Category: In the Kitchen

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“Check out my pineapple plant!” including an attached picture, was the quick email I sent my Uncle Hugh.  Here’s a hint of the reason why I love that man, his partial reply:

It will be beautiful for a long time.

“Have you ever seen a pineapple bloom? It is beautiful and orchid like.

If you will upsize your pot to at least 2X what you have, water regularly and feed not too much every 6 weeks or so, in a year or two it will bloom and fruit. As wonderful a thing to watch and grow as there is. I’ve had one bear fruit about the size of your fist. Dad had a couple over the years to bear fist size fruit. But the bloom is exotic. As I remember he did not put it in full sun in the heat of the summer as it will burn it up, but I’m sure it can take 2/3 of a day’s sun in the Deep South. You will see if the leaves start to scorch and burn. They should be that dark forest green all the time, but it’s hard to keep your tips from burning.  The ideal spot was the south west edge of Dad’s south facing front porch, there it would get most of the morning sun, then miss the heat of the day and get a little afternoon sun.  You may be mild enough where you are not to have to put it in the garage or inside for a few of the coldest weeks of winter.  But I’m sure anything below 45 to 50 degrees is not good for the little apple plant. A larger pot makes it much harder and more awkward to handle, and the prickly leaves will grow ever longer and require much more space, not to mention cutting you quick.”  (Hugh Hays, 2011)

So today, as I sliced my pineapple, I thought of my uncle, always willing to share his time and talents!  He taught me how to slice a pineapple “the safest way” using a knife.  BUT I pulled out the EASIEST way, a  Pineapple Corer  that was a GREAT gift from my mother!

First, Uncle Hugh’s advice to me for picking out the perfect pineapple, ready to cut.  Make sure the inside leaves of the top are still a pretty and healthy green – alive.  Also, you want the pineapple to be a good mix of green and yellow to get the perfect ripeness.

Pictured below are quick steps to using the fancy pineapple corer. Once you cut off the top, don’t hesitate to stick it in a pot of dirt to get your own pretty pineapple plant for those “exotic” blooms!

Extra tip:  keep the shell and fill it with seasonal flowers for a pretty table centerpiece!

Extra, Extra tip:  notice I put the pineapple in a bowl before I used the pineapple corer?  That’s so the juice isn’t lost, too good to waste!

The last step, placing pineapple chunks in my grandmother’s old bowl, makes it perfect!  Cover with Press n Seal and enjoy!