On Making Grapfruit Juice

Yes okay, so it's another post about fruit. I know, I know! I can't help it!

The other day we were driving around looking at some houses (yes! you heard right!). While we were driving around we saw so many neglected fruit trees. The fruit trees were laden and there was fruit all over the ground. Sadness! We shook our proverbial fists at them and wished for fruit trees of our own. We really wanted some grapefruit. So we did what any normal people would do. We bought them! We stopped by our friends house and begged to grab some grapefruit off their trees. They gladly obliged and gave us some plastic bags to bring our bounty home in. Boy did we ever! We came home with two bags full of the juiciest sweetest grapefruit I ever did taste! Actually, to me the flesh looked more like oranges but Phil assured me they were grapefruit. Well, all right then.

We squeezed out the juice, added a bit of water and gave it a try. Ahhh! Incredible! I could really get used to this. I think we're onto something.













Today we juiced up a lot of them and put the juice in containers to freeze for later. It will be a delicious treat for any time of year! Fresh fruit juice is the way to go.

Seriously. Yum.

xoxo
Talia Christine

On Making Kiwifruit Jam

Before you freak out, I have to get this off my chest:

I don't really care for kiwifruit.

It's too acidic. It hurts my tongue. For that matter, I don't really care for pineapple either, but what do I know? However, what I do love are jams and preserves. Mmmm! Nothing beats a warm piece of buttered toast with homemade jam. C'mon. Give me a break, that's soooo good!




A few days ago, Phil brought home an entire gigantic boxful of kiwifruit that he gathered from around the orchard. It's a big box. I can't lift it; but that's not saying much either. We all know it, I'm puny when it comes to lifting. Either way, it IS a ton of kiwifruit that we wouldn't be able to consume any time soon.

The way I see it, there's only one solution:
Homemade jam. Yummy, gooey, tart, and sweet... homemade jam.


I set off peeling a small mountain of kiwifruit armed with determination and a small, not-the-sharpest hand knife. As I stood there, peeling 3 lbs of kiwifruit, I learned a few things...

1. Not all kiwifruit are equal. Some are harder to peel than others. Some, in fact, were very very hard. Whether they were on the vine too long or not ripe enough, I'm not sure. I'm no kiwifruit expert, but I was certain I would lose a finger at some point.

Rest assured. I have all my digits intact.



2. Peeling 3 lbs of kiwifruit is not as fun or romantic as you might imagine. Sure it seemed like a genius idea at the time, but after awhile of tearing away at the kiwifruit mini-mountain and you see little progress you might begin to get disheartened. But, I prevailed with sheer determination (or madness) and made it through. It took ages, I won't lie.



3.Did I mention that kiwifruit are very acidic? Kiwifruit can work as a meat tenderizer. It also worked very well tenderizing my hands. I'm still not sure whether this was a good or bad thing.


Sure, there are easier ways of acquiring jam for your pantry, like the local grocery store for instance, but if you are willing to go the extra mile making your own cannot be beat!!



It turned out pretty good! Amazing in fact. I love this jam. I don't think this will stick around long, and after that I will just have to make some more. Believe me, it's worth it.

xoxo
Talia Christine