Cactus Pear Curveball - My Favorite Friday Of The Week
I didn’t plan the curveball part, like most curveballs, I wasn’t expecting it. I was working on the title of this post and I couldn’t get passed ‘Cactus Pear’ because all I heard was this song by Journey - It’s a live version of Don’t Stop Believing. @puravidaville started and stopped several other versions before she found that one and played it all the way through insisting “he’s not singing it right!” I was still stuck on the title so I went back to researching the pears but I could tell Pura Vida was having a tough time DJ’ing.
She told me she’s looking for a YouTube link of Don’t Stop Believing for @lynncoyle1 but none of them were singing it right. Hey, stay with me, this is a true story! “See, listen to him,” she said, “he’s singing it wrong!” I asked her “Steve Perry is singing his own song wrong?” “Yes!! 🤫 Listen...” she said as she’s pointing to him on the iPad, “look!” She searched a little while longer and decided to send Lynn this one. And that’s when it happened - That’s when I realized I was paying more attention to Journey than I was these opuntia’s aka cactus pears and that, ladies and gentlemen of #steemit, is commonly referred to in the kitchen as a @foodfightfriday curveball. ⚾️ ”zhrooom”
Also called prickly pears, cactus pears are a fruit indigenous to Mexico and southwestern United States, they’re all over the place where I rode dirt bikes as a kid. Once peeled away from its skin they’re edible and really sweet. They’re seeded like a watermelon quantity-wise but the seeds in these things are solid! There’s no crunching through them. Information online tells us they’re edible but I think a more descriptive definition would be digestible - These seeds are not chewable. With proper kitchen tools, the cactus pears can be made into a pulp which blends perfectly in your smoothie or cocktail. Raw, however, the seeds are too tough for the blender.
Journey - An American rock band from San Francisco, California, was formed in 1973. The band was originally created around former band members from Santana founded by Carlos Santana. Journey made their presence known in the early to mid 80’s. Don’t Stop Believing was released in 1981 and, in 2009, it became the top selling iTunes track out of all songs ever released in the 21st century. Their seventh parent studio album, Escape, was released shortly thereafter where it topped all of the billboard charts with another hit single: Open Arms.
To remove the sweet fruit from the cactus pear, we have to first remove the skin. We do that by cutting both ends of the pear and discarding them like you would when preparing carrots or celery. Then, with the same sharp knife, cut the pear lengthwise and down the center to expose the fruit. Once it’s exposed, just grab the layer of skin and peel it free from the fruit (say that three times fast) like you would a banana.
Journey record sales have resulted in two gold albums, eight multi-platinum albums and two diamond albums. During the early 1980’s, they had 18 top 40 singles, the second most in music history behind Electric Light Orchestra with 20. According to Allmusic, Journey successfully cemented their reputation as “one of America’s most beloved and sometimes hated commercial rock/pop bands by 1978.”
Unless you have a food mill to properly process these pears to a pulp (woah! Try that one), they’re fairly useless. The seeds are just too tough and plentiful which is too bad, actually, because the fruit is delicious and sweet. I cut the pear into bite-size squares and was at least able to taste it. At only 99 cents each, the experiment proved to be cost effective. If you’re aware of additional ways to enjoy this fruit, please tell me about it.
Journey has sold more than 48 million albums in the United States according to the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) making them the 25th best selling band in American music history. Their worldwide album sales exceed 75 million copies making them one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time. Journey still ranks 96th on VH1’s top 100 greatest artists of all time. The band was inducted into the Music Hall Of Fame in 2017 with the following band members: Lead vocals - Steve Perry. Guitarist - Neil Schon. Keyboardists - Greg Rolie and Jonathon Cain. Bass guitarist - Ross Valory. Drummers - Aynsley Dunbar and Steve Smith.
That’s how we serve up curveballs at kitchen #fff - We just sink our teeth into both of them. I can tell by the way you followed this article you’re a contender in the making so I’m inviting you to come introduce yourself to the food fight kitchen for a chance to win some SBD. All of the chefs over there are pretty cool and we get together on Friday’s. Follow @foodfightfriday and I’ll see you then!
