trying new things pt. 2

here i am again, trying a new type of fruit, though this time i was not alone in this endeavor. my high school friend Shawn and i went on an adventure last week to one of the many asian supermarkets in town, and as he is chinese i was introduced to somany new things. it was almost overwhelming to see the different varieties and new foods, a large amount of which i didn't recognize. it was definitely a trip that i hope to be repeating soon, and will have to sample some other fare in my quest to try as many new things as possible! while there were quite a few yummy snacks that we brought home with us, i was most excited to try my newest addition to interesting fruits, the Korean Melon...

i immediately noticed the melon when we were perusing the produce section in search of some rambutan's or lychee. i am quite a fan of all melons, and thought that this one was particularly cute, if a girl may say so! it was half the size of a football, and the smell coming off of it, was intoxicating. very floral with a hint of a fruity bite, i had to try this. i was so excited to cut it open when we arrived home, and what i found was nothing unlike an ordinary cantaloupe...

aside from the obvious difference in color, i had yet to find any difference between this and other melons that i have had. slightly disappointed i cut up a slice of it into chunks and bit down on one, to be pleasantly surprised by an intensely sweet taste! the only way to describe the flavor is that it is a cross between honeysuckle and cantaloupe, which i find immensely wonderful. also, the aroma that i had noticed earlier only intensified after i cut it. the flesh was much firmer than one would expect from a melon as well. over all i was very pleased with my new find. at the perfect size for a small group of eaters or as a single serving, i would highly recommend all of you readers to give this a try if you ever are given the chance.

as a side note, i would also very highly recommend trying 'Lychee Coconut Jellies'. they come in little cups like pudding and are absolutely wonderful, plus they are nutritious! i can not wait to find out what more the wonderful world of food has in store for me next time!

trying new things pt. 1

for the past year or so I have joined a friend in having our 'bizarre food' days where we select the oddest foods we can find at the local specialty store and trying them out. we have vastly expanded our repertoire of foods we love ( and some we dislike ) today while at the store i spotted a kiwano, or horned melon, and had to get it and try. so now i present to you, an African Horned Melon...

this may look weird, but let me assure you, it gets even weirder as i proceeded to cut it open...

after reading up on how to eat these odd fruits i found that you suck the small sacks of fruit around the seeds out. so i did. it tasted like a cross between a cucumber and lemon. not as refreshing as i thought once i cut it open. needless to say, i don't think i will be buying these again in the near future, i will leave that up to the other bizarre food fans who wish to try for themselves.

although the weirdest fact of all was that my cat enjoys the taste of these things. i could not make that up.

some reflections

recently i was asked this question on my formspring..."what's your biggest phobia?" i answered it and gave no further thought at the time, but when i re-read that tonight i felt like my answer would be shocking to have read 10 years ago.

my response to this was..."it's a three way tie. restraint, abandonment, and men.

restraint - i don't like being held down. if it's playful then ok but if someone is holding me down or pinning any part of me i freak out.

abandonment - if i'm abandoned i tend to have severe panic attacks and generally lose track of life for a while.

men - i've had some moments in life where i have now become irrationally timid around men i don't know."

now to me, this is completely normal. but what would i have thought of that when i was 9? back when phobias were things like spiders, the dark, monsters. things that could be chased away with a newspaper or by just turning on the lights. how would i have reacted knowing that in the future i would be deeply afraid of things that can't be fixed easily?

it seems that as i get older things change drastically without me realizing it. i went from never wanting to leave home to moving into a single apartment and being thrilled about it in a matter of a few years. is it just my generation that has brought on such immensely quick changes? i don't remember my mother saying that she shifted from one extreme to another that quickly. but maybe that's the thing, you can't know and understand how fragile truths are until you experience a change so dramatic that you almost get whiplash by the time you realize it. while it's scary to see some changes in myself, i'm so glad that i can recognize just how much i've grown up, and can see just how far i have yet to go.