Avocados

 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”– 1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV) 

“Have you had avocadoes?”  I asked the 2 year-olds as we pretended to cook in a children’s class. Some looked at me with a blank look and another responded with excitement, “Yes! I had an avocado before!” Conventiently, there were two fake avocados in the play kitchen. I was able to show them the big seed for the avocado and had some fun discussions about this fruit with the littles. They were all very interested. 

When I am with the children in class, I am always grateful to find “vegetables” and “fruits” among the toys, rather than fast foods, cookies or packaged foods. Children’s work is to play. They learn a lot while they play sub-consciously. The commercials know how fast children can learn, and strategically design advertisements and toys to prepare the next generation to be their faithful customers in the future. Being a parent and educator, we are to either create a safer environment for these tender minds, or to teach them how to navigate the realities when life does happen.  

Back to avocados, they are an interesting fruit to me. A fun name to say for a child or a language learner. I never had a single avocado growing up, never heard of it either. It was not until my young adult years, when China started to put some imported fruit on the supermarket shelves, I had my first-hand encounter with this foreign tropical fruit. Even then I had no interest in purchasing one. Unlike other sweeter fruits, avocados can’t even be enjoyed as a treat. They were not only more expensive than local fruits, and they didn’t look too appetizing from outside. Even worse, since there was not much interest, they looked even sadder, sometimes even starting to rot. I was more amused by the name, and looks of this peculiar fruit.

Avocados are often called “crocodile pears”(鳄梨) or “butter fruit”(牛油果）in Chinese. Perhaps, the outside skin looks like crocodile skin when it is ripe. They look green when picked early and you can usually ripen them at room temperature after a few days. Then they change their color from fresh green to darker green, almost dark black, kind of like crocodile skin. You will need to store them in the fridge before or at that point if you are not going to eat them right away. 

Fast forward a few years, when I first came to America as a new Mom almost fifteen years ago, I learned that avocados make super baby food. They are high in healthy fats, fiber and good for brain development. Unlike the scarcity of avocados in China, I saw the abundance here in the U.S.. Being a curious eater, I gave avocados another try and got hooked on this fruit ever since. The other name “butter fruit” gave me clues on how to use it. I waited until they were soft to the touch, cut it open, and served the creamy flesh directly to all my babies as super baby fruit. They also came in handy when we were on the road. 

Now, as the children grow, avocados still remain on our shopping list. I use them wherever the recipe calls for butter. Names can be powerful. The “butter fruit” keeps giving me clues for more creative ways to enjoy these creamy and healthy additions. I put them on sandwiches, smash them with bananas to make AvacadoBanana jellies, add them to salads and soups, and if we want to add a kick, we mix some salsa in to make guacamole dips. 

Over the years, we’ve had a good number of avocados, along with avocado-opening experiences. It is entertaining when we see different sizes of seeds after they are cut open. Sometimes, a tiny little avocados with a huge seed, so it is disappointing to not get much flesh out of it. Being a frugal mom, I tried to make an object lesson out of it. I have my children guess what the inside might look like for the next avocado since the first one didn’t do its job well. I will remind them the appearance can be deceiving. Sometimes, we get lucky and get a huge avocado with a tiny seed! We all exclaimed the discoveries with great enthusiasm and that avocado got “hurrayed” around the house. One boy even ventured out to attempt to sprout the seeds with toothpicks poked in suspended above a cup of water. Simple joy is truly not too far from us in our daily lives, if we stay open-minded for what life unfolds at times. 

On the other hand, life is not full of roses. I may get the ripening timing wrong, or some avocados got picked way too early and can never get ripened well. They look black, rotten and ugly inside. We tossed quite a few of those bad ones as well. Yet, the big seeds after being washed can make a fun game. The boys used them as huge marbles! 

Now being on a homestead, I recently learned the goats shouldn’t eat avocado peels or any part of the avocados. It is like dogs should not eat grapes or raisins. One thing good and familiar for us can be potentially dangerous to the other. That is why it is important to continue learning, understand different needs and resources around us. Being a good steward takes heart, skills and knowledge.  

That being said, have you had a fresh avocado? Do you have another name for the avocado? What is your experience with an avocado? What is the size of your seed? I hope you are having as much fun opening and discovering the inside value of your avocados! 

When I am overwhelmed with so much to learn, it is nice to revisit something familar and learn something new about my old friend. Actually, a fairly new friend who has become an old friend. Being willing to try a new food is simple but not always easy. Food choices can get very personal. However, being open-minded is part of the growth. You never know how things are going to turn out when you give them a fair amount of tries. Um… Perhaps, I should start to think about how to grow an avocado tree in a greenhouse someday! :-) Any growing tips to share?