
and wash your hands afterwards." --Robert Heinlein.

We've moved!


Friday, May 14, 2010

Grapefruit Spoon

from here

In order to understand how hard it is for my to by fruit at the grocery store, especially citrus, I need to paint a picture for you of how I grew up. My parents live (still) on two acres in southern California. The backyard is mostly avocado trees other than back porch, falling apart chicken coop, and an assortment of apple, plum and peach trees. The front yard is mainly landscaping, but there are still a handful of avocado trees, several orange trees, a peach tree, a grapefruit tree, a lemon tree, a lime tree and a tangerine tree.

As a kid, even as an adult, when dinner is in the oven and its salmon (which it typically is if my dad has his say) someone gets sent outside to pick a lemon. Having breakfast for dinner, or just feel like a nice glass of freshly squeezed orange juice? Just head down the driveway and pick some oranges. Having tacos or making a salad and want to add more to it? Go see if there are any avocados.

In the ten total years of my life that I haven't lived in California, I've probably bought eight avocados at the store. I just can't bring myself to pay the steep prices the store charges for something I grew up thinking was free.

The other day I bought a grapefruit because while at the store, Buddy asked me if it was a giant orange. We tried it the other night, and Princess Sparkley, who is anti-fruit, LOVED it. I've finally found a fruit that the girl likes, and it's the one that is super difficult to eat. Is there a way to enjoy a grapefruit that doesn't involve slicing it in half, and using a knife and a grapefruit spoon to cut out each bite?


Heather Payne said...

Melanie revolutionized my grapefruit-eating life when she bought me a grapefruit knife from Pampered Chef. It is a split blade so you put one blade on each side of the grapefruit section and cut once, instead of having to cut around each side of the triangular wedge. I know it doesn't seem like it would be amazing, but it is. I'll bring it when I see you this weekend so you can take it for a test drive, but don't even think about keeping it. :-)

Erin said...

One of the few fruits Lydia will eat is grapefruit. I am also extremely lazy about the cutting them up. I am trying to get her to do it herself but she wastes so much. I think I need that special knife!

EmmaJ said...

What a lucky childhood you had! My in-laws have peach trees and I feel the same way that you do, but only about peaches.
As for serving the grapefruit, you can always supreme it, a culinary term for cutting out each segmant. Here is a blog link I found about it... but they use a way too big knife. I would just use a sharp paring knife.


Ann Best said...

Love grapefruit! Slice one in half and dig into it with a small jagged edged spoon that I got from my mother's house when she passed away. A spoon from my childhood.

Angela said...

I feel the same way about blackberries, they sell them for so much at the store when really they are a giant weed in Oregon. I also feel the same way about citrus after living in AZ. We had a grapefruit tree in our yard and I would eat a fresh one every morning. I really miss it, and the store bought ones are just not the same.

Lund said...

I think I have one of the Pampered Chef knives for grapefruit. I thought it was for something to do with avocados and could never figure out how it was to be used. I will have to go pick a grapefruit and try it out.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...