Chapter 52
Luscious Stewed Fruit
In the ninety-five days we’ve been at MDC, we’ve only been given kiwis a handful of times. It’s always exciting when that happens because it’s an extra boost of vitamin C. For fruit, we’re typically given apples (red, which are very pulpy, and yellow, which are crunchy but nearly impossible to cut with a plastic knife, though we make do and find our way). Today, on this glorious Saturday, a miracle of miracles happened, and we were given plums in main line, so we decided to test out the Luscious Stewed Fruit recipe Louise had sent us. Prepare to have fun and to get messy and sticky along the way. This recipe is simple, delightful, and as always, meant to be shared with friends.
Serves: 8 (as a snack) Prep Time: 15-20 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes for fruit + 3 minutes per tortilla Ingredients • 2 kiwis • 2 plums • 2 red apples • 1 banana • 4 Jozev Medjool Dates • 1 sporkful of Colonna Ground Cinnamon • 2-3 healthy squirts of HoneyTree’s Sugar Free Imitation Honey • Walnuts from a Jozev Deluxe Mixed Nuts Salted bag, crushed. If you run out of walnuts, be bold: spill your deluxe mixed nuts out on the table, and if you can’t find any more walnut pieces, use almonds. You can break up the walnuts with your fingers, but almonds are trickier, so put them in a bag and crush them using a lock or shoe, or crush them in the door. • 2-3 Mayan Farm Tortillas • 7 small packets of Lucky grape-flavored jelly from main line • Topping from the coffee cake you get in your breakfast tray Supplies • 2 plastic knives • 2 plastic sporks • 2 lids from the main line trays • 1 Tupperware container with lid For this recipe, there are ingredients you will want to save if you happen to get them earlier in the week, for example: kiwi, coffee cake, plums, and banana.
If there are ingredients you’re missing, you can always ask a friend or bunkie. We didn’t have any cinnamon, but the wonderful Miss Wu let us use some of hers. 1. Prepare the fruit. I recommend having two people helping on this recipe since there’s a lot to do. First, cut up your fruit and dates into small pieces—the size you’d want for a tuna salad. While one person is doing that, the other can crush the walnuts. You want them in pieces, not dust. As you cut, add all your ingredients to the Tupperware, including the walnuts. Then, sprinkle your cinnamon over the top. Start with a little and increase as needed. Add 2-3 squirts of HoneyTree’s Sugar Free Imitation Honey to the mixture.
Once you’ve gotten the perfect amount of cinnamon and honey-syrup, stir everything lightly, taking care not to smush the fruit. 2. Cook the fruit. Once everything is coated well, take your Tupperware to the microwave and cook it for five minutes. This timing is for the ancient microwave here, so for those of you on the outside with newer models, keep your eye on your fruit—it may take less time. Everything should be lightly cooked, not overdone, and any liquid should be thick, not runny. 3. Prepare the tortillas. As your fruit is cooking, take out two or three tortillas. Work with one at a time. Put the first tortilla on your tray top and evenly spread about three packets of grape jelly onto it.
Put your tortilla in the microwave for 90 seconds to warm it up and let the jelly cook into it. Add a few hefty sporkfuls of the cooked fruit inside the tortilla, then roll it up like a crepe. Add one third of the topping from the coffee cake, then put it back in the microwave for another 90 seconds. Be mindful that the jelly and fruit may leak, so take care as it is hot. Repeat this until all the crepes have been made and cut into pieces, then share with friends.