What's your favorite FRUIT and why?

Not to highjack the thread but I sing that song to my animals using their names.

When we were kids, we ate Pomegranites, not because we particularly liked them, but because we'd compete to see who could spit the seeds the farthest. Anyone else do that?

I used to do that with cherry pits. Its really easy to shoot those puppies between your fingers. Boy, wasn't that the good ole days? Aren't we lucky that God gave us memories so we could look back and remember when.

Like when, as young teenage girls, we'd use two oranges to enhance what nature hadn't provided. LOL!

To heck with the oranges, I went for the cantalopes. hehehe. Just kidding.

All right....since we're now on a "play with food" track, my brother Paul and I used to see who could get the most green grapes in our mouths. Of course we didn't believe the other's count, so they would be spit out and counted again.....Yuk~ hahaha

Margaret,
How do you prepare your passionfruit for the ice cream. My vine currently has 98+ fruit on it and I don't have a clue how to use it.
Jan...

budgielover, no preparation at all. Just cut the passionfruit in half, scoop out the flesh on to the ice cream and enjoy. Lucky you with almost a hundred of them. What people do with excess fruit is to scoop the pulp into ice cube trays and freeze them. Then you can have a serve whenever you like. Passionfruit icing is also delicious. Just add some passionfruit pulp to the icing mix. Yummo.

Sounds good. Like the idea of freezing it. This year is the first year is has produced so many and wasn't sure what I was going to do with them all. They should be ripe in time for my Round Up Oct 18 so I will be able to share some. Do you eat the seeds as well as the pulp on the ice cream?

Oh yeah, everything except the casing. What type of passionfruit do you grow?

I bought the seed as P.edulis flavicarpa but it blooms with solid white flowers and produces yellow fruit. Someone suggested p.incarnata alba but it has the edulis leaves and not the incarnata leaves that alba has. Someone else suggested p. edulis "Norfolk" which is solid white but produces the purple fruit. At this point, I just call it great. In blooms well and self fruits. It does reach lengths of 30 feet if not kept in check. In the 5 years I've had it in the ground, it has get to produce a runner so it is not invasive like many passis'. I gave away a bunch of seedlings last year but kept one for myself to see if it comes true from seed or reverts to one of the parents. I'm hoping for blooms next year to see.

Here is a link to a post on it. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/902589/

I had a look at the thread. Wow, what a fabulous crop. Impressive trunk. The whole thing seems to be providing some great shade for whatever is in the structure it's covering. I'm not familiar with the type you have. Here, the most frequently grown passionfruit seems to be "Nellie Kelly" with purplish-black skin. There are a few others that have become available in recent years, so called Panama Red and Panama Gold - don't know what their proper names are.

Hi
The structure is an old aviary. The roof rotted so I tore it off. It currently houses a flight cage of 5 cockatiels and eventually will become a potting/seedling shed. The vine covers the whole top of the structure and provides year round shade.

The birds must really love that shelter.

Yes they do. Very natural but they are protected in a large cage within. I have had hawks come down and perch on stuff on the outside with an eye on a snack but they couldn't figure how to get in. Apparenty, from the air, it looks like a complete green roof and they don't even attempt to try to get in through the vines.

Fruit is my favorite food. The most favorite is the one I happen to have at the moment. Fresh,sweet Northwest strawberries are wonderful, but the berry that really turns my crank is chilled red raspberry in a bowl with a sprinkling of sugar and cold evaporated milk. At lunch today a ripe pear and slice of aged cheddar cheese made a great meal.

Half your luck getting strawberries that aren big, hard and tasteless. You lunch sounds good.

I just bought some tangerines (the little sticker has 3 words and a kangaroo: "Riversun Australia and Ellendale"!) but the sign at the grocery said they are a combo of the tangerine and some other fruit. They are delicious! Any ideas of what they cross with the tangerines?

Connie, I had to Wikipedia tangerine, even though I am familiar with them at the fresh produce markets. They described them as a citrus fruit, smaller and easier to peel and sweeter than an orange. They go by an alternative name of Clementine (according to Wikipedia) and Honey Murcott. Honey Murcott are sold as mandarines here and I thought they were different to the tangerines. Must try one. It doesn't look like they're actually crossed with anything. I guess I'll have to head off to the fresh produce market tomorrow and see what's available now.

A work colleague told me that her next door neighbour has loquats in season at the moment. I'll check them out as well.

