La Indita Michoacana is one of my favorite ice cream because it’s made with one of my favorite tropical fruit - mamey.

These are not the usual mamey (or sapota) I’m used to eating. The mamey used in this ice cream is from the large variety grown in the Caribbean and Mexico.

The packaging looks great, the fruits looks delicious and the little Mexican girl trademark is nice too.

My only shocker was the color of the ice cream was much more brighter then the one pictured in the carton. It’s more like freaky fluorescent in color. And almost the same color as the fabric on my table.

I’m not saying the artificial color is all bad and can eat stuff like this once in a while. But for something I eat often, I prefer a more natural color.

Just because of the surprising bright orange color, I won’t be buying any more mamey flavor ice cream from them.  Instead I’ll buy frozen mamey and make my own ice cream shake.

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I finally got my hands on a dragonfruit plant.  The best part is I didn’t have to travel to any dragonfruit convention to find them.

I’m hoping mine will survive the northern California winter.  We do have nights where temperatures get to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.  At least I’ve had good luck with my other succulents such as Aloe Vera and Queen of the Nights.

It was really easy to plant the cuttings. All I did was stick them in good soil and topped it off with lawn clippings (my version of mulch). Some people mentioned growing dragonfruit from the seeds. I think that would take too long to grow, if at all. But next time around I’ll try to save the seeds and grow them. And they sure have lots of seeds!

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Champagne mangoes have become quite popular in California, possibly in the rest of the country too.

They can easily be found at most Asian grocery stores sold by the case.  Many are imported from either Mexico or the Phillipines.  I’m sure Thailand and Vietnam is not far behind with their own harvest too.

They are also known as Manila mango, honey mango, or simply yellow mango.  What ever it’s called, it’s really the sweetest mango I’ve ever tasted.

The flesh is bright orange or yellow and the flesh is very soft.  The skin is very thin.  And the seed is small.  The pulp is not stringy like other ripe mangoes.  Although the common variety (usually grown in Florida) are just as good in their own way.

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I was talking to P some time ago, he had just got back from a biking trip across Vietnam. P kept talking about how much he enjoyed eating fresh dragonfruit or pitaya. I had never heard of such a fruit and wasn’t sure how it should look. All I can imagine was something with scales maybe? Then I saw pictures of the fruits and was immediately intrigued by how beautiful and strange it looked. There are three types of dragonfruit - red flesh, red fruit with white flesh and yellow fruit with white flesh.

The photo above of dragonfruit farm taken by tk yeoh of flickr. Notice how the fruits are wrapped in bags. Possibly to protect them from birds, bats, and other natural elements. Dragonfruit farming has been very popular in Asia, from the Philippines to Malaysia. They seem to grow pretty easy and are also grown in San Diego greenhouses. The plants are also available for purchase from Florida. Some day I like to make a trip to these farm and see the real fruit tree. Preferably at harvesting time!

On my last grocery shopping trip to Trader Joe’s, I saw some dried dragonfruit packaged in Thailand. I bought several packages at $2 each. The dried fruit is deep red to purple, with little black seeds that look like sesame seeds. They taste nutty and tart at the same time. I can also make dragonfruit tea with them. The water turns into a very pretty bright pink color.

Photo from Kluang Farms Malaysia.

There is even dragonfruit wine made in Malaysia. For these Kluang wine, the farm uses the red fruit with red flesh. The wines are exported to Singapore, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Europe. They should bring some to the U.S. market. I would love to try this, it’s probably really healthy too. Hey, Trader Joe’s global buyers, if you are reading this - please bring some to the states. Read the rest of this entry »