My ongoing search for cactus pears has been a work-in-progress for nine years. I used to buy them in season at a neighborhood produce market when I lived in California until it went out of business (the market, not the state) but never found them anywhere after I moved to Texas. However I just read an article on the Dallas Observer’s
website that somebody found buckets of them at the Dallas Farmers Market, which is so damn exciting I’m practically ready to jump in the car RIGHT NOW. They also might be available at Fiesta Market, a local Mexican-owned grocery store chain, although I think I tried to find cactus pears there a couple of years ago with no success. Sam is on his way to investigate as I write this post because I looked really pathetic when I started talking to him about this a couple of hours ago.
For the record, it’s difficult to convey the joys of this screwy fruit until a person understands how to peel them without getting stabbed by cactus spines. I was taught proper cactus pear-peeling technique by a genuine Mexican (a co-worker during my years in California) involving two forks and a really sharp knife. It’s easy to do once you get the hang of it and well worth the effort because cactus pears are melony inside with teeny edible seeds
— so cold! so crunchy! — and taste fantastic doused with large quantities of Equal.
Breaking news and glorioski ... SAM FOUND CACTUS PEARS AT FIESTA MARKET. He’s on the way home
right now with TWO DOZEN, and I’m so damn excited I might pee all over myself! (Okay, probably not.)
And now for the latest installment of our popular Holy Crap Gallery, this time featuring a pair of my favorite Brit actors who were megawatt heart-throbs in the 1960s. Michael Caine still works regularly in films; Peter O’Toole just announced his official retirement.
Thanks for stopping by. Try to write when you get a chance, okay?
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