Katie by the Bay

Star fruit have always been an interesting fruit from the far off tropics shrouded in mystery in my mind. I had only ever seen them a few times in the grocery store. On my last trip to the produce isle I grabbed one to satisfy my long curiosity.       The Carambola or Starfruit is grown in various locations in Southeast Asia as well as Latin America, the Carribean and some parts of Southern America. It comes in two main varieties, the small tart Star fruit and the larger sweet one. The entire fruit can be eaten and it is rich in Vitamin C, Potassium,antioxidants and has a low sugar content.  The skin of my Star fruit (which I'm quite sure had to be a sweet one) was waxy and very easy to slice. It had a particular fragrance on the outside, very sweet, almost fake compared to other fruits I've had. The flesh had an unexpected crispness when sliced which was pleasant. I didn't really know much about my new snack at the time but upon later reading I discovered the e...

I come from a back round of bad eating habits. From around age 13 to age 17 I dealt with Anorexia in varying degrees. As a result I always either ate with guilt or guilty pleasure. Since changing my eating habits it's amazing how my thinking has changed and I wanted to share some of that. Firstly, I no longer feel guilty when I eat. I used to feel like I was committing  a crime anytime I ate anything, no matter what it was. Since IBS was added into the mix I eat for very different reasons. Mainly my health and well being. Having to restrict the amount of processed, and animal based foods has really cleared the way for me to exploring the possibility of living well on a high raw largely plant based diet. I more often make food choices based on nutrition rather than keeping under a certain amount of calories per day. I really had to keep reminding myself that raw fruits and vegetables are much lower in calories than many other foods. So in order to stay healthy and keep energy I need...

I'm back with yet another crazy fruit to try. I have had persimmons before but American persimmons are fairly different from Asian ones. Before I go to my first impressions of the Asian I wanted to do a comparison of the two.  Unlike the Asian persimmon the American  is very wrinkly when ripe and much smaller in size. I have very fond memories of stopping on the side of the road to eat these wild in the colder months when these are in season. They can be a kind of gross texture but they taste really good. Kind of sweet, maybe similar to what I would imagine the love child of a raw fig and a date to taste. Usually very creamy but on occasion a little mealy. If I remember right they do have pits and the skin can be pretty tough. Still yummy eats and thinking about them makes me wish I had some. In this picture you can see the Asian Persimmon is about the size of a medium tomato. It feels similar to a tomato when ripe as well. A little bit of give but not squishy at all. There we...

So I am back today to share another crazy fruit that was new to me. A few weeks ago I was doing my weekly shopping and I was looking for Apricots which were on sale for a great price. Imagine my surprise to turn  to see not orange Apricots, but bright red, exotic looking Dragonfruit!  Of course I grabbed one and at over $5 a piece that was a bit pricey but how could I say no. Dragonfruit or Pitaya are apart of the cactus fruit family and come in several different varieties. The one I purchased was a white flesh variety but I have seen red flesh as well. The flesh is soft and filled with tiny crunchy black seeds; similar to a kiwi. The flavor is described as mild and sweet. With thick red skin against the white flesh and dark seeds it makes for a very eye pleasing nom. Before I go into the tasting of the Dragonfruit let me mention that I am not unfamiliar with cactus fruit. Living in Texas and having made a few trips to Mexico growing up I have had the occasional delicious purp...

When I thought of fruit growing up; I thought of Red Delicious or Granny Smith apples, plain old Naval oranges and  yellow bananas. Not super exciting honestly. Incorporating more fresh fruit in my diet has caused me to branch out in my search for constant variety. Imagine my elation when I happened apon a most strange  specimen in the produce isle.  This interesting fruit was called a Cherimoya. Native to South America this tropical fruit looks kind of like a lizard tomato. So naturally I had to purchase one for my tasting pleasure and at almost $5 a piece I was hoping for deliciousness. Now it seems that these little lizard tomatoes are a bit like Durian fruit in that everyone describes the taste differently. I read mostly that it should taste like vanilla cream; but others said things ranging from pineapple to bubblegum. That seemed like quite a range of otherwise unrelated flavors.  When ripe it should give just a little to the touch and look a little beat up. ...

I have heard many things about the exotic Passionfruit. It seems like one of those fruits that either you love or hate. I have heard it described as the most delicious fruit in the world. I have also heard described as a slimy fruit that tastes like old lady perfume. So naturally I needed to try one. I paid almost $3 for one Passionfruit and as you can see in the picture it isn't very big at all. So this would be a special occasion splurg fruit for me. Native to South America this fruit is rich in Vit C, Iron, Beta Carotene and potassium. I myself had never actuall had a real Passionfruit and was very surprised by the appearance. They feel almost like fake fruit because they are so light inside and have a smooth and hard outer skin. I didn't know this at the time but if you allow your Passionfruit to get wrinkly it will be sweeter. I thought wrinkly was bad so I ate mine when it was still quite smooth. Imagine my horror to open up my Passionfruit to find what looked like frog e...