The cactus pear was a big fat whopping disappointment of a challenge food. Not only did the tiny needles work their way into a few of my fingers, but the interior also tasted like potatoes and mud. I was so excited when I cut open the pear and saw the ruby interior. Looks can be deceiving, that’s all I can say.
ME: Do you guys know what this is called?
LAUREN: Ugly fruit?
ME: No, we ate the ugli fruit, you remember that one right?
LAUREN: I said Oogly fruit.
ME: OK, well it’s not that either.
LAUREN: Is it a kind of fruit?
ME: Yes. What is it called?
LAUREN: Well it kind of looks like Sam’s big head.
ME: That’s not nice.
LAUREN: I mean not the color.
ME: Again, not nice.
SAM: My head is big. My head is going to be like MegaMind!
ME: OK, we’re getting off track. Have you ever heard of a cactus?
LAUREN: It’s called a cap-tus.
ME: Thanks for correcting me. Ever heard of a captus before?
LAUREN: Yes, it lives in the desert.
ME: That’s right. A cac-tus grows in the desert.
LAUREN: And the forest.
ME: So this is called a cactus pear. Do you guys want to touch it gently? Careful, it’s got little spikies in it. I didn’t realize it but I noticed that my fingers have tiny little spikes in them now.
ME: What do you think it’s going to look like on the inside? Guesses?
LAUREN: Yellow or greenish?
ME: Sam?
SAM: Nothing.
ME: Nothing? It’s just going to be air on the inside?
SAM: Yes.
ME: (Cutting) look what it looks like on the inside!
LAUREN: Purplish?
ME: Yes, I was so surprised to see that. Anyone want to smell it? Does it smell good?
EMMA: Yeah.
LAUREN: I think it smells great.
ME: Let’s see if we can cut out a little piece.
EMMA: I want to try it.
ME: I think you’re supposed to spoon it out or something.
LAUREN: Do they make it out of jelly?
ME: I don’t know. It kind of seems like it. But nobody makes it out of anything. That’s the point of nature, it just grows like that. Try it.
LAUREN: I don’t like it.
ME: Super mealy. And the seeds are hard.
LAUREN: No they aren’t.
ME: Kind of has a potatoey texture to it. Kind of like a mashed potato texture with seeds. Emma likes it, look, she’s eating it (I’m silently gagging)
ME: Well, that was a big flaming disappointment.
LAUREN: Yeah.