Free Range Friday ~ Mangoes

There are mangoes everywhere. And that means that those of us who aren't blessed with a mango tree in our yard get to be the recipients of mango gifts from those with trees spilling over abundantly. That ranks on the food chain as being given a work of art that is a dessert that is good for you, making it a 10.

Thank you, Clive and Margaret. I'll be back!

The bag of mangoes I got the other day are so beautiful that every step of eating them is worth a moment of appreciation. I'm always reminded of a time, when living on another island, being introduced to mangoes by a man who said that the best way to eat them was standing in the ocean. Preferably naked. We were at a house by the beach. We had mangoes. We did not stand in the water naked to eat them.  We stood in the kitchen, with clothes on  (this memory is growing foggy, I do know we weren't naked when we ate them). They were still delicious, I was hooked and have come around to his idea easily. The ideal way to eat a mango, a good, mango, is anywhere, naked, so that you can throw care to the wind and let 'er drip.

(Unless you are Foxy, of Jost Van Dyke, who eats his mangoes by gently squeezing them in their skins until they are pulperized, biting a small hole in the skin and drinking the pulpy juice without spilling a drop. I tried it a couple of times but don't really have the patience to wait. He's taught me a lot about island patience; I just am a slow learner) 

But I've told these stories before. It was time to up my mango game.

The other night, on my birthday (did I mention I had a birthday?), I was at home. Asleep. I found out the next day that I'd been serenaded at the front door by a group of women. Women with cake. Birthday cake. I missed the whole thing but Molly, the cake maker, was kind enough to save me some. I got it the same day I got the mangoes. 

Two very delicious things that somehow called out to be together. Chocolate and mango? Oh yeah. Try it, it works. It works well.

I was so enamored with the idea of mixing mango with something else I really like, that when I realized I had no jelly for my peanut butter sandwich, it only took a second for the synapses to snap. 'Hey, I love mango jelly! Why not just use the mango itself?' Mangoes. Peanut butter. Some oatmeal bread. Alrighty!!

By the way, when you cut mangoes, they are slippery. Expect to have at least one of the slices jump out of your fingers onto the floor. 

So far, so good

Maybe it was the bread (bread I bought because that day, there was not any really good bread available for purchase - this is called small island living). Maybe it was just a bad idea. But mangoes and peanut butter do not enhance each other, they detract from both themselves and the other. Two delicious substances turned to blech. They didn't even look good. It was a fail.

I'll keep looking for mango pairings. Like mango and a very chilled cabernet. I know that would work.

Have a fabricate your food fantasy Friday. Do something (un)fettered.