Tamarillo Adventures

Ever heard of a tamarillo?

Me either.  That is until a few weeks ago when I spotted it in the store.  I was think tomatillo, but that wasn't it, and it was in with the fruits.  Not to mention it was pricey, so I passed.  After passing by and passing by, I caved, and bought one.

Meet the tamarillo...

 

It looks like a nectarine skin, but a softer flesh, and a different shape.  It even resembles a nectarine in color inside, but that is where the similarities end.

Here is some information from www.tamarillo.com:

Tantalise your tastebuds with the exotic tamarillo.

Just dig a spoon in, eat it raw, or tempt yourself with one of our tasty smoothie, pizza, muffin, dinner or dessert recipes. Juicy and packed with goodness the tamarillo fruit is a very good source of vitamin C, and is low in fat and calories. 

Add sliced red, amber, and gold tamarillos to your cheese-boards, salads and decorate your dishes for a distinctive look and flavour. Tamarillos can be poached, fried, grilled, baked or casseroled to add taste and nutrition to every meal.

The website also gives some nutrition information:

• Low in fat and hence calories
• Low in carbohydrates and the carbohydrate present is mainly in the form of fibre
• High in potassium but extremely low in sodium, which is a desirable balance for a healthy diet
• Contains other trace elements important for health, in particular copper and manganese
• Source of fibre
• Source of Vitamin A, B6 and C. Also contains Vitamin E and Thiamine

Not that I needed to list those facts for you here, it is a fruit and you can imagine it packs in some good nutrition.

The flavor is very tart, but in a good way.  The inside is juicy and contains edible seeds.  It is hard to explain what these are like, but it reminds me of a nectarine and passion fruit, but tangier.  I give this 2 thumbs up.  I wish that they had the other 2 colors here to try, but they only offer the red ones at the commissary.  I'll be buying this again.

Ryan's mom and aunt (they are twins!) are coming to visit later this week.  I know I will wind up with many pictures of all the fun, so I need to clean out the folder of pictures on my desktop that are just piling up.  Please excuse the randomness...it's for a good cause.

Ryan made me this fun egg and cheese on a bagel sandwich.  A little like Mickey Mouse.

 

We tried some more ice cream.  Too bad it was not freezing and the motor overheated.  We got creative and used the immersion blender to aerate the mixture and then froze it anyway.  We seem to be striking out in the kitchen recently.  Oh well, we are making the most of it.

I bought this when I was in the States.  I am still wondering how this actually made it to store shelves.  Really? Crunchy Nut?  Nuts in Every Bite?

Plus, it was not all that good.

Wanna talk about random?  Grandpa, I know you are reading, so this is for you.

My grandfather decided some time ago that he wanted to buy a bike in a bag.  This way it is portable.  Good idea, right?  Wrong?  He was so worried he would never get it back in the bag that he never took it out.

My grandfather just sent it to us and Ryan assembled it.  I will take a picture of the thing out of the bag as soon as I can.  Here is what it looks like before becoming a ridable bike.

How funny is that?

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever seen or tried a tamarillo?  Any new produce finds?