Fresh from Florida: How To Make A Citrus Fruit Salad
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| Fresh Grapefruit |
I have lived in Florida for most of my life. One of the greatest things about being a Florida resident is the wealth of fruit trees. Anytime of the year you can find something ripening on a tree in many a back yard. Not everyone has a citrus tree growing in their backyard but I will bet you they know someone else who does.
One of the most upsetting things about some of the people who do have fruit trees growing in their yard is that the majority of them let the fruit go to waste. Why they don't pick it and share it with their neighbors, who might not have any fruit trees in their own yard is a question I don't have an answer for.
In my carombola and strawberry jam recipe I told you that my son was living in a rental that had a very productive carambola tree in the front yard. All winter long we picked fruit from that tree. Carambola fruit is a winter season fruit. Some citrus trees will still be loaded down with fruit in the early spring and the beginning of summer. Some citrus fruit is also ever-bearing and will continually bloom and set fruit all year. The kids ate most of the carombola straight from the tree and enjoyed them tremendously.
For the past couple of months I have been driving by one of my daughter's neighbors houses and looking at the big grapefruit's hanging from the branches. I noticed a few grapefruit scattered on the ground below the tree rotting.
I do know that the people living in that house are elderly. I have talked to them a time or two over the past two years that my daughter has lived on that block. There may be health reasons why they are unable to harvest the fruit from the tree. Or maybe they had eaten their fill of grapefruit for the year. Maybe they just don't like grapefruit. I'm not sure why they left some of the fruit on the tree.
So I decided to stop and ask if it was okay of I picked some of the grapefruit left on the tree. To my delight they said yes. Being of short stature I could only reach a few but I'm glad I stopped and asked. There is nothing like eating a piece of fresh fruit straight from the tree.
When picking fruit from a back yard tree, unlike buying at the grocery store your never sure what variety you may get. Some grapefruit are lip puckering sour. Others have ruby red flesh and are so sweet you don't need any sugar. I was pleased to find that these grapefruit were in the happy medium.
Not too tart with just enough sweetness. Another difference between store bought and freshly picked fruit is that the fruit might not be as pretty as the fruit you can buy in the store. To me that is an advantage. It just means that the fruit hasn't been over doused with chemicals and pesticides.
I had some other fruit on hand that needed to be used up so I decided to make a simple fruit salad. My recipe for fruit salad changes with the seasons and what fruit I might have on hand.
Todays fruit salad included
Grapefruit
diced apples
bananas
and
strawberries
strawberries
When I make a fruit salad I peel the fruit and remove the flesh from the sometimes thick and hard to chew membranes that separate the citrus segments. I do this because there usually is a small child or grand child of mine eating the salad and we had a nasty choking incident a few years ago with some oranges. But if you don't mind chewing the membrane or your fruit has very thin membranes then go a head and leave it on. Removing the membrane is a lot more work but I enjoy the salad th
is way myself so I don't mind.
is way myself so I don't mind.
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| Grapefruit |
Once you have your grapefruit segmented and in the bowl dice up your apples and slice the bananas and strawberries. Mix everything together in the bowl. The citrus juice from the grapefruit will keep the apples and bananas from turning brown.
If you like you can sprinkle about ¼ of a cup of sugar over the fruit and refrigerate until chilled.
I have also added pomelo and orange segments, pomegranate arils. Just use what you have on hand and I promise you it will be great. How can eating a nice healthy, sweet and tangy bowl of fresh fruit not be perfect?
If you like you can sprinkle about ¼ of a cup of sugar over the fruit and refrigerate until chilled.
I have also added pomelo and orange segments, pomegranate arils. Just use what you have on hand and I promise you it will be great. How can eating a nice healthy, sweet and tangy bowl of fresh fruit not be perfect?
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| Easy Fruit Salad |
Enjoy!
Arlene
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