A Fruitful Life — Appreciating Nature’s Sweet Bounty
Fruit preparation became a favorite kitchen activity as my vision declined in my later years
One day while in our neighborhood at Payless drugstore, Too Much Junk Food by Stan and Jan Berenstain jumped out at me from the shelves. The book featured a family of bears navigating how to incorporate healthy snacks into their children’s diet to replace the junk food they had been eating.
After buying it, I read through it and excitedly brought it home for Ted and me to do some snack planning for our daughters, Julia and Eleni. At this moment, the idea of bedtime fruits was born.
Just as Brother and Sister Bear changed their eating habits with Mama’s healthy meal prep and snacks, we began a tradition of offering our girls a Tupperware snack-size bowl filled with a bounty of fresh fruits. What we referred to as “bedtime fruit” soon became a nightly ritual in the Stephanides house that their overnight guests also delighted in. It is amusing to note that the greater the variety of fruits, the greater the satisfaction of our children.
Our first house had raspberry bushes that were Julia’s favorite. We never had to tend them, as they were already on a trellis and Julia would fill a pail full of raspberries, constantly exclaiming, “Yum Yum!” until she could eat no more. When my daughters were younger and had parties, I prepared fruit kebabs.
As I cut apple wedges for our daughters’ bedtime fruits, I reminisce about the function of fruit in my life, from an early age. As a young child, my siblings and I would sit on a tarp in the backyard, guided by my father, preparing Golden Delicious apples from our trees into wedges suitable for stewing.
I relish the memories on the tarp where Donnie, Junee, and I cooperated in this activity — each throwing our readied apple wedges into a large aluminum pot. Once the pot overflowed with apple wedges, my father readied a sweet syrup of water, sugar, and cinnamon, stirring the pot until its contents were tender. He then placed them into canning jars, which we enjoyed on the top of oatmeal, or by itself with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
By 2014 as my vision declined, I found it vital to maintain my fruit preparation skills. Since I completed the washing, peeling, slicing, and dicing from tactile and visual memory, I maintained the ability to serve our bounty of fruits in many ways — as fruit compotes, a cobbler or crisp, or a colorful fruit salad. One of my favorite items to offer our guests whether at breakfast, brunch, or dessert is a variety fruit bowl that I may top with flavored yogurt or a scoop of ice cream.
Fruit preparation became one of my favorite kitchen activities. After a trip to the farmer’s market, Ted joined me in the fruit and vegetable sorting. He serves as a second pair of eyes that detect blemishes or other imperfections in the skin.
When we arrive home, I dump our bounty from the markets into a large green colander where I wash the fruits under a water spray. Next, I place them on towel-lined trays to dry. I find the process of sorting and cutting the fruits relaxing and rewarding since I can be guaranteed a sumptuous outcome.
When I create a fruit salad or cobbler, I begin the process of peeling, cutting, and measuring the fruits according to my desires or recipe instructions. Plums, nectarines, and peaches present me with more difficulty than most other fruits, as I must carefully score around the pits, while bananas, berries, and grapes present less. In some instances, such as with pineapple, already sliced/cut fruit offers an easier alternative.
To this day fruit abounds in our home and we replenish it by weekly trips to Oakland’s farmer’s markets. I have the Berenstain Bears to thank for my continued enjoyment of a myriad of fruit concoctions. Fruit has truly become a symbol of the gratitude I feel and the abundant sweetness and variety that has unfolded in my life.
