Ugly Fruit

This week when I was cutting up some ugly fruit, I was thinking of how often we judge (or should I say "misjudge") something by how it looks on the outside. There are some terrific grapefruit we buy whenever they are available; the industry labels them "choice" which doesn't mean choice by the dictionary definition. It actually means "You'd never buy these if you purchased them based on what they look like." We've bought a few products for ourselves that were labeled "choice", and we never know what we're going to get. They are definately outside the standards produce vendors use to decide what is acceptable to market and what is not. Basically it means "ugly fruits" versus the beautiful ones we all want to buy when we pick through the produce bins.

Anyway, we often buy "choice" for ourselves as it is about half the price of the regular produce. If we list it in the price list, we always tell folks it's "choice" although I'm sure that's misunderstood to mean it is a good thing. Buying "choice" is a good way to save money on organic produce, but it's not regularly available. Probably the growers sell it or give it to their workers, so it rarely hits the marketplace.

We've been buying these "choice" grapefruit all season. Everytime we order them, the vendor asks us if we know they are ugly. We answer that we do, but we go for the flavor which is superb. They agree, but they want us to know because they say, it is very hard to sell this ugly fruit when it is sitting in bins.

So, I was thinking as I was eating some of my ugly grapefruit the other day, why are some fruits on the tree perfectly beautiful and others ugly? I was wondering if perhaps the ugly ones sacrifice working on their outsides instead concentrating all their energy on the inside production of sweet, juicy fruit. (Some of these are sweeter than oranges, I'm not kidding you.) Then I thought how like people this is. So many times, the workers in our culture are those who devote all their energy to making things nicer for the others around them (like my little grapefruit did for me). They don't always have time for the gym and the spa and expensive makeup and hair styles. They operate on very little maintenance and expend the majority of their energy and resources on others. Often they are looked down upon because of their appearance.

In the Old Testament of the Bible there is story of how David was chosen by the Lord to be king. There were many others who appeared more appropriate for the job, but the Lord told Samuel (who was doing the choosing): "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; ... for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). I guess I'm just thinking there's more to life than what we look like. Why is our self-esteem so tied up in that? Where do we come up with the standards by which we judge, and what have they got to do with what a person is really like?

Like the produce industry, standards are determined by what the product looks like. We all know the disappointment of seeing a beautiful piece of fruit and biting into it to find it is not at all juicy or delicious. Likewise, have we met a human being that had all the beautiful features we sought only to find out they were shallow and selfish? Of course, this is not to say that all beautiful people are this way just as all beautiful produce does not taste yucky.

The other day at the market I had some collards that had a few circles on them where bugs had eaten a few holes. A customer said, "Oh, dear. You left them in the garden too long. You let the bugs get them." I was a little shocked and surprised. I have been growing vegetables and herbs organically for many years, and I have come to expect a little insect damage. I am, in fact, a little skeptical when there's NOT any. I figure if a bug doesn't want to eat it, it can't taste too good. (Are the people who spray pesticides really arrogant enough to think that they are killing all the insects?) This is not to say I eat insect-ridden food, but I am not opposed to sharing a little bit of the earth's bounty with our fellow creatures. Yes, they do create a more ugly product I suppose if one is looking for perfection.

There are a lot of factors that go into this which is more appropriate to a gardening discussion, such as the opinion that a healthy plant does not attract insects. In my experience, it is true that a healthy plant will not fall prey to fungus and disease as easily as a malnourished plant, but I'm pretty sure insects like to eat the good stuff as much as we do.

I suppose it all has to be put in perspective. When we can see things through the eyes of others, and especially through the eyes of the Savior, there might be a different slant on it than we are used to it. I recently saw a movie with my family where Hiccup tells us, "Everything we think we know is wrong!" Maybe there's some things we don't know that will come to us if we do some pondering and searching. Just as an "ugly" fruit might be sweeter than its more attractive fellows, so might a less attractive person have more to offer.

Well, I think I'm starting to ramble (don't I always?), so I need to move on to the task at hand. What to eat? What to eat? It is no easy task to figure out what the crew here wants to eat day after day, and I'm sure every family struggles with that. I think it might be harder for singles as they have to eat the same thing for 3 or 4 days in a row so that it doesn't go to waste. We don't have too many leftovers, that's for sure.

A lot of our meals are consisting of watermelon and cantaloupe. They are less expensive right now, and we can easily make a meal of them. Contrast that with peaches: my granddaughter eats about 10 of them at a time, but she can only eat about a fourth of a watermelon or half a cantaloupe. So, consequently, I love when the melons are in season. We're still enjoying the berries, and are glad the grapes have finally come in (even though the green ones were still a little tart). We eat about 3 pounds of grapes for a meal, so that can get a little pricy too. Bananas go a long way at our house for stretching the budget. We go through at least a half case (20 lbs) a week not counting those we freeze for smoothies or dehydrate for roll-ups and banana bark. (Boy, I am really in a rambling mood today. Sorry.)

Besides the fruits, we're enjoying lots of smoothies which are nice and cool if anyone has spent lots of time outside. I like to make a milkshake with strawberries I've frozen blended with almond mylk. I think that is my favorite. Whenever I make chocolate recipes, I always clean the chocolate out of the blender by mixing it with almond mylk and some frozen banana for a chocolate shake, but the strawberry is my favorite. I also like mango lassis. Here's a recipe I found in a recipe book that I adapted to the number I like to make: 2 cups almond milk, 1/2 cup agave, 2 cups frozen mango, and 8 teaspoons lemon juice.

I've got a fresh batch of Hawaiian granola coming out of the dehydrator, so we'll enjoy that for a few snacks and meals with almond mylk this week. We also made ball park sunnies (sprouted sunflower seeds dehydrated with garlic, chili powder, and unrefined sea salt) this week which we all enjoy topping our salads. We also made some curried cashews, candied almonds, and candied pecans that will grace our salads this week along with some goji berries and/or raisins. Of course, there's the ever present Ranch dressing we can't live without.

We have tons of good, organic zucchini in the garden right now (we can give you a great deal if you'd like some), so we're going to be having lots of "noodle" meals this week where we shred up the squash and use it as a base for different sauces: marinara, peanut sauce, cheddar cheese, and queso verde. My favorite right now is the queso verde; we make a "green spaghetti" by mixing it into the zucchini and marinated broccoli. We like it with a little marinated mushroom and sliced tomato on the side.

While we've got the marinated broccoli and the cheddar, we'd better make some broccoli cheese soup - Alicia's favorite. Very good with some Alicia crackers. These crackers will also taste good with a little avo mayo (blend together ½ cups water, 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons raw agave or honey, 2 teaspoons sea salt, and 1 ripe Haas avocado) spread on them and topped with sliced tomato and some sprouts. We've also got some fresh pita chips that are good this way (also crumbled up on top of a salad like croutons).

We also love the zucchini chips with Ranch dressing with some carrot sticks. This makes a nice light dinner. Along the same line is celery sticks with honey almond butter. Surprisingly satisfying.

I think that about covers the meals for the week. Desserts will include our new chocolate mousse trifle which is too good for any description I could write, apple crisp, key lime pies, coco bites. We also have some soul dates that helps to satisfy the sweet tooth.

I suppose that's it for now, and I suppose I'll have to go somewhere else to do my rambling. Hoping it's a good week for everyone.