Indigo Kumquat Tomatoes, Cherry Drops, and Jackfruit

Say hello to one of my NEW favorites!  This is an Indigo Kumquat Tomato.

It's a orange fruit with dark indigo-colored shoulders. Very sweet flavor with a surprising, tart kick of acidity.  It requires minimal pruning and yields well, even in unfavorable conditions. Stunning combined in mixed quarts with Indigo Cherry Drops or with other grape or cherry varieties, but unique enough to offer alone and brand by name. Harvest when background color fills in uniformly orange and fruits begin to soften. Indigo color is derived from anthocyanin, a known antioxidant.

What is an Indigo Cherry Drop?  I'm so glad you asked...Indigo Cherry Drops has striking dark-blue anthocyanin coloration over red flesh. The plant habit is much improved, from the small semi-determinate of Indigo Rose to a vigorous indeterminate. 

These are 2 little gems that were calling to me yesterday at The Busti Apple Festival.  I believe this is the 4th year my parents and I have sold our Wildtree products outside of this event in a friends front yard.  If you have been reading my blog for a while you might remember the apple that was as big as my Dad's face 2 years ago!

A co-worker brought some Jackfruit in this morning and of course I am gobbling it up!  Oddly this is the first time I have had fresh and whole Jackfruit.  I have had frozen, freeze-dried, and BBQ-ed/Packaged before. 

I'm probably going to eat a lot of it raw but might try and do a curry dish with the more fiber-eque parts.

What unique fruits have you been eating lately?

Vegan MoFo ~ Snacks on a Vegan Road Trip!

Today's Vegan MoFo Prompt is 'what snacks would I take on a vegan road trip'.  Well...are you in for a post!
But first I want to tell you about part of my weekend!

I'll start with Sunday and go back to Saturday!  These two days produced snacks I would probably take on my road trip, too, so it's kind of fitting!

Sunday - we attended the Busti Apple Festival in Busti, NY.  Here's a picture of my dad with one of the apples I bought to take home.  It's almost as big as his face!  The type of apple is a 20-ounce Pippen...isn't it CRAZY HUGE?  I bet it was more than 20 ounces!  I ended up getting a smaller bag full of an assortment of NY State grown apples.  This is the first time I've gotten the Pippens, tho!

Saturday we winterized our camper.  I can't believe it's that time of year already.  After we did that I started collecting Hickory Nuts that have naturally fallen from the trees at the Warren County Fair.  The wildlife already started collecting them so I was 'choosy' which ones I took for myself.  Before I knew it I had about 10 pounds of them!  WOWZA!  So...know I have all these Hickory Nuts so if anyone reading is in the US and would like some I can probably flat rate ship some to you!  Let me know if you are interested!  I've asked at work and with family and friends if anyone wanted any and they ask what they would do with them.  Basically you can use them in place of Pecans!  I am thinking a roasted Brussels Sprouts and Hickory Nut dish is in order for myself!  They ARE a LOT of work, tho, I will warn you!

Another vegan snack I would bring on a road trip would have to be this sprouted trail mix.  Specifically the Thai Chili Pineapple flavor!  OMG!

Amazing!  You can find this HERE.

Basically ANY kind of DRIED FRUIT would be a great choice!  There are too many wonderful options to choose just a few.

Of course...NUTS and SEEDS is another thing on my list!

KALE CHIPS...need I say more about Kale Chips?

Another 'specific' I want to point out that is GREAT for traveling are these 'bad boys'!  They are meals in a cup and they only need WATER added to complete.  Either hot or cold water is fine.

Vigilant Eats is the brand.  Find them HERE.

The flavors I have tried and enjoyed are: Coconut Maple Vanilla Oat, Maca Double Chocolate, Goji Cacao, and Espresso Maca Mulberry Oat.

NUT BUTTERS...just about any kind!  But today I need to sing the praises of a few of Jem Organics, specifically!  Like this Cinnamon Red Maca Almond Butter, for example!  OMG - it's the LIVE for!  It's INSANELY GOOD and I'm a bit addicted to it!  Another one from them I have discovered as of late is their Cashew Cardamom Sprouted Cashew Almond Spread!  MY GOODNESS!

BUT...you also have to check out the offerings from Rawmio, too!  I mean how can you pass up options like...Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Spread...among others?  So those are just a few items I would bring on MY Vegan Road trip!

The Fiats Are Coming! The Fiats Are Coming!

This past weekend was fun!  It was the first Fiat Meet Up of the season that Dale and I were able to make!  We first met another couple in Jamestown, NY, and then headed to Dunkirk, NY, to meet up with a group that was traveling from Buffalo, NY.  After chatting for a while we all headed over to Erie, PA.  There were about 12 or 13 cars that was on the ride!  It was a little cool and windy but at least the sun was shining!  The reason for the meet up was to get a group of us from the Western NY - Southern Ontario Fiat Club over to the Grand Opening for Auto Express Fiat Alfa Romeo of Erie.  During their Grand Opening of the Fiat Dealership they were raising money for an animal shelter there, too!  Dale and I made a small donation.  I think they raised over $1,000 for the shelter that day.  After we all left the dealership after spending a couple of hours there many of us went to Southern Tier Brewery in Lakewood/Busti, NY, and enjoyed the sun, some of the group ate, and others tried some of the brews.  There was a Reggae/Folk Fusion type band that played on the outdoor stage and we listened for a bit.  After Dale and I left the group we went out for dinner.  It was a great day!  We met some new people and met up again with some new friends we made from last year, too!  Oh!  We took our Abarth - not the Fiat 500 Pop - but we hope to take both of the cars to an upcoming cruise-in soon!

In case you are trying to find me in the photo above - I'm the one in the grey shirt next to the guy in the blue shirt to the left of the red car.  The guy in the blue is Dale.

Sunday - my mom and I traveled over to Nobel Winery near Westfield, NY, to meet up with my sister who was putting on a bridal shower for her soon-to-be-sister-in-law.  It was the first time I met her.  But it was a nice day and I am always happy to see my sister!

Monday - Dale and I did some yard work.  We did some major trimming of the trees in our front yard...which isn't much of a yard since we live so close to the street...we will call it our front garden instead.  It was long over due and now it's done...it looks much better.  So YEAH it was a busy weekend!  What did you do?