A vacation in a glass: enjoy the taste of Hawai'i!
Recipe #16: strawberry guava nectar

When we first moved into this house, we noticed three little trees in our backyard, right in front of the entrance. They were many small berries on the trees.

The berries were very small, similar in size to, and we had no idea what they were. Our real estate agent told us that the fruit were edible. My mother did not recognize them and thought that they might be like the holly, vivid and toxic.

The agent assrued her that they were edible, and she took a fruit, opened it and smelled it. She said the aroma was familiar. She then realized that the fruit were strawberry guava, and seemed very excited. She said that they were a species from Hawaii.

Guava is very common in Taiwan. My grandfather's home had a tree that produced a green species guava every year, and they were both aromatic and delicious. As soon as she was told it was guave, she picked one and smelled and it was indeed guava. However, it was hard to eat becauae it was small and had lots of seeds.

After several years, my mother has made compost to change the soil and water it; after several years of hard work, and some became as large as 1 inch. There were so many each year that we had to prune 2/3 of the tree to avoid it being crushed by the fruit. At around October and November, many friends would come to our house to pick them, and she would treat them to our guava homemade nectar. she made it by the bottle, and friends would take away pounds at once. The taste and texture were better than that of the guava from the supermarkets.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups strawberry guava
2. 3 cups water
3. 1-2 Tbsp. honey

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender, using grind.
2. Using a sieve, remove the seeds and residue.

Tips

1. The concentration is related to the ripeness and may not the same each time, so you can adjust the amount or water to your liking.
2. Because our guava are very sweet, only 1 Tbsp. of honey is needed. You can substitute honey with sugar if you want. Howeve,r honey has a unique taste t it.
3. Unused guava can be placed in the freezer and used later. They will be darker colored, though.
4. There are other speciesl of guava, such as tropic, pineapple, etc. However, strawberry guava tastes the best.

A vibrant red
Recipe #15: pomegranate nectar

When I was a year old I loved running around the backyard barefoot. My grandmother worried that parasite eggs could pass through the skin and enter the human body, and that children could be infected. She recommended that my mother buy pomegranates because they can help remove the parasites. I don't know if there is any truth or scientific evidence of this. Because pomegranates taste very good, my mother bought some anyway. We would buy them every year, and they were one of my favorite fruita. The pulp-covered seeds were like rubies. When we saw pomegranate trees for sale, we decided to buy one to plant. They are special in that the blossom is the most beautiful when the fruit is still growing. Many Chinese poets would use them to describe pretty young ladies in pretty skirts, and how attractive they were. Not only do pomegranates taste good, they have a romantic story. If we are lucky and the weather is warm enough, we would get many fruits. My mother would peel them into ready-to-eat seeds for me and my father to enjoy. She would also blend them into nectar.

Pomegranates are becoming increasingly valuable in health (it can indeed remove parasites), due to their nutrition. However, for some reason, the pomegranate juice sold in supermarkets often taste salty, not very good, even though they were supposedly 100% fruit juice. Thus, my mother makes her own. If there are extra fruits, we can store them in the freezer and blend them later. Our friends treat the nectar like the food of kings because nobody would give them something so good to drink.

Ingredients

1. 3 cups pomegranate seeds
2. 2 cups water
3. 1-2 Tbsp. honey

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender, using grind.
2. Using a sieve, remove the seeds and pulp.

Tips

1. You must use enough pomegranate seeds in order to have enough juice. Otherwise, it will be very diluted. One rule of thumb is to add water until it covers the seeds in a blender, at which point the juice should be concentrated enough.
2. Because our pomegranates are very sweet, only 1 Tbsp. of honey is needed. For those from supermarktes that may not be as sweet, you may need to adjust the honey.