Mangoes

Growing up in northern Idaho (many years ago), about the most tropical of a fruit that was available to us in grocery stores was a banana. My mom always had fruit in the house; but it was always of the more ordinary kind ... apples, bananas, oranges, etc. Having grown up this way, I don't think about trying some of the more unusual fruits available to us now. I finally bought some kiwis for the first time this past year after having found out that my kids love them. Poor kids -- I felt like I had deprived them. And then last month, a friend told me that one of the stores was having a sale on pomegranates. I confessed that I had never eaten a pomegranate. He happened to have one with him, and gave me and my daughter a taste of the delicious seeds. That was all I needed. I went straight to the grocery store and bought a few pomegranates. They were so good. And then a couple of weeks ago, the same friend told me that mangoes were on sale ..... and yes, once again I had to confess that I had never had a mango. So for Christmas, I received several mangoes from this friend who must surely think I am deprived when it comes to enjoying fruit. But wait, the story gets better ... after cutting into my first mango, I came across this great big seed in the middle. It was about the size of the palm of my hand. I was so surprised! So before I even ate breakfast, I quickly checked on the internet for planting instructions, and planted my first mango seed. This will be a fun experiment.