Thursday, March 13, 2008

Don't Dessert Dessert...Try something new!

I am not a baker.
I am a cook.
So dessert is not one of my forte's.
But... I can do dessert the Italian way in a hot minute!
What is it?
FRUIT!!!
Fresh or frozen it is the perfect end to any meal.
Having Pasta and a heavy cream sauce for dinner? Why not cut up some gorgeous wedges of watermelon and pile them high in a great bowl and put that on the table after dinner. I'll bet the kids fight over em!
Your favorite fruit not in season?
Smart n Final, Costco, even Staters, have lots of bags of frozen fruit.
I just put them into a bowl midday, let them defrost on their own and do a little stir once in a while. Serve with a spoon and a little cool whip, and Voila! Dessert!
Cantaloupe, honeydew, & casaba, are all coming in for the season soon.
Peaches, plums, nectarines, & apricots are due in soon, also.
Still fresh at the market and quite good, are oranges and apples.
Slice the oranges into big round shapes and watch them disappear off the plate!
I will sometimes mix fresh and frozen fruit, cut up for a huge fruit salad.
Add orange juice for sweetness if your fruit is not at its peak. It will preserve the fruit and will provide natural sweetness without added sugar.
Right now grapes are on sale 10lbs for 10 bucks. I bought a truckload yesterday and am now in the process of freezing them on a flat tray, and sliding them into a Ziploc bag for later use.
Freezing them makes the sugars bind for more sweetness, and when they are out of season, and too expensive to buy, we will have sweet frozen grapes as a treat later in the year.
Yum!!!
Give me some ideas about what you do for fruit!
I'm not the only one that knows useless information!
Ciao, Ciao!

2 comments:

angela said...

Cutting oranges and freezing them were always mine and my brothers favorite.

Sandra said...

You can freeze oranges??? Really? I'm intrigued! I'm gonna try it. Are they sweeter?
So cool! I have NEVER heard of that b4!