Well, after I posted that, I checked my grocery receipt while driving to work yesterday and it said MANDARINES. ??
I KNOW the sign at the bin in the grocery had 2 names, inferring a cross. Maybe I"ll be there this weekend and can check again, but they are definitely better than what they sell as "tangerines" here. Less "membrain" (sp?) on the fruit after it is pealed, AND the flesh seems redder.

Thanks, Margaret, for the info. So cool that of ALL the people to reply about a fruit I ate from AUSTRALIA, it was you!! haha

I'm dying to come to Australia!!! I've been to Europe, Asia, South America, other places, but never to your area and I'm trying to convince the DH to travel more before we're bedridden! haha He's 62 and I'm 57, so I'm just kidding.

Geez, I would consider myself lucky to get out of Florida for a few days. LOL Last time I left the state was 18 yrs ago. I would like to see more of this country before venturing overseas.

Hey, Connie. I'm sure you'd love Australia. I'm not the least bit biased of course. BTW, I'm at work and I've just been told there's a loquat tree over the road, so I'm going to head over.

Couldn't help but to reply to this fun post.

Some, no doubt, will 'think me a nut', but my favorite fruit is
the nectarine. Why?

An apple can be sliced with a corer and eaten neatly.
Watermelon can be eaten with a fork on a plate.
Strawberries with your fingers.
And so on.

But to truly dig in and enjoy a nectarine, one should be in
the shower. I kid you not. When we have nectarines, the best
time to eat them is while you are standing in the shower. Sink
your teeth in, let the juices explode from the fruit and really get
into your fruit.

Okay, some of you are looking at my post cock-eyed, yes? LOL.
I don't mind. I really enjoy my nectarines, but they are so messy.
Being a bit of a priss at times, it is hard to enjoy the fruit when
one is worried about drips and drops. So when it is time for a
shower, hop in with the nectarine and have at it. Then clean up
and take a shower as usual.

It's okay to think I'm weird. Everyone else does. Ha!

:-) KM

Okay...here's what I DO when eating a nectarine! I take a bite, then quickly suck up the juice after each bite, so it doesn't ruin my clothes. Of course, this does have to be done in private, so people can't hear the rude noises!!

You are right..it takes special action to deal with the wonderful juicy-ness!! :-)

WUVIE, doesn't sound the least bit odd to me. I read your description of the nectarines you're fortunate enough to have, with great envy. I love nectarines. They were (note emphasis on past) my favourite fruit. Unfortunately all the nectarines we get are like cannon balls, hard and tasteless. I've given up. Might be a little better this summer as we have a "real" farmers market each Saturday.

Connie, (drum roll), here are loquats, picked today. I tried one and they aren't ripe. These are only about half the size they get to.

I wonder if cannon balls are really tasteless. They'd at least be high in iron.

Here's one I cut in half. Note the slippery looking seeds.

Last one. I'll keep my eye on the tree as the fruit ripen. Even though the one I tried wasn't ripe, it still had a nice flavour.

Wow...that is the neatest "strange" (well, to our eyes! haha) fruit I've ever seen! Thanks so much for picking some early and sharing the photos. Now, will these beauties ripen now that you have picked them "early"?

My pleasure, Connie. I don't know if they continue to ripen once picked. I added these to the compost.

Okay, I think I've read this post from beginning to end, but I didn't see anyone mention blueberries! Oh my goodness ... they've got to be my favorite! And just think of all those good properties they say are in those things! Well, I really don't care ... it's the wonderful fruity taste that keeps me coming back time and time again. LOL I eat them plain or put them in yogurt or in my oatmeal in the winter. Oh, wait a minute ... you don't like oatmeal? Okay, put those babies in some muffins or a pie or a nice cake. Blueberries are good no matter how you serve them! That's my favorite all time fruit
~Susan!

I love blueberries frozen! Great snack.
Jan...

MMM. Blueberries and Rice Chex cereal!

Susan,

I was never served blueberries as a child from Edna in South Texas, BUT soon after I married in the 70's my ex's aunt in Big D (Dallas) had us over for dinner and had a simple dessert: vanila ice cream and fresh blueberries....and I was HOOKED! Ever since I've eaten them like crazy, and I have read--as you said--about their wonderful healthy properties!! Thanks for reminding! :-) (I just remembered having fresh blueberry pie in Maine once...THE BEST!!! )

Connie

Connie, when they come in fresh here, I lay them out on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper and freeze them ... then just drop them into a zip lock bag. When I get ready to use them, I run them under running water and toss them in cottage cheese, my oatmeal, muffins, cakes, pies or just eat them. :) They're wonderful, and I have them all year long. :)