Thursday, May 21, 2020

ORANGES AND LEMONS...THE BELLS OF ST. CLEMENT’S


My Pineapple Crush dispenser was similar to this...a little different, but similar


To my neighbours’ delight I’ve no bells; no whistles, either. An extra bonus is I’m a hopeless whistler.  I couldn’t hold a tune if I tried...and, I have tried!  Dogs run off in the opposite direction if I whistle them.  Also, Saint Clement’s isn’t hereabouts, but there are a couple down Wynnum way, a bayside suburb of Brisbane...maybe that’s where the bells peal.

There are lots of peels in my abode, though.

Every morning, of every day, of every month, all year through, I squeeze citrus fruit.  I’ve been squeezing oranges first thing every morning for many, many years – not the same ones, of course.

Squeezing a fellow being (or a female being, if one insists on being pedantic) may not be allowed presently, but I am allowed to squeeze citrus, so squeeze them I do...and happily.  

Oh! Boy!  How I would like to squeeze the necks of the noisy motor bike riders who destroy our peace and quiet, while infiltrating our roadways! I wish they all would stay at home, in their own backyards!  The bikers think this mountain plateau is their playground on weekends, and care not about the horrendous noise they make.  If my little car made the noise just one of those bikes do...I’d be booked in a nano second!   Over the weekends the bikers arrive up here on our mountain greenery in tribes of 10, 20, 30 or more at a time!   Grrrrrrr!!!!!   That’s my whinge for today...and yesterday...and the day before.... 

But I do digress....back to more pleasant things and activities....


Lemons from my generous little tree have joined the juicing, as have the grapefruit and limes given to me by my thoughtful friends from up the end of this lane. 

Each citrus season they share their bountiful crop with me, for which I am always grateful! Also, the other day, I was given a jar of homemade marmalade jam...made from oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes.   Thank you, Lady Marmalade! 

When Randall, my now late ex, and I were married, I bought oranges by the carton.  He had arrived back from the States not a fruit eater. To solve the problem, I decided handing him a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice every morning was a good way to get some fruit into him. Slowly but surely, my plan worked.  He, too, became a fruit lover.  I didn’t mind sharing my stocks of fruit.  It just meant I had to buy more to allow for the extra hand reaching out to the bowls!

These days I purchase oranges by the bag, usually purchasing two bags per visit to the local supermarket.  Now with mandarin season in full force, I’m pigging out on mandarins, as well.  Joy, oh, joy!

When I was a greengrocery-health food shop owner in Noosa Heads in the early to mid-80s, I was in fruit and vegetable heaven. Being surrounded by all that goodness, who could blame me? 

My father-in-law loved mangoes. Many trays of mangoes went his way...from my shelves to his lap; only Aussie mangoes...never the imported ones.  I wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole....I still don’t. 

My mum-in-law wasn’t overly fond of mangoes, but she didn’t miss out. She loved nectarines; and she feasted on them come stone fruit season.  Actually, all year round my in-laws never had to worry about their fruit and veggie supplies.  What’s the point if family can’t enjoy the fruits – and vegetables - of one’s labour? 

A fun time...it was fun to run the shop.  Being able to eat the stock was a major bonus for me.  It was a wonder I had any left to sell to the public!

Harvey Norman and The Good Guys...and other such traders... can’t eat their Apples!   I could mine...and did!  They were delicious! Granny Smith didn’t mind.

Also, in my shop, freshly-made fruit salad and savoury salads were on offer Mondays to Sundays; as were hot soups, cakes, biscuits, dips, roasted and boiled peanuts, as well as tempting fruit smoothies, and freshly-squeezed orange juice, or juices of personal choice.  All of the above were prepared by me in my shop’s little kitchen. 

In the service area, to the side of shelves and bins that were filled with produce, the pineapple crush machine gently agitated quietly throughout the day.  The container on the dispenser held quite a few litres...probably around 10 or 12 litres, if not more.

