It’s that time of year again when apples, pears and oranges are the mainstay of our fruit salads while the luscious peaches, juicy nectarines, tangy pluots and Bing cherries we lusted after all summer have all disappeared for the season. Deep sigh. I do love a shiny, Fall apple this time of year. But I’m incredibly distressed that my favorite apple, the Macoun, has been vacant from all grocery shelves. A Macoun is a hybrid developed many years ago in New York State by combining a McIntosh with a Jersey Black. To me they are the absolute perfect apple– tart, crisp, with just the right bite and a smooth, white, firm texture; never mealy. And most grocery stores SAY they sell them, but when you bite into a specimen, it’s just a sad little Mac in disguise. (Insert Sad Mac icon here.) So my apple quest this season has literally crashed.
So how have I spent my fruit inspection time, you ask? Well obviously I’ve been navel gazing. And I for one love a good orange. They look so inviting and bright stacked up in geometric pyramids in the stores; literally like they are bursting with sunshine. The thing about oranges that deters me is that I despise peeling them! And Michael is a true gem in this department. He doesn’t mind getting his hands a little dirty to ditch that thick skin and produce a ready to eat citrusy orb for us to share. And he doesn’t cheat by using a knife, either. He’s all thumbs– in a good way!
I know the actual term navel-gazing has a totally different meaning. The dictionary defines this practice as the “self-indulgent or excessive contemplation of oneself or a single issue, at the expense of a wider view.” For me this usually involves staring at the oranges on aisle one and imagining them in lovely segments gracing the bowl of a delicious Asian salad with chunks of teriyaki chicken, perhaps a few toasted cashews, and a smattering of crunchy Chinese noodles as a fun garnish with some sort of sweet and sour sauce I’d have to concoct using every bottle I have on the top shelf of the refrigerator door. Can’t you just taste that? Yum! So I stand there, to the exclusion of all the other fruits, dreaming about this imaginary salad, and usually leave empty handed because carrying more than 2 of these orange suckers home is like dragging a bag of cement over a mile. Another culinary crash.
I actually feel badly that nothing rhymes with orange. My whole life I was told that fact– like oranges are the total outcast of the fruit family. And then we’re supposed to be happy for them since a color bearing the same name makes them more recognizable? I don’t know about this theory. They get a bad rep for having so much sugar. Competitive Honeybells from Florida act like the elitist cousin and hit the market for a limited time only, putting the maybe sweet, maybe not, navel oranges to shame. It’s a pure case of sibling rivalry– or in this case citrus rivalry. And we all know that can leave a bitter taste in anyone’s mouth.
If you find yourself navel gazing any time in the future, take your time! And don’t let a bad apple distract you from a little daydreaming.
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