Avocado season, that is. Man, I do adore them and have to resist the urge to eat them every blessed day. It seems every market stall has lovely green stacks of this delectable fruit. We are lucky, because Fernando has a bunch of avocado trees on his property and feeds my addiction on a regular basis.
You think it's any coincidence that our limes are ready for picking now too?
Can you say guacamole?
But sad to say, sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. So what to do with ripened avocados when there are too many to eat at one go?
Freeze 'em. Yup, my friend Bruce clued me in on this secret when he produced guacamole at a dinner party during the winter.
All you need to do is scoop out the avocado, put into a freezer bag, squirt some lime or lemon juice over it, and smush it up a bit. Toss it in the freezer and it will be ready whenever you are.
The other thing I do is if I am only using half an avocado (a rare instance, I admit), is squirt the leftover half with some lime juice and pop it in the fridge. It will keep its lovely color and texture easily for a day or two.
Mystery in the Spice Department
Walk into almost any grocery store here and you'll almost always find a display of spices -- mostly in small plastic packets. Some stores have a broad selection, others more limited. But one thing they all seem to carry in this area is Epsom Salt.
And I have no idea why.
I mean, I know what Epsom Salt is and have even used it in a bath now and again. But why have it in the spice aisle? I've gone online and Googled the heck of it, but I haven't found any culinary reference for it.
If anyone has any thoughts, shout 'em out in the Comments section or shoot me an email.
Quirky Cat Litter
Back in April, I shared our quest to find kitty litter. In the last two months, it still has been difficult to find. A couple of stores in town have started stocking it again, but hardly in big quantities.
And while we managed to get our hands on some, the issue still remained on what to do if supplies run short again. I took to the Internet and started doing some research for litter alternatives that I could get here in Corozal.
And I bet you'll never guess what I found that really works.
Chicken feed. I emphasize the "feed," 'cause when I told my friend Colleen about it, she thought I said "chicken feet." Ummm, not so much. Anyway, the feed is readily available, cheap (excuse the pun), bio-degradable, has no discernible odor, and clumps better than regular cat litter.
When we reached a desperate moment about a month ago, I used it all by its lonesome with great results. Now that we have scored a few bags of regular litter, I use the feed as an extender. The cat is happy, so we're happy.
Hi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteEpsom salts - good amendment for palm trees - that was how we got our Erica (sp?) palms to jump start their growth.
My hint for avacadoes - Try it sliced on a BLT sandwich. You won't want to eat them any other way.
I have nothing to add for the litter. We avoid the issue with our CatGenie, but that has its own problems.
Cheers,
Dave