With the number of pineapples I crushed every morning to fill the machine it was/is fortunate pineapples grew/grow, in abundance, in areas surrounding the Sunshine Coast.  I bought pineapples and pawpaws directly from local growers who, every couple of days arrived, by truck, at my shop’s back door to unload their healthy, golden bounty.

One morning, I was busy serving a customer when another was helping herself to a pineapple crush over at the machine, which is what customers did...help themselves to the pineapple crush.

To this customer’s dismay, the top of the tap came off in her hand.  Pineapple crush flowed freely over the floor (the previous evening I’d had the indoor-outdoor grass-green carpet professionally cleaned).  

By the time I flew (not literally) across the room to stop the flow there was not a lot of pineapple crush left in the machine...most of it was on the floor.  

The poor woman, flustered, apologetic and red-faced, was left holding a half-filled drink’s container in her hand, and a desire to become invisible on the spot.  It was not my intention to add to her embarrassment.  

Putting myself in her pineapple crush-filled shoes, I felt for her.  Laughing, I assured her it wasn’t the end of the world...that all was well.  I bet she never again touched one of those drink dispensers!  

The following couple of hours I spent...in between serving customers and explaining my “Sadie, the Cleaning Lady” persona...cleaning up the mess.  

Worse things have happened...and will continue happening.

My double-door, glass-front, upright refrigerator and long, open refrigerated “bin” were both always well-stocked with tasty, tempting temptations upon which to dally over...and choose from...!

Having decided to add vitamin supplements to my wares, I wanted to include Blackmores products on my shelves.  However, back then, it was necessary for prospective stockists to apply to Blackmores** to gain the company’s permission to carry their first class vitamin products.  Fortunately, I received the company's approval, making my shop the only business in Noosa allowed to have the Blackmore brand on its shelves.  

I stocked Nature’s Own vitamin supplements, along with Nature’s Way, just to keep customers on their toes, as well as a varied range of other interesting health food lines.

**Blackmores Limited is an Australian health supplements company founded in the 1930s by naturopath Maurice Blackmore, when Blackmore opened the first health food shop in Australia in Brisbane, Queensland.

Naturally, I got a shock when I bought a magazine from the newsagency a few doors along from my shop on Hastings Street.  The colourful, glossy magazine was about natural living. I thought I’d be able to glean information within to my advantage; to learn from it, and add to my knowledge about healthy living practices. 
I did learn a lot, but not what I’d expected.

It was a naturism aka nudism magazine, vividly describing the lifestyle advocating personal and social nudity within familial, social, or in a public context.  I didn’t become a devotee; doing so would’ve scared away the customers...or attracted undesirables!  Either wasn’t desirable....

Winter Salad: Put 2 cooked, crumbled bacon rashers, 155g spinach, 1/2c crumbled feta, 1 sliced red onion, 1/2c dried cranberries and 2tbs chopped, toasted pecan in bowl. Dressing: Combine 1/4c olive oil, 1tbs orange juice, /2tsp orange zest, 1-1/2tsps Dijon mustard, 1tsp maple syrup, 1tsp minced shallots and salt; drizzle over salad; toss.

Roast Veggie Salad: Cut 2 carrots and 2 parsnips in half lengthwise. Halve 2 capsicums, red, green, and/or yellow. Slice 1 red onion into thick wedges. Place on baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with salt; toss. Roast in 230C oven, 20-25mins. Whisk 3tbs cider vinegar with 1tbs maple syrup, 1tbs Dijon, 1tsp dried thyme, generous pinches of dried sage, salt and pepper; slowly whisk in 1/3c x-virgin olive oil. Cut ½ bunch kale leaves or 142g baby spinach, about 8 cups. Rinse and drain 540ml can chickpeas, and/or canned black lentils. Coarsely chop cooked vegetables; place in bowl with greens and chickpeas, and/or lentils; drizzle with dressing; toss.

