Baby Watermelon

MIL came home with a baby watermelon the other day. Isn't she cute?















It's almost seedless (only a few white ones), with a slightly less-sweet flavor than full-sized watermelons. The skin is thinner, and the flesh doesn't taste bitter as you get near the rind.

Unfortunately, like the baby cantaloupe...I'm allergic. Damn.

Update 2/23/09: I have now found 2 other people with watermelon allergies, a co-worker's girlfriend, and my grandfather. At least I now know that I'm now insane, that people really can be allergic to watermelon.

Mamey Milkshake

So Ben over at What's Cooking recently did a post on mamey, or sapote, or zapote. I had never had it before, and it looked interesting, so I checked out one of the many Mexican & Central American markets in my area to see if I could find any.

Not only did they have frozen bags of cut-up mamey, they also had whole frozen ones. Into my cart it went.
















Once thawed, I cut it open. What a seed! Took a taste...hmm...not sure if I like it...so into a milkshake it went, a can of evaporated milk, a little less than 1/4 cup of sugar, and the pulp (recipe courtesy of Nestle). Blend and chill in the freezer.














Taste...nope...still don't like it. Oh, and hey! I'm allergic! It's nice to finally be allergic to something I don't care for.

Food Allergies

It appears I have oral allergy syndrome. Now, I'm not a hypochondriac, quite the opposite. I steadfastly refuse to believe there's anything wrong with me unless I have unassailable truth. However, over the last 5 years or so, my reactions to certain foods have increased and escalated. I can't ignore them - it's difficult to ignore incessant itching and swelling in your mouth and throat.

I underwent allergy testing as a teenager, little injections of known allergens under your skin. If they swell, you're allergic. I think I was diagnosed with cat and pollen allergies. Allergy immunotherapy was the treatment. I'm pretty sure it didn't work, because I'm still allergic to my cat, as well as most green growing things, especially ones with flowers. Thank God my cat doesn't flower.















Then in my late 20s, I started having food allergies. Avocado, cantaloupe, walnuts, pineapple, watermelon. Who in the hell is allergic to watermelon? It's mostly water, for God's sake! But, yeah, lucky me.
















Damn conformational epitopes.

Lychees

Aren't they pretty? We picked them up at Nijiya Market on Convoy St. in San Diego (along with a ton of other stuff).















I was going to ask for suggestions on what to do with them, but I ate one - loved its apple-pear-banana-something-else flavor...but...I'm allergic. So Hubby will get to eat them straight out of their skins, and not have to worry about me messing with them.

Awesome Product Alert - Roth Kase Buttermilk Blue

So it turns out I'm now allergic to blue cheese. I bought a beautiful wedge of Roth Käse Buttermilk Blue, and had a bit on a cracker.




















Instant itchiness all over my mouth. And, get this, I'm not allergic to penicillin.

But, like with avocado, I'm still going to eat blue cheese, in moderation. Especially this Roth Käse, because it's tangy, creamy, and utterly delicious - and only $11/lb at my local grocery store. (You can buy a whole 6lb wheel direct from the manufacturer for $7.43/lb. A 50% markup for a small cut isn't bad!)

Food Allergies

Anyone want to read a list of things I've developed allergies to over the years? I thought so!

In no particular order:
Watermelon
Avocado
Canteloupe
Honeydew melon
Cherimoya
Kohlrabi
Mango
Papaya
Pineapple
Persimmon (the hard variety, not the soft one)
Walnuts
Pecans
Brazil nuts
Hazel nuts
Wheat flour

All of the above result in some sort of throat-constricting, mouth-itching uncomfortableness. If my lips are even slightly chapped, avocados make me swell up like Angelina Jolie. Raw cookie dough? Can't. Even some chocolates (e.g. Fannie May, Ghirardelli) make me itch, no idea what ingredient causes that. And the nut thing? I can't eat a cashew that's even come into contact with a pecan.

Interestingly, once any of the above are cooked (although I've never cooked watermelon), I'm fine.

Also a little strange, I have no problem with peanuts, strawberries, shellfish - all the typical allergies.

However, allergies be damned, I say! I just finished a BLT with overeasy egg & avocado. And later on for a snack I may have some canteloupe. Yes, the itching and constriction is annoying (and a little scary in the case of watermelon). But it's never been so bad as to require medical attention. So I'll continue to get a little satisfaction by eating the bastards.

Post #26 - Evil Mini Cantaloupe

OK, so I knew I was allergic to cantaloupe. If I have even one bite, my throat swells and I start wheezing like a dying asthmatic. But I eat it anyway, because the problems pass in about 15 minutes, and the slight discomfort is worth the yummy satisfaction of eating something that causes me pain.

So I saw this absolutely adorable baby cantaloupe at the local market (that's him next to a 16oz Arizona tea). He's literally 4 inches in diameter.















I picked him up, and tucked him in the crook of my arm, as I wandered around the market. When I got to the checkout, I noticed my arm was itchy. The arm that the cute adorable baby little cantaloupe was resting upon. I looked down. Not only was it itchy, it was red. Blotchy. Little bumps, like flea bites.

So, not only can I not eat the baby cantaloupe, apparently I can't even hold him. Little bastard.