Posted on 03/16/2017 4:00:27 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
In recent years the pineapple has superseded peaches to become my favorite fruit – perhaps partly because it’s so much easier to find very good pineapples in my area. But getting at the fruit inside a pineapple is a real project!
I’ve often been tempted to buy one of those pineapple-coring gadgets, but I always turned it down – I thought it would be hard for my small hands to use, and it seemed like the kind of ‘unitasker’ (channeling Alton Brown, here) that would take up space and hardly be used.
A few weeks ago, I saw one of them on the half-price rack at the grocery store, in perfect condition except that the packaging had been damaged; so I gave in and scooped it up, still thinking that I'd probably have to enlist the Husband Unit's man-hands, to make it work.
But this thing is amazing! It isn’t hard to use at all, even for my small and not very strong hands; and it does exactly what it’s supposed to do. There are a lot of them out there, but the one I purchased is from Farberware. When I think back to all my ugly, butchered pineapples, I wish I had gotten this gizmo sooner. (And when it’s all done, you have a nice hollow pineapple to use for a centerpiece "vase".)
Pineapple is especially nice as a snack when dehydrated – it doesn’t require pre-treatment, and the corer does a very good job of making uniform slices that will dry evenly (if you don't have a dehydrator, this link also includes directions for drying in the oven):
http://www.ehow.com/how_4792892_dehydrate-pineapple.html
And of course, there’s the beloved of many, Pineapple Upside Down Cake:
Another use for pineapple that I’ve always liked, is Carrot-Raisin-Pineapple Salad, which is usually made with mayonnaise; but I first made it while low-fat dieting many years ago, and still prefer it with yogurt, instead:
http://www.food.com/recipe/no-fat-carrot-raisin-salad-68514
-JT
By the way, the Pineapple has long been a traditional symbol of Hospitality in the US, since Colonial times; and you’ll see it represented in lots of the decor and art of that time:
http://www.history.org/almanack/life/christmas/dec_pineapple.cfm
That is one purty cake. This is how much I enjoy this thread, I am not a pineapple gal at all, but I love this thread & all the posts. Go figure.....
I always thought pineapple & ham pizza sounded so disgusting & then I had a slice & it was wonderful combo of sweet & savory. Go figure......
I've been meaning to try this cake, maybe I'll move it up the stack because I need from the store mini marshmallows for my 7 minute frosting and have all the ingredients for this cake.
Do Nothing Cake
Recipe at link:
Pineapple Coconut Cream Gelatin Poke Cake
Recipe at link:
https://www.duncanhines.com/recipes/cakes/agless/pineapple-coconut-cream-gelatin-poke-cake/
When I was growing up there was a lady in our church who provided pineapple upside down cakes to other parishioners for any and every life event. Not just funerals! If you were getting or had just gotten married, had a baby, were having out of town guests, were ill or recovering, she brought you a pineapple upside down cake. Funerals got you two, one at home and one at the after funeral reception at the church. She is long gone and that church is way in my past, but at every event in my life, either happy or sad, I still crave the comfort of pineapple upside down cake. Thank you Mrs. B.
I don’t know much about it, except that there’s a lot of contention surrounding cooking oils, and the health recommendations change routinely.
The only fats I use right now are Butter; Olive Oil, for salad dressings and cooking; sometimes Coconut Oil for cooking; Sesame, for flavoring; Peanut Oil for deep frying; and, oh - I keep a ton of lard in the freezer, and save all my bacon grease.
(I have one recipe for Carrot Cake that I haven’t made in a long while, which called for ‘vegetable oil’; then I changed to Canola - which by some lights has problems of its own - and I have no idea what I’ll use the next time I make it :-)
But if you do a search on ‘is corn oil healthy’, you’ll find lots of opinions/information.
I think I like it best the old ‘cast-iron pan’ way :-)
That’s a sweet story. There’s something to be said for having a ‘specialty’ that people grow to love and expect, and which creates comfort.
If somebody has the recipe I'd appreciate if you would post it or a link.
I think it had crushed pineapple and angel food cake mix, don't know what else, was baked in a 9X13 pan.
Very pretty; it’s one of my favorite motifs.
I like Early American and Colonial style because it’s generally simple. utilitarian, but elegant; and doesn’t really drag you down into anything that is too exactly ‘time-and-place’.
I can enjoy looking at a lot of things - Victorian, Art Nouveau, Craftsman - even Atomic Age :-) - etc.
But I only want to LIVE with something more plain, centered in the everyday, and there must always be evocation of the natural world - which makes things timeless.
Despite living so nearby, I’ve never been to Williamsburg - it’s on my ‘bucket-list’.
I am not familiar with that, but it sounds interesting.
New toys are always fun! And all pineapple I saw was encased in green Jello with walnuts, etc. I just scarf down a cold can when the mood strikes!
It was sweet of her. Somehow she always knew about events in church members lives and the cakes arrived swiftly. Looking back I wish I had continued her tradition in places I have lived.
Old Chinese Proverb:
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the next best time is NOW.”
You have to try a fresh one at least once. My husband always picks them out, and tells me that the way to tell that they’re ripe is to try plucking a leaf from the center of the very top - if it comes out easily with gentle pressure, that’s your pineapple.
(People also say that sprinkling a little salt on fresh pineapple makes it taste sweeter - I guess it goes to the saying that ‘salt makes things taste more like themselves’.)
I have one of those corers. I love it but my husband says all the juice of the pineapple ends up in the bottom of the shell and causes the slices to be dry.
I haven’t found that to be the case. You can do it in/over a large bowl or plastic container that retains the juice; and if you screw it down to the very bottom so that it pokes through the end, all the juice pours out - though you don’t want to do that, if you want to use the rind as a “container.”
It takes some practice to make it work for you; but I’m sold on it.
Only it's baked in a tube pan but could just as well be in a 9 X 13.
It looks really good. There's a regular cakelike one with whipped topping but you could put it on this one.
Recipe:
Sorry I've got cakes on the brain. Haven't had any for a long time.
I loved fresh pineapple as a kid and young adult but then I developed an allergy to it, really irritates my mouth. Cooked or canned pineapple ok.
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