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* Frozen strawberries, seedless grapes and peeled banana make great frozen snacks. Freeze on trays, place in plastic bags for quick treats.
* When you need both citrus (lemon, lime, orange...) juice and grated peel, grate before squeezing the juice. Both jobs will be easier.
* Scalding tomatoes, peaches or pears in boiling water before peeling makes it easier on you and the fruit, skins slip right off.
* To keep fruit from browning dip into the juice from grapefruit, oranges, lemon, or pineapples.
* Put dates and other sticky fruits in the freezer for about an hour before cutting up. It will make it easier.
* Ripen green fruits by placing them in a perforated plastic bag - the holes allow air movement, yet retain the odorless gas the fruits produce to promote ripening.
* Fresh melon, pineapple, apples, pears or peaches are great barbecued.
* For fresh off the vine, tree, bush, etc. flavor, microwave fruit until barely warm for wonderful flavor.
* Spread pineapple jam or mixed-fruit jellies on squash halves, before baking.
* Pick mangoes that are orange-yellow to red in color and which give slightly with pressure. Green mangoes are hard, and have to ripen before you can eat them.
* Dried fruit will be easier to chop if you place it in the freezer an hour before chopping.
* For a different twist, stir in 1/4 cup of apricot, peaches or pineapple preserves before serving cooked vegetables like carrots or sweet potatoes.
* To peel an orange or grapefruit to use the sections in a salad, immerse the whole fruit in a pot of boiling-hot water and let stand 4 minutes. Remove fruit from the water and cool until it's easy to handle. When you peel away the skin, the pith should come with it. Any remnants can be pulled off with a grapefruit knife.
* Before eating or juicing citrus fruit, microwave it for 15-45 seconds until slightly warm to the touch and it will be much juicier.
* Dip your peeled bananas in lemon juice - not just to keep them from turning dark, but also to add great flavor.
* Shred unpeeled apples and saute in butter 4-5 minutes. Add a little brown sugar if desired. Yummy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
* When choosing a cantaloupe its skin should be rough. The rougher, the sweeter. For ripeness, the bottom end (not the stem) should be soft.
* To test whether a pineapple is ripe, see if you can pull out a leaf from the crown.
* Before juicing citrus fruits, firmly roll on a table or counter for a few second to help break the cell walls.
* If you love fruit juice but are counting calories, dilute it with sparkling water.
* The easiest and tastiest way to frost grapes is first to wash and dry them. Then dip them first into lemon juice and then into granulated sugar.
-Super Tasting Allstar Recipes, from the parents and teachers of Langley Fundamental Middle School, Langley BC, Canada.
