Are We Still Here???

Ok, I wrote this blog post on the final day of life, of earth's existence or whatever it was supposed to be. If you're reading it, I guess we're still here. December 13th has arrived. I presume I, too, am still here...

But let me tell you about the fruit lately. What is going on with it?? Usually, come winter I can count on the great clementines and navel oranges. That's the fruit to me that says Winter! Even better are little satusumas but I can rarely find them any more. Or if I do, I have to consider ....Do I really want them at this price? The price that sends me over the edge is when a satsuma is priced individually. I mean I eat 3 or 4 of these babies at a time!

But so far, the citrus fruit I've bought this year has been ...meh. Already slightly dry and just...not...very good. Oh well, I only have two more little crates of clementines to go through. Sigh.

So the sad citrus saga takes me to the fruit many love but I think of as the vegetable of fruits. Apples. Yes, they can be great, and I grew up with ones that DID taste good but still...They have always been, for me, the fruits you eat because they're there. You need fruit and apples are there. Eat one. Ok, check that off the list for today. Apples are the filler between the wonderful peach season and the winter citrus season. Apples. Bleh.

This year, however, my dh bought some apples that really were good. I like them refrigerator chilled and I really enjoyed them. Then they were gone, and of course, he had 1. no idea what they were and 2. no idea where he bought them. Typical. Typical. Typical.  So after the citrus disappointment which is going on as long as I have those insipid little orange reminders of what-wasn't-to-be, I succombed t apples. A bag of beautiful red apples. Not Red Delicious which is no longer delicious but a variety whose name I have forgotten. (I've lived too long with The Man.)

Pretty apples? oh yes.

I have to say they look beautiful in the blue and white bowl, but somehow I feared that they were Beauties w/o Substance.

still hoping for a great taste

aaaargh

Dear God was I right! I cut one, and there was still promise. But then I saw the red color had bled into the white flesh!! Bled??? RED DYE 1? 2? 73? Ok, possible red dye be damned, what about the taste?? Arrgh, that wretched texture of slightly mealy. Not crisp, not tangy, just bland and mealy.

sadly not the answer

To endure such apples, I often resort to a dab of peanut butter on each slice.  Nope...it almost ruined the taste of the peanut butter.

And so...I have a bag of red beauties. Tasteless beauties.  Perhaps the Paris Hilton variety... Well, do I keep them as table decorations instead of flowers? or do I cook them into applesauce which I don't care for and don't eat? Will they even be good for adding to onions for pork? What is the answer! The big question is...how long is it til peach season???

Pies for both Hemispheres

I know for us here in the northern hemisphere, it's getting hot and hotter. But that does hold the promise of summer fruit and all those yummy cherry and peach desserts. To me the peach is THE fruit. I love mangoes, but I get Real, Ripe peaches round here and oh...I can almost smell them now. For those of you going into winter, well there's apples. I tend to think of apples as almost the most utilitarian of all fruits. Brush your teeth, eat an apple, make the bed... To me apples are fine, sure, whatever...And yes, I have had gems over the years, but thems not peaches.

So why do I say any of this? Well, Not Martha has a wonderful trick (is it truc en francaise?) about baking the little goodies in the short canning jars. Look see!

I can't wait to test this one out and she references other ideas...cakes, frozen desserts. Oh yes....

(REMEMBER THERE IS A GIVEAWAY BELOW...JUST MAKE A POST AND YOU'LL BE ENTERED)

Rainy and sickly

When I journal in the early a.m., I start out with a technique given to me by a friend. I answer the question Weather outside? and then Weather inside? . Outside today, it's pouring down rain, a real wintry rain. Inside? well I feel really down with this chest congestion and sore throat. No energy even tho I have a few important things to do before vacation, including visiting the Department of Motor Vehicles. The latter isn't so bad since it mostly involves sitting and waiting to get the little sticker for the tag. I am also going to get myself personalized tags again, something I had for years but gave up in 2001. I'll take a magazine and enjoy the process. Isn't that the point of life? Be in the moment, experience it all (cough cough) and stay present.

DH has taken himself to the doctor so he should be coming home with medicine and even better - a bag of navel oranges. I need that sunny energy so I'll look at this picture of clementines until he gets home. Maybe sunny Spain is what we really do long for. I'll try to keep that in mind, because this malaise isn't fun...