[Homestead] new stuff

Akka Homestead akkabhomestead at yahoo.com
Sun Sep 7 13:07:25 EDT 2008


I grew up in a typical middle class home.  Mother was a good cook, but never cooked anything exotic. We almost never ate out-only on vacation to eat seafood while in Florida.
I never tasted Chinese food until I was in college.  My only foray into Mexican cuisine was Old El Paso taco shells and McCormick taco mix for ground beef.  I think the first restaurant I ate at after I left home was Mexican, and I recall having refried beans and nachos for the first time.  I was a fan.  Still, it wasn't until about 15 years ago when I finally got the guts to try guacamole.  My sister introduced it to me, and I watched her mash the avocados.  It was okay, but something about it did not set well with me.  I think I was mostly turned off by the color. I dunno.
Recently, I have had urges to try new things and old things in different ways.  I am trying to eat more fresh fruits and veggies, so I really eye the produce department when I am in the store. Yesterday, I bought what turned out to be the most perfectly ripe avocado, and today, I made my first ever batch of guacamole.  It was just dumb luck that I got one that was perfectly ripe, but I know now what to look and feel for.   I used the one avocado, a tablespoon of homemade hot salsa, one fresh-from-the-garden serrano chili pepper, about 1/4 onion-from-the-garden-diced very, very fine, 3 TBSP cilantro, and some lime juice.  OH MY GOD.   I can't believe I have missed out on this for almost half a century.  I recall once buying an avocado once just for the seed.  I threw the meat away!!!   What was I thinking???
Okay, so now I am totally psyched to try things.  The other thing I bought was a mango.  I recall trying something with mango years ago, but I did not like it then.  It looked like a peach, but tasted differently-can't describe it other than to say that I did not like it.  I am thinking of trying it ala Mexican style with chili powder and salt.  Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Also, what about papaya?
What have I been missing all of these years?
I wish I had a juicer, but I don't.  I also don't have any ice cream-don't usually buy sweets.

Akka B



      


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