Spicy Soup: In pot, put500g cubed kumara, 1c chopped carrots, 1c chopped onions, 1c chopped celery, 1 diced red capsicum, 6 crushed garlic cloves, 1-1/2c rinsed green or brown lentils, 1-1/2tsp each coriander and cumin, 1tsp curry powder, or more to taste, 1/2tsp each smoked paprika, ground cinnamon and turmeric, 1/8tsp nutmeg and 6c veg or chick broth. Cover; cook on low until lentils are cooked through.  Place half of soup in blender, with about 1/2c of broth; blend until “smoothish”. Add back to soup; stir in 2-1/2c roughly chopped spinach and 1/4c lemon juice; cover; cook until spinach wilts; season to taste with salt, pepper and curry powder, if desired.




34 comments:

  1. Remember way back when children actually did play such innocent games?
    I don't do citrus fruits or juice, oranges hurt my teeth and give me hives, but I'm happy squeezing fresh lemon juice over a freshly fried chicken schnitzel and to drink a cup of lemon/ginger tea made from a tea bag. I'm a stone fruits girl, apple juice is my daily drink and I eat the apples too along with pears, cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots when the seasons are right.
    I take Blackmores Vitamin C, iron, and their Calcium+magnesiun+D3 tablets every day. I don't like other brands, they all seem to make me burp.

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    1. Hi, River...I love all fruit...and eat all fruit. Sometimes when I look around here at home I think I'm still running my fruit shop! lol

      Yes...I do remember the age of innocence....when we were kids our games were such fun...our imaginations ran free...as we ran freely around the yard!

      Blackmores is still a top brand, that is for sure. I'd not taken any vitamin supplements for years...but over these past couple of months I have begun taking some...to be on the safe side of safe.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  2. Now I'm hungry for some fresh squeezed juice! Your shop sounds like it was wonderful!

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  3. Hey, Bonnie. It was a fun little shop...I enjoyed operating it - long hours, but worth it. I had regular customers...and many interesting folk from elsewhere also walked through my doors. Noosa Heads...and its main street, Hastings Street where my shop was...is a very popular tourist area.

    I love fruit..and I love my morning juice.

    Thanks for coming by. :)

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  4. Girl is there anything you haven't done? That fruit shop and fruit look so wonderful and healthy.

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    1. Hey,Sandie...Yep! There are a lot of things I've not done. I haven't done any vacuuming this week!

      My little shop was a lot of fun...and it was in a small area of Hastings Street, on the opposite side across from the ocean forefront...it was called the "Laguna Arcade"...with another seven separate, privately-owned shops surrounding mine.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  5. Fun memories of what was for you a fun time.
    Vitamins and me have been friends for many years, my GP put my onto Blackmores way back in the 1980s. If you are going to take something make sure it's a good brand, she said. Some of my daily dose is from them plus Natures Own and Natures Way (companies I didn't think had been going that long).
    You spoke of the bikies and citrus fruits in a comment the other day - at the time I didn't think they were having that much effect on your life. Obviously I was wrong. Thanks for today's blog Lee.......and for bringing more of your life to life for us.

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    1. Hey there, Cathy. Nature's Way has been operating for over 75 years, and Nature's Own, since 1975.

      Your doctor knew what she was talking about...Blackmores is a trusted brand. :)

      Unnecessary loud noise is unnecessary, in my opinion. And the roar of the bikes up here on the mountain at times...on the weekends, mostly...is very annoying. I'm not the only one who complains about them, from what I can gather from the local papers, and from comments of other locals. I do sound like a cranky old bird, don't I? lol

      I've a couple of very close friends who ride motor bikes...friends I hold dear. Many of the biker clubs...like the one they are in...do good, too...with their "toy runs"...charity runs.

      Good to see you, Cathy...keep taking good care...thanks for coming by. :)

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  6. I adore fruit. Most fruit.
    Sadly oranges don't agree with me at all.
    I am a big, big fan of stone fruit, of all the berries (with raspberries a particular favourite) and adore mangoes.
    I am like apples and happily eat them until I come across the first floury one of the season. Then I stop till next year.
    I feel for those who don't eat/like fruit. They are missing out a LOT.

