Frozen longans

Browsing the frozen section at 99 Ranch (local Asian supermarket) last night, we found frozen longans! We loved the fresh ones we had in Hawaii, so we decided to give these a shot. And they're great! If they hadn't been a bit frosty here and there still, I don't think I could have told that they weren't fresh. Freezing clearly doesn't bother their texture at all. What a treat! And at $2.49/2 lbs, they're way cheaper than the fresh ones we were buying in Hawaii for $3/lb.

If you decide to try them, be warned that they're a bit messy. Their flesh is firm and translucent, similar to lychee and rambutan. But between the flesh and the thin, brown, leathery skin that you have to pinch and tear to open, is some sweet juice. If you're good, you can tear a small hole and suck out the juice before skinning it the rest of the way. But mostly I end up with juice all over my hands. It's worth it.

The only frozen jackfruit we could find, though, was green. We'll just keep looking for ripe jackfruit.

sheer frenzy

I somehow ended up in a cleaning frenzy today. It started with taking the sheers in the living room down to wash, and expanded to other sheers and curtains around the house. Then I needed to clean all of those windows while the sheers were down, of course (and boy, did they need cleaning). And in the case of the livingroom, that entailed moving the couch, which lead to cleaning behind and under the couch, also replacing the "carpet bottom caster cups" which had been worn nearly down to the metal. Plus I webstered and dusted the whole house. Then I washed the kitchen floor, but before starting on the floor, I took a swipe at a spot on a cabinet door, and then another, and before long I was washing every waist height or lower door or drawer, including the dishwasher, oven, and refrigerator. (The fancy textured grip on our refrigerator seems to have been carefully designed to maximally catch and hold onto grime.) Eventually I did get to the kitchen floor. As almost an afterthought, I cleaned the bathrooms too. magscanner vacuumed everywhere and assisted mightily in the curtain capades.

Phwew.