Rotting fruit. Wasted food. More money and resources down the drain. If you've been reading this blog for a while you know that I hate to waste food. Whether it's my inherent cheapness or just a desire to have a smaller footprint on this earth, I just love the challenge of eating well without waste.
When my kids were small, they wasted tons of food. Small kids can't finish an entire apple or other fruit, something it took me several years to learn. My poor kids - chastising them for being wasteful didn't help much.
Often when we buy fruit it's not entirely ripe, so we put it on the windowsill to ripen. Sometimes the kids misjudged ripeness or were just impatient, and would bite into a plum or peach that was not sweet. Yikes, they'd exclaim, then abandon it. Not much one can do with a bitten, unripe fruit.
I tried storing the leftover fruit, slicing it and reserving it at next snack or meal, but my kids weren't fooled for one moment. They didn't want leftover fruit - how icky.
Finally, I hit upon the notion of boiling it down - quick-jam style. And may I say, what a brilliant idea! I declined to tell anyone that it was leftover fruit, and the 'butter' appellation sounds exotic and vaguely unhealthy enough to make it interesting.
Because often I use only one or two pieces of fruit, quantities are limited, making it even more attractive. Kids want to get their serving before some nasty sibling eats it all.
The recipe is simple: quarter fruit, removing any nasty bits, place in small saucepan, cover about halfway with water. Boil gently until water evaporates and fruit is mushy. Watch the last bit; as the water disappears, the fruit sugars can burn, quicker than you think, and ruining the taste of all the butter.
I add sugar only in the case of extreme tartness - most often with plums.
I cool it, refrigerate it and use it on toast, as a ice cream topper, in omlets or sandwiches, but most often the kids eat it plain out of the bowl with a spoon.
Strrrretch that food dollar!