Visiting the Wild Oats Marketplace nearby we come upon this odd-looking thing. A quick search of labels tells us this baseball-sized red orb is dragon fruit, also known as the pitaya or pitahaya, as well as the strawberry pear, and, for you Latinphiles, the Hylocereus undatus. The dragon fruit is a tropical fruit originating from the Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica area, however, is now cultivated around the world where tropical climates permit. So, if you live somewhere where 20 to 50 inches of rain (54cm to 136cm) a year, with temperatures up to 104 degrees (40c) are the norm, you might want to try growing this yourself, because, at $8 apiece, this is probably the most expensive fruit I have ever seen. And, no, it doesn’t taste like chicken, nor would it taste better with chicken.
Spider and Cactus
Caroline shot this. She was out watering her plants when she noticed this tiny, almost translucent spider sitting amongst the spines of one of her cactus. We have many spiders here at home; occasionally we wake in the morning with a bump on our skin that is neither caused by mosquito nor flea (our cat Murph doesn’t have fleas), it isn’t a pimple, so we figure it must be a spider bite. There is a gecko living next to a ceiling lamp in the entryway to our apartment, but he only seems interested in flying bugs. I wish we could train it to enjoy spiders.
Aloha
This week has been terrific for our senses. First, we get the mandolin back, then a big damp box of Poi from Hanalei Poi on Kauai is delivered – this stuff is fresh, just made on Monday, wrapped in a box lined with frozen bags and two-day express shipped. And finally, this box of goodies arrives from Aloha Baskets & Balloons on the Big Island (808-935-1939). Sharla was delayed sending the cookies due to the earthquake Hawaii recently experienced, and to make up for the delay she included some freebies including delicious Pineapple Coconut Butter Cookies and Macadamia Nut Butter Cookies, both of these are from Mama Ellas of Hawaii, and a bag of Cinnamon Butter Hawaiian Topical Lavosh – from Rainbow Falls Connection. Also in the box were the Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) Butter Cookies I ordered for myself, and Caroline’s favorite – Mt. View Stone Cookies. Now, if I could just get those guys at the Koloa Fish Market in Kauai to send over their most awesome Poke Bento…or give us the recipe, come on guys we promise not to share it with anyone!!!!
Precision
A big, fat thank you to Precision Guitar of Phoenix, Arizona, for repairing and bringing back to life this antique mandolin. Earlier this summer, after more than a few dead-end calls, a local shop accepted the mandolin, ultimately to have to return it to us unrepaired, but they had a recommendation, Precision Guitar. It was Isaac Burnstein who bought the instrument some 70 odd years ago and who at some point passed it on to his son, my great uncle, Woody. Now the old Blue Comet is silent no more.
This 1930’s era Blue Comet Mandolin was manufactured by Regal Musical Instrument Company (1908-1954) of Chicago, Illinois, and was apparently sold by the Montgomery Ward catalog. If anyone has access to a catalog or knows more about this old instrument, please leave a comment or email me.
Community Supported Agriculture
Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), The Little Farm in Gilbert is back on for another season of locally grown, pesticide- and chemical-free veggies, and eggs from some of the happiest chickens you could meet. I delivered 80 pounds of apples from Brown’s Orchard and the chickens followed me back and forth waiting for those yummy apples to be thrown their way. Lauren told me just how smart these chickens are, they will take a nibble of the apples and then wait a few days for them to attract insects, when loaded with extra critters the chickens return for a scrumptious feast only a chicken could love. Rosey, the pot-bellied pig took time off from her ankle cuddling routine to indulge herself on a handful of fat apples I delivered her way. Lucky me even got to pick up my first share of the season today which included butternut squash, pear’s, eggplant, basil, chard, arugula, and my favorite, Tokyo Bekana – a mild mustard green that is great in salads. And finally, from the girls above, a dozen fresh eggs scooped up just before my arrival.
AZ-266
On our way out this morning, we paid a return visit to Brown’s Orchard to pick up our apple juice, a leg of lamb for my mother, and 80 pounds of apples for Lauren’s animals at The Little Farm in Gilbert. Last night, prior to leaving the orchard, June and Gerard invited us to take a break and share a drink of their homemade apple wine, also known as hard cider. We sat on their patio talking, watching the hummingbirds and the orchard trees aglow from the setting sun – a perfect ending to our perfect day; thank you, June and Gerard. Before we finally headed home, we hoisted a 25-pound sack of locally grown pinto beans into the back seat next to the massive cooler holding our 12 gallons of juice, and then we were on our way.
We chose a backcountry dirt road called Fort Grant Road that intersects with AZ-266, becoming Klondyke Road. Our scenic detour took us past more apple orchards, pistachio orchards, and the nearly famous Eurofresh – home to 221 acres of greenhouses that produce over 100 million pounds of tomatoes per year. The photo above was taken at the Klondyke junction, about halfway between Bonita and Eden, where we would reconnect with pavement on Highway 70 going to Globe and Phoenix beyond that. The skies were overcast, and some rain could be seen in the distance, but the old dirt road wasn’t in too bad of shape; good thing, too, as our little Hyundai sedan is certainly no landrover.
Upon reaching Globe, highway 70 terminates, and we merge onto Interstate 60, which will take us all the way to the Phoenix area, but first, we’ll pass through Top-of-the-World, where I think there might be one shop still operating but obviously not this one.
Further east, we reach the once bustling town of Superior that was put on the map again in 1997 with the movie titled U-Turn by Oliver Stone starring everyone, including Sean Penn, Billy Bob Thornton, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, Powers Boothe, Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes, and Nick Nolte.
The first time we passed through this way was just after seeing the movie with Ruby and Axel, probably in 1998, as it was on VHS by that time. I can’t remember if the old hotel was fenced off at that time but I wish we’d make an attempt to visit the inside of the place.
Back when U-Turn was being filmed, there was a prop pay-phone setup here on the corner. The concrete pad can be seen behind the plant, but the phone was long gone, even back on our first visit.
While the aesthetics of the place are enchanting to us, they probably don’t lend anything to the economic viability of this old mining town that has seen better days, but enough of that, we need to make our way home now.