January 2012…. Wow, time flies! Happy New Year! Looking back, I didn’t get as far as I would have liked in my photoblogging. Posting 52 times is a lot more work than I thought!  I did however, post 15 times in my freshman blogosphere, so if I average it out… I’m looking at about a post a month.  Not too bad for this first timer! My biggest accomplishment is simply that I started one! Thank you to all who’ve checked my blog out. I’m thinking this year if I don’t have the time or feel like writing, I’ll just post a photo pic or two to get me in the routine of posting. We’ll see… I’m hopeful and optimistic! And with Santa bringing more Legos and Just Dance 3, I may get some quiet time to be able to organize my thoughts and pictures! 🙂

Well, well, what’s been going on here? Evidently it’s fruit-bearing season in the desert! Everywhere I look, citrus trees are heavy with the bountiful weight of its labor. Grapefruits, oranges, tangelos… I’m assuming lemons and limes too, but I haven’t seen ’em yet. We have 5 fruit trees in our backyard: 3 orange, 1 lemon and 1 very pitiful lemon tree. The latter lemon (well we think it’s a lemon) is the last remaining citrus tree on our property when we moved in. From the looks of it, the last owner hadn’t watered it in over a year. Hopefully it makes it. All the other trees are new and with that, none are bearing fruit at the moment. I’m hoping by next season we’ll have some goodies of our own. For now, there are plenty of trees loaded with fruit where neighbors and friends are offering bags of them. It reminds me very much of tomato harvesting season in the Midwest, where in late August you simply can’t eat or give enough away!

TANgELO… (tan-jə-loh)… A cross between a tangerine and a pomelo or grapefruit. The size of a fist. The Arizona/ Californian variety is easily distinguished by its pebbled surface and bell-shaped end.  Little to no seeds. Mildly acidic, sweet and super juicy. In one word: Delicious. I’ve got a bag of here. I can only peel and eat so many! I agree, freshly squeezed juice is a bonus, but unless you have an electric juicer (I don’t), it’s alot of work. Jams, jellies, tangelic citrus salsas, citrus marinades, orange balsamic reductions over vanilla ice cream? Really? In the end, I pulled together a tangy tangelo couscous side dish tossed with garbanzo beans and sunflower seeds. It had an earthy undertone as I seasoned it with a couple shakes of cumin, salt and pepper. Topped off with a squeeze from half of a freshly cut tangelo to add an additional bright burst of flavor. Not too shabby for on the fly. It passed the test, the kids and hubs ate it!