I’m a big fan of Journey - I grew up listening to them. My mother must’ve had every Journey album ever pressed. So, when @puravidaville was looking for ‘her’ version of Don’t Stop Believing I was inspired to add their history to this post. Thank you for the inspiration Pura Vida! And thanks @lynncoyle1 you’re the reason she was searching for the song in the first place. But now it’s my turn beautifullest, this one right here pretty much sums it up! And don’t worry about Steve Perry, the video checks out, he’s “singing it right.” Happy Friday Steemit!
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Of course, we all have that one place we instantly transport to when we hear “just a small town girl… living in a lonely world… she took the midnight train going any where…”
Great post babe! Who doesn’t love a little journey to break the sting of getting creamed in the face by a prickly pear. Haha… impressive how you put this together so quickly with all of that information. Great job @dandays! Luckiest I guy I know even… muah
If I can impress you I’ll take it cuz I sure can’t keep up with you! Ooh wee! Congratulations on back to back @curie trails.
😍
@dandays, go and place your daily vote for Steem on netcoins! http://contest.gonetcoins.com/
I already voted today @intrduce.bot. Thanks for stopping by!
Awesome post as usual Mr @dandays. After reading your *looooonng' post, it got me thinking about those seeds, I've come to the conclusion that you could just swallow the seeds whole. They look small enough. Just be careful you don't fart and shoot the cat!
That explains the dang seeds laying around here, the neighbors cat musta got into the melon!
I’m glad you like it silverhead, all of us are looking for the same votes around here but the people who actually appreciate our work and take the time to read it is why we keep coming back.
Thanks for stopping by @sivehead!
I think I've only had this fruit in the form of a margarita, so I'm no help in learning how to actually eat it. 😉 I appreciate the image of @puravidaville trying to find that perfect version of her jam, as well. Sounds like a fun time in your household!
A fun time is a good way to describe it. All I’ve heard about the pears is they’re useful as cocktail mixers. I have no doubts they are!
Thanks for stopping by @plantstoplanks, it’s very nice to hear from you.
edit Hey.. woah, woah, woah! Check you out! Congratulations on the @curie trail with your Soup! And a very well written article, too, I didn’t realize I was typing to such a rock star.
You wireman sure do have soft looking hands😜😜
I don’t know how or why but you made prickly pears and journey mesh together rather well.
Happy Food Fight Friday.
It’s not just my hands mr. cleanest hat ever, I like to think it’s all of my skin! :kisses:
Hey you thought they went well together too?! That has to count as back to back curveballs.
Thanks for stopping by @jlsplatts!
Maybe it was a split-finger-knuckball-curve....????
I’m going for a MANicure in the morning. I’ve got a car door to put back together. 😉
Is a split finger wave the same thing as telling someone they’re #1?
Better than that, it’s tellig someone their are #1 ...twice
That’s funny.
haha! howdy there dandays! wow you crammed alot of great stuff into this post. I enjoyed it all, I also grew up listening to Journey too. Wonderful post, great job!
Well thank you very much, I’m glad you liked it! I didn’t plan on this post going the direction it did but I don’t mind adjusting for curveballs. ⚾️
Thanks for stopping by @janton!
hey dandays! You're so good at handling those curveballs, I can tell you were made for this platform!
Nice. Did you use to play baseball? Another unknown edible discovered. I wonder if you could boil or bake em hmmm. We use to have massive water balloon launchers, these would fit perfect. Ohh and the potato guns haha. Lifes a Journey and who doesn't like that/them. Great article dude.
Thank you, I’m really glad you liked it. It’s such a sweet and tasty fruit, I don’t believe anything could harm the flavor. 1-10 as far as sweetness, it’s a 10!
Oh man, I probably should be filing this away on the blockchain but we were such good, holsome, non-destructive neighborhood kids we used to steal the golf balls from the driving range at the local golf course... wait, it gets worse!
We had the water ballon launcher strapped the the roll-bar in my buddy Drew’s Toyota 4 wheel drive and ya... we launched golf balls dude (can you imagine the distance a golf ball will travel from a balloon launcher?!) from a moving vehicle. Laugh out loud! Oh crap.
Thanks for stopping by @weirdheadaches.