Would I buy it myself? Probably not. I don't need a good smelling centerpiece and I have no desire to candy the fruit itself. But if someone else buys it and candies it, I will have no objection to eating it. 

So the next time you are wandering through the produce island of Woodman's and see Buddha's palm remember unless you want to candy it or infuse alcohol with it, you might want to pick up a different fruit.

21 in 2021: Try a new Fruit -- Dragon fruit Trials

 Last year when I made my 20 in 2020 list, I added try a new fruit. Due to the pandemic and pure laziness on my behalf that never happened. So I put it on my 21 in 2021 list. Erin said she was going to bring star fruit to our next gathering for me to try. 

As we planned the lasagna party, Erin said she was bringing fruit so I could try star fruit. However, it is February in Wisconsin and exotic fruits aren't the easiest to come to by. I told her if she couldn't find star fruit that dragon fruit, jack fruit, or prickly pear would also work. I said to text me from the store and I would let her know if I've eaten the fruit in question.

She didn't find star fruit but got dragon fruit instead. I got a text asking "yellow" or "red". I didn't know there was a difference. I picked red since that is what was pictured in my mine mind. 

Erin took care of peeling the dragon fruit beforehand. She said she had to Google how to peel a dragon fruit. I would had to google it as well. Janis cut the dragon fruit into pieces at the party. She cut them into round slices.

A dragon fruit is similar to a kiwi and a pear. It a soft fruit with many seeds. 

If you eat a dragon fruit with it hitting the front of your tongue, it really has no taste. Since it's not really a sweet fruit, the flavor comes from the side of your tongue. I really didn't get much flavor either way. This was probably a good thing since it wasn't absolutely disgusting. It was actually quite interesting. The seeds didn't really bother me. 

I think I would have liked it to have more flavor. It was kind of blah tasting to me. I would definitely eat it again. Since it is on the softer side, it might be good in a tropical fruit salad with mango, kiwi, passion fruit, and some fresh coconut. Maybe I can convince Erin to do that for our next get together minus the coconut for Danielle.

I still want try star fruit and other exotic fruits. Stay tuned for more fruit trials.