Thursday, March 01, 2007

Oranges and Such

I normally don’t blog or even write in the evening hours. Most evenings, my brain is just too tired and doesn’t have what it takes to put words together in a good way. Something about the rigors of the day take what little energy for writing that there is and channels it to something else. Then when evening comes, I’m at a loss (literally) for words.
Today, however, is a little different. We don’t have the girls today and I didn’t have a lot to do today. So I’m relatively fresh, as it were. The problem is that having done nothing of substance today, I have nothing much to write about even though I’m primed and ready to go. Therefore, I’ll make something out of nothing, so to speak.
Have you ever eaten a fresh mandarin orange? Yes, I know we buy mandarin orange segments in a can and put them in various salads, etc. But have you ever obtained fresh ones and delighted in them?
They peel very easily and have very little of the white stuff that’s on the inside of the rind. They segment readily and taste almost heavenly. Regular orange growers could take a lesson in how to produce a quality product by taking the mandarin orange as an example.
I’ve just eaten two of them and am about to go to the refrigerator for another one or two. I don’t know if they are seasonal or not, but hope that we get them as much and as often as we can. I’ve always enjoyed the canned segments, but the fresh ones are…well…so much better. It’s kind of like the difference between canned and fresh pineapple.
To each his own, I’m sure. But for me, the mandarin is about the best citrus around.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I bought a bag once because I thought they were "cute" (a great reason, I know), but they weren't very flavorful. It sounds like yours are much better.

Anonymous said...

Are these the oranges known around here as "Clementines?" I hadn't been buying them much this winter, but someone brought some to the last cell group meeting we had, and my son snarfed them down, so I got some the next time I was at the store. The flavor does seem to be kind of hit or miss. But they are much easier to eat than regular oranges.