Summer fruits will continue to charm isle shoppers this week as season-low prices and hot weather lure taste buds to the cooling flavors. Summertime, and the
fruits are so pleasingMelons and plums lead the way to sweetness but peaches and their nectarine cousins also are enticing.
You need do little else but chill these summer gems. A simple combination of these fruits makes a refreshing dessert for the lighter appetites that come with warm weather. Blend up a smoothie with the juicy flesh of plums, peaches and cantaloupe. Or toss the fruits into the cooler when you're heading out to the beach; the salt air seems to make them taste even sweeter.
Look for cantaloupes that have clear webbing on the outside and a stem end that's slightly sunken and calloused. The best way to determine if a cantaloupe is ready for eating is with your nose. Sniff it; the musky aroma should be evident if the fruit is ripe. Using your nose also will help you pick luscious peaches and plums. These fruits also give off a heady aroma when they are at their peak.
Times supermarkets have exotic melons -- Persian, Galia, Crenshaw and Casabas -- at 69 cents a pound this week, along with the more familiar honeydews and canta-loupes at 59 cents a pound. Times also has nectarines and Freestone and O'Henry peaches at 99 cents a pound.
Star also has cantaloupes at 39 cents a pound and honeydews at 59 cents; peaches are 79 cents a pound. Safeway is offering cantaloupes at 59 cents a pound, O'Henry peaches at 67 cents, nectarines at 79 cents, and red and black plums at $1.49 a pound. Daiei has red, black and green plums at 98 cents a pound and nectarines at 78 cents a pound. (Prices are club card listings.)
Star-Bulletin staff
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