Drinking Fresh Coconut Juice and Making Coconut Cream

 Nothing can really bit the real taste of a fresh coconut juice.  I tried those canned coconut juice, and I gagged at the taste.  I don't know what they add to it, but it just not the same.  I just want to share how I open it up with the serrated knife and a hammer.  If the coconut is truly 'young', I know it can be opened without the hammer.  A quick slice with a machete is how the street vendor do it in Viet-Nam.  

Shave off as much husk off at the top with a serrate knife.

Place the coconut in a clean plastic bag.  If the hammer is to hard, the juice will leak out and it can be caught in the bag.

A good wack at the coconut shell.  *A young coconut does not really have a hard brown shell, it has a soft membrane like shell.

Place a glass on top of the cracked shell and revert the coconut to disperse the juice.

Widen the cracked shell and scoop out the coconut meat.

You can eat them or process it in NutriBullet.  As the coconut gets older, the meat is more thicker and tougher.

Place a small strainer in the cup over the cracked coconut shell before reverting it will help filter the husk, etc. or you can filter it after you transferred the juice into a g

Making coconut cream

Be sure to remove the NutriBullet's blade housing's washer/rubber seal and clean underneath before storing after each use.

 

Cactus Blossom in December and Preparing Picked Prickly Pears

 One bright Saturday morning, I found a Cactus with flower.  It was a big surprise.  It opens and closes along with the sun.  It only lasted two days, but it was great seeing a home grown cactus flowering after two years.

This year, the prickly pear was ripened very late.  And as usual, I have to be very careful and wear a mask during picking.  I also wore a pair of gloves and use a long handle picker.  Each prickly pear is then rolled around on the garden's succulent cactus nearby to remove as much thorns as possible.  You must be very careful with the Prickly pear's fine minuscule microscopic thorns.  Some are so light that they can airborne during picking.   I rinse them down with the hose before I take it inside the house.  Then, I rinse them at the kitchen sink thoroughly before I skin them.

Scrubbing off as much thorns against other cactus before putting them in a bag or container

Check this fine hair thorns that can airborne.  Wear a Mask during picking!!

Rinsing off once outside in the garden, then, at the kitchen sink.  Do not touch the prickly pear with bear hands.  Use a long kitchen tongue at all times unless you are 100% sure that you have used a propane torch and burned off the hair before bringing them into the house.

Pretty cleaned up.

Holding with a fork, slice off the head.  Then, skin.

You can eat it as is after peeling or puree and make Prickly Pear Colada Cocktail.

Push them through a strainer.

The smooth prickly pear juice can now be used to make anything you want.

The outer fresh can be processed in the NutriBullet to make into Puree.

 

Freeze the puree in ice tray, then store in a freezer plastic bag for later use.  Make your favorite drinks.

I notice the prickly pear has this shiny golden copper tint to the red.