Tuesday, May 19, 2009

So Ugly




Have you tried an Ugli Fruit? (Pronounced "oo-glee") We stumbled on these weird fruits while browsing at The Fresh Market. I haven't seen them before. We just had to try one. For being so unattractive, its really amazingly good. It was about the size of a large grapefruit. It has a really thick peel that pulls away from the fruit like a tangerine. It also pulls apart in big juicy sections like a tangerine, too.

Apparently it is some kind of hybrid of a grapefruit, orange, and tangerine. Other than the size, I can't taste anything grapefruity about it. The one we bought was really sweet and juicy. And I can taste an orange/tangerine mix. Really good stuff.
Buy one if you run across any of these. It was kind of expensive, and I probably wouldn't buy a lot of them regularly, but it was a fun treat to try something new and.....well.....ugly. I did some quick google research before we ate this one, and apparently its so disfigured that its really hard to tell when these things are ripe.
The suggestion was to judge its weight by holding it. If it feels decently heavy then its probably ripe. I didn't know that when we were shopping, but I lucked up and got a ripe one. The flavor really is delicious.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Monday



Do you think my houseplants will survive the unrelenting kitty attack?

Sunday, May 17, 2009

As Seen On TV



Most of the wacky products sold on TV infomercials that I have actually bought have disappointed me. But these Green Bags? So far they have done what they said they would. I did NOT order these from TV though. I was walking around the produce section of my local grocery store and saw them for sale. I figured why not give them a try. With only 2 of us eating at home anymore, we lose a lot of fruits and veggies due to spoiling. Especially cucumbers. It seems like those things go bad within minutes of bringing them home from the store. So I have been trying these out for about 2 weeks. And guess what? They work. I even had cucumbers that I bought at the same time that I bought the bags....I used the last one of those tonight, and it was as good as when I brought it home. My grapes are still firm and crunchy a week or so later. So far, I have been really happy with the results.

Right now, my son Stephen is conducting his own experiment (he bought the bags, too).
He bought 4 bananas just to test them out. One is sitting on the counter, one is sitting on the counter in a Green Bag, one is in the fridge, and one is on the counter in a regular plastic bag. I am waiting to see which one lasts the longest. I had a bunch of bananas, and I left one out of the Green bag to see if it spoiled more quickly than the ones in the bag....but my husband ate it before we could find out. Haha. The 2 or so left in the bag are still good after about 8 days though. Thats definitely a record. Noone around here will eat bananas after they get past the just barely ripe stage. Anyway, I'm not being paid to advertise these bags or anything, but I was happy to find something to extend the life of all the produce we buy and thought I would pass the tip along. I have also seen them in Walgreens, too.

Also? We just came back from seeing "Angels and Demons". It was pretty good. I mean, I read the book, so I knew what was going to happen. But I thought it was entertaining. Tom Hanks is good in pretty much every role he plays.

I was thinking that at some point I might write a little bit about the dog that we just lost. But every time I start to think about exactly what I want to say, I tear up all over again. I have cried enough over these past couple of days that my body feels dehydrated. Maybe some time in the near future I can write about him. Not yet, though. But the one thing that I did want to say is this....you know how some people just seem to fit with your personality better than others? Well, this dog was the perfect fit for me. We've had lots of dogs, but this one was mine. I'm coming to accept that everything happened exactly like it needed to. He was so sick that we really don't think he would have lived much longer...maybe not even through the weekend the way that things were going. But I miss him. A LOT. I hope that one day I can think about this and just enjoy all the good parts without crying my eyes out.