winter fruits

january, and then february, (and yes usually even march), can be a bit dreary here in the northeast. new england is famous for its winters. yet i remain defiant. i try to enjoy winter outside by going to the beach for a walk (dressed very warmly) or a jog. and i head into new york city for lively museum visits and lunch at trendy restaurants or dinners with friends. and i try to keep the inside of my house in denial that winter is even happening outside. i have a variety of tricks for this. and no, none of them involve staying in bed reading and hiding under the covers eating chocolate until april. no, i keep a large quantity of tropical plus other fruits in the larder. yes there are still some good apples now and citrus is wonderful. loving the grapefruit we have been getting lately. and the organic blueberries from chile are AMAZING right now this week. but also some pomegranates and best of all, passion fruit. we are all crazy for passion fruit around here.

passion fruit are grown in either california or new zealand and are available off and on throughout the year. a passion fruit is not ripe until it is nice and wrinkly, and becoming a bit soft. slightly wrinkly and you may have a tart inedible fruit on your hands. once you have purchased your lovely passion fruit, you wait patiently for several days or more and let it get all uniformly wrinkly and then it is time to cut open. but if you just slice right through it, the juice runs all over the place. and it is so delicious i don't want to waste even one tiny drop (although it is impossible not to spill a little juice every single time). so, to remedy this wasteful situation, i cut the fruit almost all the way through, drop my knife, and seize the two halves (still joined) and right them. little bowls of passion fruit goo. insert spoon into said goo. congratulate yourself on a job well done. enjoy. gorgeous luscious fruits, beauty in the dead of winter.