Sunday, September 21, 2008

Things are Moving Along at the Kruse House

The mangoes keep dropping and we are kind of getting tired of them and the avocados are in full force. Here I BBQ'd tilapia and put a nice mango salsa (mango, green pepper, onion, garlic, hot pepper flakes) on it. I am at a loss about what to do with avocados besides guacamole so we slice them and eat them. Any ideas?

Our property has a lot of beautiful mature fruit trees on it and they produce well. There is a point where they will start producing less so we are planting some new varieties. Lining our driveway we have a slope with 13 or more orange trees (couple chinojas). I gave them a heavy pruning when we moved here so we won't get many this year. On the other side (the down slope) of the driveway I planted a couple small citrus - a blood orange and a mandarin orange. Between them is a variegated hibiscus that flowers red. It'll be interesting to see how fast they grow.

Here's a view of the terracing and bananas and papayas. All the papayas have got at least 6 papayas on them so our solar food dehydrator will be working continuously!

Here is a tamarind blossom and the first tamarind pods! I sure hope they plump up and we get a lot of yummy goo!

A while ago I had the calabaza bonanza - flan, yeast bread, muffins, cut up in beans and rice etc. Well, from the same seed/plant I now have a 32 pounder and 18 1/2 pounder. What am I supposed to do with 50 pounds of pumpkin? There is even another on the vine. The brown egg-looking thing is a parcha. I can't get enough parcha. During the Ike blow-by the wind broke off an avocado branch and down dropped 60 or more avocados. We've given away many many bags but look what we still have. There is ten times this amount on the trees still. Guacamole anyone? Please? Any one know how to freeze them?

6 comments:

Fran and Steve said...

This is what we would do in an attempt to consume 1-2 avocados each daily: Chunky cube and serve over rice and beans or any prepared rice (e.g., arroz con gandules, arroz con pollo), or in anything soupy (e.g., stews, sopón, asopao). Or sliced thinly in an omelet. Or serve slices/wedges with any entrée. Or sliced thinly with sliced tomatoes, drizzled with EVOO or other dressing. I’ve never tried but have heard of avocado soup. Guacamole would be spread on all sandwiches and burritos. YUUUMMM to all! Also, there are lots of great ways to use avocados, bananas, pumpkin, mango, and papaya as ingredients in facials, such as http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=Avocado%20Mask. http://www.wittyliving.com/recipes/facial-mask-24.html. http://www.makeyourcosmetics.com/recipes/index.asp?cat=facial. Channel your girly girl side and have a spa day with a bunch of girlfriends! You probably already give away bags to friends without avocado trees. Take a bag to a place of repeat business that have been helpful to you. What about donating to a local nursing home or non-profit? I can’t believe the amazing progress of your fruit trees. Pretty soon you will have the surplus dilemma with all your fruit and might want to go into business! Solar dehydrator? Did I miss a post? Sounds interesting! Fran

Anonymous said...

Jeff hasn't posted it yet but he built a solar dehydrator! He has dehydrated bananas and mangos in it and it works great. I'm waiting for the papayas to ripen and think they will dehydrate best. We've given away bags to our diving pals and neighbors but don't really have many friends yet. When we have asked about food banks we get blank stares. Maybe I am destined to sell them at intersections! katrina

Hmmm... said...

i love avocados and make this little simple salad often...

1 or 2 avocados cut into bite size pieces
3 roma tomatoes (or any med) sliced about a 1/3 inch thick
1/2 red onion sliced thin (opaque)
some fresh cilantro
the juice from 1 lemon or like 2 good squirts
salt to taste...
its yummy, quick, easy, filling, and healthy!

Anonymous said...

A friend of ours also has hundreds of avocados that we can't eat fast enough...We feed them to the dogs (good for their skin).

I love slicing avo on toast, then mashing it with a fork. Sprinkle with Spike (the best spice EVER for avocado) and cover with sliced tomato. Great breakfast!

Anonymous said...

That's funny about the dogs - we see the cats eating them! katrina

Anonymous said...

Conditioning Hair Mask: Mash very ripe avocado fruit to make a smooth paste and apply liberally to clean, dry hair. You might then cover treated hair with a plastic sack and wrap in a towel to maintain moisture and heat. Relax and enjoy a nice warm bath or shower, read or blog :). Leave on 30 or more minutes then rinse out, using shampoo only if necessary. Also makes for an excellent all over moisturinsing body mask.
~Sarah~