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    1. Hey, EC....I love fruit...as is pretty clear! I'd hate not to be able to eat oranges. I can't imagine not being able to do so. I adore mangoes, too. There is no fruit I don't love. I always have a stack of bananas on hand, too! I should have been a monkey! No comments, please!!! :)

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  7. Love lemons, that bitter sour taste is exquisite.
    Never taken vitamins artificially, not necessary with a good balanced diet.
    We do eat fruit, sometimes more than other times...just love my raspberries and strawberries.
    Take care.

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    1. G'day, Margaret. I love lemons, too. My little lemon tree treats me very generously every season. It is such a great producer of the delicious, juicy fruit. I spread fertiliser around its base every September...and then the tree does the rest.

      Sometimes a little helpful extra boost to the system does no harm. It's individual choices, of course. As I mentioned above...I've not taken extra supplements in years...until these past couple of months with all that has been hanging around. Along with all the fresh fruit and vegetables I eat, I feel like a dragon slayer! lol

      Thanks for coming by. :)

      Delete
  8. Anonymous3:14 AM

    You've motivated me to ask R if the stick blender can juice oranges, surely the easiest way to consume them.

    It is rare that anyone is so vitamin deficient that they need to take supplements. Eat well and live long. Get out in the sun at times and your vitamin levels should be fine. The supplementary vitamin taking is a rort by most companies for most people. However Blackmores earns a good bit of income for Australia by selling into China. It is another one of those trusted Australian products that won't not be what it says on the label.

    Lol about the naturism. I like seeing minimally clothed bodies, not naked ones. If we were meant to be naked, God would have never given us possums and kangaroos.

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    1. Andrew,I juice my oranges every morning using a small Kenwood electric citrus juicer I bought back in the mid '70s. It does what I need perfectly well. It's been...and still is...a very sturdy little machine. I also have a Nutribullet,a blender, and a processor. Oh! And a stick blender, which I wouldn't use to juice oranges, at the risk of boring a hole in my hand!

      My little Kenwood is my favourite of all! :)

      I don't believe it does anyone harm to take supplements at times to help in certain areas, if one needs to do so. I always eat well; always have done. I get out in the sun. My cabin is on three acres of land with lots of fresh air and space around it. I live up here on the mountain in a fairly rural community where the air is pure and clean.

      I've never worn possum or kangaroo skins.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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    2. I would think a stick blender would make more mess than juice.

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  9. I'm not a fan of oranges. My favorite citrus fruit are pomelo and mandarins/clemantines.
    I use fresh lemon juice in the kitchen and when I have a sore throat.
    Supplements are important as the food doesn't give us enough quantity of the active vitamins and minerals neccessary for the body's well being.

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    1. Hi,DUTA..Oh! As you can tell...I love oranges and can't imagine my life without them. Not only do I juice them in the mornings, but I usually eat a couple more, as well, during the day, along with other fruit I have on hand.

      Supplements certainly are important...not as replacements...but as the name says. We don't always get all the goodness we need out of the food we purchase,that is for sure.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  10. nothing better than fresh squeezed, my sister had an orchard and we stayed there briefly, had to get a motorized squeezer to squeeze all the oranges while we were there

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  11. Hi, Linda...my little electric Kenwood citrus juicer, as I mentioned in an above response I've had since the mid-70a. It's a little Trojan! :)

    Thanks for coming by. Take care. :)

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  12. I live off a narrow, winding country road that motorcyclist and those with high performance cars like to see how fast and how much noise they can do/make. When they go by, I tend to curse.

    I was raised on fruit and can’t imagine not having any in the house. However, unlike what I did years ago and squeezed my own oranges, I now buy it already squeezed. Not the same, but convenient.

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    1. Hi Arleen. Both the bikes and the souped-up, hotted-up cars are damn nuisance...and I'm putting it far more politely that what I think about them...and say when they disturb the peace and quiet! They just should not be allowed to make the noise they do...it's as simple as that! They have no more right to make that noise than you or I do.

