Fruit/Veg Challenge Days 32-36: Grapes, Apples, Collard Greens, and Walla Walla Sweet Onions

The challenge lives on through days of road travel and a short retreat in Walla Walla, Washington.

As I drove across the United States in a moving van, the options to stop and seek out less common fruits and vegetables was slim, but that's not a problem because we had more common options on hand and I still managed a healthy supply of fruits on the road. So I claim grapes and apples from the two full travel days.

I'm currently staying two nights with a friend from Walla Walla University and his family. His mother prepared a wonderful soup last night and my thoughts focused in on the green vegetable inside. I'd been wondering when I could squeeze collard greens into my schedule and there they were. Collard greens: check!

Today I have a small dilemma. I claimed white onions in the challenge but now I'm in Walla Walla, home of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion. While it's not the only fruit or vegetable I had today, as someone who spent three years of my life living and studying here, I feel obligated to honor this prized treat. Walla Walla onions are special, and as the one in charge of my own personal challenge, I'll allow it.

Days 30 and 31: Fruit/Veggies of the Day: Cranberry and Peacherine

My fruits for the last two days are the cranberry and the peacherine. I love dried cranberries on my salads and even though I'm foregoing the more traditional experience of cooked cranberries or the lovely molded cranberry from a can, they make a great salad topping and can really change a salad. The peacherine is probably a trademarked name for a hybrid between peaches and tangerines. The bummer of tangerines is you have to peel them and with peaches you only have to deal with a little fuzz on the skin. So somebody somewhere thought the two together would make a novel fruit that someone who wants to try eating different fruits might pay for. They were right. Anything I can find something novel it's basically a free pass from having to use up a more common fruit or vegetable. I enjoyed it but it wasn't breathtaking; It tasted like a sour peach. I got my fiber and they got my money and an easy pass for my fruit/veggie challenge for that day.

With that, the first half of the challenge is over. The hardest part of the challenge so far is dealing with long work days. Now I'll be dealing with travel days instead. My initial travel for my journey to Thailand has begun and I'm on the road to Oregon/Washington, then flying to California for a little over a week, then flying to Thailand. I'm looking forward to an exotic selection of fruits there to fill out the last 15 days of my challenge and you'll get to read all about. I'm also starting a blog about the Thailand journey if you'd like to join me for other experiences than what fruit I found.