Compared to the dead crab my dad and I tried to bring home from a Florida beach as a souvenir when I was six, a couple of coconuts don't seem like all that bad of a gift. Sydney was certainly excited to receive the present from my snow-bird parents when they returned from their winter home in Florida.
I didn't mind all that much either. Coconuts, after all, don't leave a lasting stench in the trunk of your car the way a dead crab does. And they take up a lot less room than the massive palm frond that showed up in my garage last year.
And really, I didn't think we'd ever actually do anything with the coconuts, other than let them clutter up the kitchen counter for a few weeks. After all, AJ had experienced a coconut once, and let's just say his feedback was less than positive. I figured he'd warn Sydney about the nasty taste of coconut milk, and that'd be the end of it. Sydney still thinks her brother is infinitely wise.
But alas, AJ was unable to dampen her enthusiasm, and so after several days of her asking, I finally caved in and attempted to break into the coconut.
My dad had tried explaining how he'd seen work crews in their Florida neighborhood hack open the fruit with relative ease. But I admit, since I didn't think I'd actually be opening one, I wasn't really listening all that closely. I did recall hearing him use the word machete, and so I grabbed a knife and started hacking.
And it actually felt kind of a good. For context, we did this last Thursday evening, shortly after returning from the music concert I'd found out about on extremely short notice. And so chopping at the coconut was sort of therapeutic.
Even AJ grew curious to see what we might find inside.
What we found was a very hard, hollow interior with absolutely no milk inside. But considering I wasn't smart enough to shake the coconut to listen for liquid in the first place, I certainly didn't take this as a sign that the coconut was dried up. No. I continued hacking at it.
In the game of rock, paper, scissors; rocks beat scissors because they can crush the metal blades. Perhaps I should have remembered that before wielding my nice Pampered Chef butcher knife like a machete.
Suddenly there was a new noise, like metal hitting rock. I stared in horror at the massive chip that now appeared in the knife blade. Thank goodness for lifetime warranties!
We still have one more coconut sitting on the counter. I've shaken it and can hear liquid inside. I'm trying to decide if it's worth a second attempt. Right now the score stands at:
Butcher knife: 0
Coconut: 1
I'm not sure I'm ready to risk going 0 for 2.
Oh, come on. Let Sydney taste the coconut milk and decide for herself if it has a nasty taste or not. Auntie Sarah says they cook with coconut milk a lot.
ReplyDeleteDad said he would have written something different. His comment is, "There's nothing like a first person learning experience. Who would want to learn about coconuts vicariously?"
ReplyDelete