      I will continue squeezing the oranges etc., My little electric Kenwood makes the process easy to do. I'm now about to go and eat an orange, along with a couple of mandarins. :)

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  13. It never ceases to amaze me where your posts lead me. I read it yesterday and I wondered whether my juicer had made the cut when I renewed my kitchen last year. That led me to check on the cheese grater. That led me to check to see if Amazon had a more convenient one which would also grate frozen chorizo for my spicy kumera a butternut squash soup. And so it went on. Eventually it was late evening when I got back to your post. By which time I'd lost interest in juicing oranges etc. When I lived in New Zealand I was quite enthusiastic about my vitamin C and juicing but I've never really got into it in the UK for some reason. Years ago I started every day with a grapefruit and then I learned that was very bad for people taking statins after a heart attack so I stopped that. So now I get plenty of vitamin C but not from juicing or eating grapefruit. I'm sure you were just waiting to know all that!

    I do take Vitamin D tablets. We are strongly advised by the medics to do that here because we only get 6 hours of daylight in midwinter (and precious little sun). I find it easier to take one all year. I've never been affected by SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) but many are.

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    1. I forgot that I also went off on an adventure to try and recall what it was that I had once known about the nursery rhyme, Oranges and Lemons. Like many nursery rhymes it apparently had at some time been linked with the death of children - as in all fall down. But then so many nursery rhymes and old children's stories really are unsuitable for children.

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    2. G'day,Graham. I have an old cheese grater that has been with me for man a long, and quickly passing year. It's all I need.

      I love freshly-squeezed orange juice as you ca tell from my post...and a morning doesn't seem the same without it...for me I'm about to going and juice some now...along with a lemon from my tree.

      I see nothing wrong with taking added vitamin supplements if one feels they are needed at any time...or all the time. Sometimes the vitamins are long gone from the fruit and vegetables we purchase which have spent a long, long time before paddocks to our plates.

      Take good care...thanks for coming by. :)

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  14. A very entertaining post which my mind's visuals made good use. Your writing always is so prolific that I can come along in spirit with the post. Sounds like a great salad. Peace

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    1. Hey there, Miss Kitty...Nice to see you. I'm glad you enjoyed my post. My aim is to please and bring a smile or two in what is far too much a dreary old world. :)

      Keep taking good care...thanks for coming by. :)

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  15. Your own shop with hands-on experiences! How blessed you were/are to be surrounded by such lucious -ness.

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    1. Hi,Susan..it was a fun, interesting experience having the shop. I loved that time in my life. It was something until it happened I never thought I would do.

      Thanks for coming by...take good care. :)

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  16. What a great place to have, i think i would have enjoyed shopping there. That's fun, that you have a "cleaning lady" persona.

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    1. Hi messymimi...only that persona when cleaning up a pineapple crush mess! lol

      It was a great little shop, on a great street, in a great area...the beautiful Noosa Heads...an area I will always hold dear in my heart.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  17. Your shop sounded wondrous. My daughter makes her own orange juice too. I'm in awe that you have a lemon tree. How delightful.
    Stay safe. Stay healthy.

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    1. G'day, Sandra...Yep! My lemon tree isn't a large tree, but its bounty each season is large. It's a prolific producer....large, juicy lemons.

      The shop was great...always something to do in it...always something to make...new ideas popping into my every day. I loved it.

      You, too, keep taking good care...best wishes...thanks for coming by. :)

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  18. Odd, I rarely eat fruit during the winter months but in summer I devour things like berries and mangoes. Right now I am stuffing myself with asparagus as I do at this time every year. I do love vegetables. Your shop sounds a fun place to be although I'm glad I wasn't the one to have the accident with the pineapple machine.

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  19. We are blessed with such wonderful selection of fruits, the grandchildren love it too :)

    I always enjoy your posts … and I always enjoy the recipes you feature too.
    All three look and sound fabulous.

    All the best Jan

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