Too much fruit

Costco's produce is my Achilles Heel.  I buy way too much, neglecting to realize there are only 3 people in my family.  2 1/2, really.  And the one with the Y chromosome has to be force-fed any fresh fruits and veggies.  

But I can't help myself.  It's always so good, and I go crazy at Costco but then it goes bad before I can eat it all.  I vowed not to do that this time.  This trip, I ended up buying grapes, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers, and avocados.  Now consider the fact that all of those come in containers the size of Ellie.  I had to get creative if I wanted to fulfill my goal of not wasting any of the produce.

In addition to smoothies and jam, I made Fruit Roll-ups for the first time.  I don't know why I hadn't thought of doing this earlier.  Not only is it super easy, it used up a bunch of fruit, and Ellie thinks she's eating "candy".  It's a win-win situation.  Even Mike tried some, after much cajoling, and he said he was pleasantly surprised by how "fruit roll-up-y" they turned out.  (I used this recipe.)    

 

Then I thought, "How can I get that husband o' mine to eat some of this delicious fruit?"  And then the answer came to me:  Why, dip it in chocolate of course!

 I feel like I've been cheated my whole life.   Chocolate dipped strawberries are wonderful, but chocolate dipped cherries... oh man.  Especially when the cherries have been pitted.  They're dangerously easy to keep popping into your mouth.  (Pitting the cherries took me forever, and my hands looked like I could be on Grey's Anatomy after I was done, but it was so worth it!)

And chocolate dipped blueberries?!?  I liked them.  Mike didn't. 

 The real reason I started dipping everything in chocolate was that I was trying to re-create the most delicious cupcakes I've ever had in my life.  My old co-worker's sister (I think) made these and I tried them at work a few years back.  Basically, it's a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and a chocolate-dipped cherry on top.  But then you bite into the middle and there was another cherry baked into the middle.  It's like heaven in a cupcake, assuming you like cherries.  And chocolate. 

Mine didn't turn out quite as good as I remembered them being, but they were still good.  I actually made them for my little niece who was supposed to have surgery, but ended up getting sick the morning of and they had to cancel the whole thing.  So again, I was stuck with too much of something.  Luckily, Mike was going to a get-together with some law school buddies and they ate them so I didn't have to.

And I'm proud to report that of all that fruit, I only have a handful of grapes left.   I consider that a success!