What's Your Favorite Jelly, Jam, Preserves or Fruit Spread?

Do you have a favorite fruit topping for your toast? In the house that I grew up, there were only two choices: Welch's grape jelly or Smucker's strawberry preserves. That's what my mom bought. Since she was in charge of grocery shopping, that's what we ate!

So for most of my young life, it never occurred to me to eat something different. Until … one day, my mom brought home grape jam instead of grape jelly. It was still the brand name Welch's but it was jam instead of jelly. I don't know why! Maybe there was no more jelly on the store shelf. It was a mystery. But whatever the reason … we all went “WOW! It was amazing!” We kids made an incredible discovery. Jam spreads much smoother than jelly! It tastes just as good with peanut butter. Why didn't mom always buy this?

Well! All of the siblings, my sister, my brothers and me, decided to unite and requested that mom buy jam henceforth and forevermore! She complied. My mom was easy! (Sometimes.)

Fast forward to my life as a young adult. Got a job working for the federal government and was sent on an official assignment to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Usually, I ate breakfast in the hotel before leaving for work. I ordered a typical American breakfast: bacon, eggs, and toast. At this particular hotel, they had a basket of assorted jellies and jams on the table. Included in the assortment was pineapple preserves.

My life was changed forever!

Those pineapple preserves made the toast tastes like I was having a tropical party in my mouth! It got so that I looked forward to having breakfast every morning!


So now, if anybody asks what's my favorite jelly, jam, preserves or fruit spread?

Pineapple Preserves. What else?!

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Links of interest:

• Award Winning Pineapple Preserves | Food.com

• Fresh Pineapple, Preserved 5 Ways. : The Art of Preserving, made easy.

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Republished from partner blog.
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Fruits and Veggies : Exotic Fruits Are Wonderful Natural Delights

Tropical fruit must have been abundant in the Garden of Eden. Don't you think? At least, that's how I imagine it anyway. Do you like exotic fruit? My first visit to The Bahamas opened up a whole new world for me. There were so many delicious fruits of paradise that I had never heard of or tasted.

That was more than 30 years ago. These days, the wonderful thing about grocery shopping in America is that you can find foods from almost anywhere in the world. These foods were not always available and so plentiful. It's not my imagination. Even Chef Jacques Pepin mentioned during one of his TV episodes that when he first arrived in the United States to begin his career as a chef, there were many ingredients that he could not readily find at the local grocery store. You had to go to a special market or a gourmet shop. Not so, these days. Thanks to the Internet, it's easy to research and learn more about tropical fruit or “exotic fruit” or “super fruit” or “wonder fruit”, and why they are so good for you. Uh huh. Right. As if people need to twist your arm to get you to eat them. :)

Check these out!

- Acerola, also known as the Barbados cherry, is native to the West Indies, and also to Southern Mexico, and Southern and Central America. They claim this fruit has numerous health benefits, but healthy or not, the taste of this tropical fruit is irresistible.

- Cherimoya tastes like bubblegum. People have even given this fruit nicknames like “ice cream fruit” or “custard apple”, so-called because it has a creamy, sherbet-like texture. But beware of the seeds, as they can be poisonous.

- Dead man’s fingers originated from China. They really do look like fingers and their color is bluish-black. The taste is similar to watermelon.

- Kiwano or the horned melon has many names. It is native to Africa and is called African cucumber. But it is also known as English tomato. (???) On the outside it is yellow and orange, but the flesh inside is lime green. It's been part of African cuisine since ancient times.

- Mangosteen grows in Southeast Asia and is considered a “wonder fruit”. One might think because of the name that it is similar to a mango, but actually it is more like a peach. Research indicates that the mangosteen contains more xanthones than any other fruit. They call it the "X-Factor".

These are just a sampling of fruits. The intent is to whet your appetite and peak your curiosity. There is also dragon fruit, starfruit, Buddha’s hand (citron), cloudberries, durian, moringa, abiu, and more! 

• Additional Information:
  15 Unusual Fruits to Try From Around the World
• Exotic Fruits From A to Z

***  Related articles

• Mangosteen
• African Baobab Tree
• Top 10 vegetables to grow in your garden | Mother Nature Network

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Image credit: Kiwano fruit (Public Domain)
© Photographer: Andreas Fischer | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Content previously published at Literacy Base on Aug 3, 2016.

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