Passion Fruit-filled Rambuntans

Despite the temperatures in the lower nineties (Someone, please tell Mother Nature that it’s October!), I had fun playing with Halloween centerpiece ideas.  This year I’m trying something a bit different with the addition of some of the “Freaky Fruits” offered by Melissa’s Produce.  While last night’s guests were a bit reluctant to try some of these strange looking fruits, they all eventually gave in and not only tasted them, but rated which ones were their favorites. 

This creepy but exotically tasty little side salad consisting of Passion Fruit-filled Rambutan skins won as best tasting and most bizarre appearing.  It is certainly easy enough to do.  Slice a Rambutan in half and slip out the fruit to enjoy later, perhaps in a “Freaky Fruit” Salad.  

Slice a Passion Fruit in half, scoop out the pulp and seeds and place them into the empty Rambutan skin.  Serve with a tiny spoon and enjoy.

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sundays

Amaze Me Monday

Wow Us Wednesdays

Inspiration Gallery Thursday
Transformation Thursday
Open House Party

 The Charm of Home
 At The Picket Fence

Home and Garden Thursday

Tutorials Tips and Tidbits

Be Inspired Friday

Feather Your Nest Friday
 Show and Tell Friday

Strawberry & Passion Fruit Sparklers

With the temperatures going up to record-breaking levels this weekend and 100° not out of the question, I am gladder than glad that I made an extra batch of the simple syrup, strawberry, and passion fruit mixture that I told you about here, and froze it in ice cube trays.

A summery old-fashioned glass, a couple of the fruity cubes, and a bottle of sparkling water will be all I need to keep cool this weekend in deliciously fine form.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.  Stay cool!

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sunday

Passion Fruit Strawberry Tangerine Refresher

Remember the exotic fruits from this blog post? I’ve been having a good time finding new and delicious ways to eat them.  A couple of you confessed to not recognizing some of these fruits, so here is a picture with all of them identified.

I was familiar with all of them with the exception of passion fruit, so I tried it today.  The taste is like nothing I’ve experienced before: complex, and not easily describable.  Picture tropical islands warmed by the sun, where flowers are in full bloom and the ocean breeze is blowing the heady fragrances your way.  If you could take a bite out of this fragrance, that would taste like passion fruit.  The pulp was enjoyable enough to just scoop right out of the skin, but I decided that a tropical drink was in order and came up with this to quench my thirst after a day of planting.

Passion Fruit Strawberry Tangerine Refresher
Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 pt. fresh strawberries, hulled

Pulp from four Melissa's passion fruits

1 cup freshly squeezed Ojai Pixie Tangerine juice

Club soda

Extra sugar for sugaring the rim of your glass

Directions:

Bring water to a boil. Add sugar and boil for one minute until thoroughly dissolved; remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place strawberries, passion fruit pulp, and sugar syrup mixture into the work bowl of a blender and puree until smooth. Add puree to 2-quart container with orange juice and enough club soda to make 2 quarts. Chill before serving. Serve over ice in sugar rimmed glasses.

Imbibe in a tropical setting if possible.

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sunday

Fruits of my Labor Table Setting

Sometimes I get into a rut when it comes to table settings.  I like to keep the table set all of the time, ready for anyone who may want to pop in and sit down for a cup of tea and pastry.  (I must confess to having an ulterior motive here.  Keeping the table set also keeps the less organized among us from plunking down piles of his stuff, but I digress…) 

I also like to change it with the seasons, but during times like these when we’re really between seasons (it’s as hot as summer, sure, but it’s still essentially spring), I find myself in a bit of a quandary.  At least until the doorbell rang and the Fed-Ex guy handed me what turned out to be a lovely box of exotic fruit.  As I piled it up in my favorite ceramic piggy bowl, sampling a lychee here and there while I doing so, I thought how lovely the fruit would look as a centerpiece.

I cleared off last week’s arrangement and started fresh, matching mugs and flatware to the various fruits.  Exotic, tropical napkins from Pottery Barn seemed the perfect touch, as did the green leaf plates.  In minutes I had a fresh setting without a lot of trouble.

What do you think?

This post is linked to:

Tabletop Tuesday 

Tablescape Thursday 

Seasonal Sunday

Cozy Home Scenes

If you're looking to expand your knowledge of exotic fruits and come up with a recipe or two, this book is a great resource: