The Land of Depressing Fruits

Back when we went grocery shopping, days ago, I had gotten a mango. It looked decent in color, decent in size, good trusty mango, good part of my balanced weekend breakfasts. I'd let it sit in the kitchen for a few days to ripen, already being all too familiar with the deep regret of cutting into an unripe mango too early. And this one was firm, so I knew it could be a while until it was ready for consumption. So, days later, when it still showed the same promising color of the skin and some glistening sappy ooze coming out of the end, I figured it was ripe. I cut into it and find that it's still hard, still pale. I still take the time to peel and cut it, but upon eating it, huge, huge disappointment!! I've had mangoes that were still sour when I went to eat them, but this wimpy specimen showed no signs of life at all! Not sour, with promise that it could one day be sweet, but really a go nowhere, minimum requirements mango. It was so pale, so tasteless, tasted almost like a potato or carrot. Just wrong. Lesson learned, do not expect to find respectable tropical fruits on this side of the pond. (Especially not at ASDA - UK's equivalent of Walmart).

Hubby gently advised me that I should just give up on finding any sort of flavorful fruit *or* vegetable here because on this overcast little island, the produce world is pretty bleak. At least in the dairy world, after fearing that I would miss Cabot Extra Sharp cheddar cheese (one of my American Food Staples), I come here and see that the cheese aisle is pretty much half occupied with a selection of various fine cheddar cheeses. *And* an abundance of the the delicious but elusive-in-the-US halloumi cheese. Which brings me to my next blog post...