My brother John is still growing fruit and vegetables on the remaining acres of the family farm in Rialto in Southern California. In fact, he seems to be living on the last orange grove in an area that at one time was totally planted in citrus. When I occasionally visit him, I always bring home a large amount of produce, in particular fresh oranges. These are oranges straight off of the tree, and have a much different taste than oranges that have been processed for sale in grocery stores, and especially from concentrated frozen orange juice. Having grown up on an orange grove, I obviously ate them and drank their juice in all known forms. In the process I learned much about them, and am highly skilled at peeling them, segregating the parts without getting orange juice all over myself, and the gentle art of poking a hole through the rind with my finger and squeezing the orange to extract the juice. In fact, I enjoy eating part of the peel when I eat one. And I make frequent use of a high quality juicer (Philips).
I seem to have a great liking of cold things to eat and drink—ice cream, margaritas, “slushies” of various sorts, frozen fruits, gin and tonics, ice tea, sorbets, or just straight ice cubes, which to the horror of my wife (and dentist) I happily chew up when my drink is gone—a sin I inherited from my mother, so it is in my gene pool, rather than a bad habit.
When I was a kid, I loved popsicles, and the habit still exists, but now I make my own (simple because the world is full of “molds”, sticks, and other such equipment). When I was a kid there was usually frozen fresh orange juice in an ice cube tray in the refrigerator, which I used to eat constantly, and even better, fresh orange juice popsicles —easy to make, given the many molds available in the world—just pour the juice into the mold and stick in the freezer. See photo below of a tacky plastic mold that produces “modern” ones with easily washable plastic stick complete with drip holders (useful for young grandchildren). And above, of course, the final product above. And unlike many child-hood treats I have given up (cotton candy, cookie batter, licorice), I still make them –
But part of the fun, if one likes icy things, is experimenting with the limitless numbers of flavors available by not only using varieties of juices fruits, and flavorings, but also reaching out to unlikely combinations. Some have escaped me (chicken, salsa), some are difficult (chocolate), but I become even more challenged, rather than discouraged, and my failures can usually be melted, or even heated, leading to interesting taste experiences.
If you are not addicted to this food form, I recommend it, especially in the summer in California.
*Popsicle is probably a trade name, so I should probably be using “frozen juice on a stick” or something like that, but hey, having your trade name used generically is the big time. Do you have a Kleenex? Where can I Xerox this? Who made your iPhone?
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