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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Cravings

Cravings

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I know I am a strange ranger and all that, but I get these cravings for something, and then I eat the hell out of it for a while, and then suddenly move on to something else. Right now, I am all about the grapefruit. I have no idea why, but I have been eating one or two a night every night as a snack. Just peel the damned things and eat ’em, I do. No sugar or anything, just a red grapefruit.

Reader Interactions

124Comments

  1. 1.

    piratedan

    Tillamook Marionberry Pie Ice Cream, because those naughty bastards even embedded pie crust in it

  2. 2.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    I find the red ones are a bit sweeter than the yellow – I never wanted sugar when doing a peel-and-eat in sections.

  5. 5.

    raven

    My stepmom was sending huge boxes from their tree in Phoenix. When I started on statins, no more grapefruit.

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I just upended a pint of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream in a stainless bowl, sprinkled it with ground cinnamon and poured in a hefty dollop of Fireball, mooshed it all up, spooned it back in the carton, and returned it to the freezer. I know it won’t freeze solid because of the cinnamon whiskey, but judging by the spoon I licked it will be tasty. (Bold is an edit.)

    As soon as I can get my hands on some kind of ginger liqueur, I’m going to do something similar, stirring little candied ginger bits throughout. But that’s for another time.

  8. 8.

    Yarrow

    My great uncle used to slice a grapefruit in half, pour a shot of bourbon in the center and let it sit overnight in the fridge. He served this to my dad for breakfast when we were visiting. My dad said it was quite a bracing way to start the day!

  9. 9.

    Wapiti

    @raven: My grandmother lived in Phoenix when I was a kid and there was plenty of grapefruit and oranges when we visited. Since I was about 4 foot tall back then, I wonder how big the huge trees in her backyard actually were.

  10. 10.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    Grapefruit has always been my favorite citrus.  My mother would prepare one for me every breakfast with a maraschino cherry on top when I was young. Still free from statins, so I can still eat it, but I’m so lazy nowadays I buy it pre-sectioned in a jar.

  11. 11.

    Mary G

    I am super excited because my clementines are going to ripen in the next month and I can sit by the trees and eat bagfuls.

  12. 12.

    hells littlest angel

    Perfectly normal. And if you live alone, you end up wasting less food that way (unless you suddenly become revulsed by the food of the moment, and are left with a stock you can’t bring yourself to eat).

  16. 16.

    Jim Appleton

    Agreed!

     

    I buy two bags of grapefruit per week about now.  Quarter them and eat over the kitchen sink, much as I do peaches when in season.

     

    My all time favorite citrus, though, is mineola tangelos.  Yuzu is up there, but hard to find.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Wapiti:

    One of my earliest memories is visiting my great-grandparents in McAllen, TX when I was about three, and eating grapefruit straight from the tree in their back yard. I’m pretty sure my rope-handled swing hung from one of that tree’s sturdy boughs.

  24. 24.

    bluehill

    Ever had a pomelo?

    The pomelo, pummelo, or in scientific terms Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis, is the largest citrus fruit from the family Rutaceae and the principal ancestor of the grapefruit.[1] It is a natural, i.e., non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia.[1] Similar in taste to a large, sweet grapefruit, the pomelo is commonly consumed and used for festive occasions throughout Southeast Asia.

  33. 33.

    Achrachno

    @Yarrow: I think they may be the largest , both tallest and widest.

    There’s a lot of good citrus, but one of the better obscure ones is the pummelo.  One of the parents of the grapefruit and tastes a bit like it but better IMO.  It’s rarely available commercially because the fruits are big (to 2X grapefruit?) and the sections are not uniform in size.  Lack of uniformity apparently puts people off

     

    edit — and everyone beat me to it about pummelos

  34. 34.

    Yarrow

    @Achrachno:  I’m fairly well versed in citrus. There are some interesting varieties we don’t see much. Yuzu. Buddha’s Hand. Ujukitsu. Calamondin.

  35. 35.

    dexwood

    Because of statins, I’ve sincerely missed grapefruit nearly 16 years. Our neighbors get a big box of them from every year from California relatives. They always bring us 3 or 4 which I encourage my wife to eat, saying it doesn’t bother me. Secretly, it does, a little.

  37. 37.

    brendancalling

    @seaninclt:  I haven’t had a good cheesesteak since leaving Philly for Vermont. Supposedly there’s a good place nearby, but it’s owned by Trumpies.

  38. 38.

    SFBayAreaGal

    My favorite craving when I was a young girl was the Ghirardelli chocolate Flicks and eating popcorn at the same time. Salty and chocolaty at the same time, so good.

    Still get this craving now, chocolate and something salty to go together.

  39. 39.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    I love grapefruit! When I was little I would crawl into the drawer under the refrigerator and eat grapefruit skin & all. Grapefruit was my craving with my second pregnancy. I still eat 1 or 2 a day in the winter, either peeled & in sections, or cut into 8ths 7 sucked off the peel over the sink. Never eat them with sugar!

    But now I have to go read what dangerous thing they are doing with statins. >8-(

  41. 41.

    Kristine

    Love red/pink grapefruit. And yup, in a salad with broiled salmon. Excellent.

    I’ve been on a red grapes ? kick for months. I go through a couple of pounds a week. Also cherry tomatoes, but lately I’ve been cooking them down with onion, garlic, and spices into a shakshuka sauce-like spread, which I use in place of fresh tomatoes on sandwiches, with cheese, olives, etc.

  42. 42.

    Achrachno

    1. @Yarrow: I’ve never found much use for the Buddha hand.  Attention getting, conversation starting, and good air freshener, but otherwise?  I hear they can be candied like citrus rind, but I’m not into that sort of thing.
  43. 43.

    M. Bouffant

    For me, it’s raspberries. Hadn’t eaten any probably in decades, but I saw some at Target a few wks. ago & thought, why not? Been enjoying them ever since.

  44. 44.

    TriassicSands

    People should be aware that grapefruit and its juice have adverse interactions with many medications and the combination could be dangerous, even life threatening. For example, both grapefruit (juice) and orange (juice) are opioid potentiators and will increase the potency and potential for overdose in some people. Grapefruits are considered worse than oranges in this regard and the effect is different in different people.

    But opioids are far from the only medications that have an adverse interaction with grapefruit juice (or the fruit itself). In most cases, the fruit decreases the effectiveness of the medication, which could result in undermedication. That, too, could be serious. Everyone who drinks grapefruit juice or eats grapefruits should check for adverse interactions with any medications they take.

    Here lies John Doe, killed by a grapefruit. Life can be so unfair. Rarely will this be a life and death issue, but I want to know why grapefruits can’t kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus instead of screwing with meds. I don’t take anything that has an adverse interaction with grapefruit, but I quit eating it or drinking the juice so I could simply ignore the problem. But if you absolutely love…

  45. 45.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I guess I am the only one who thinks grapefruit bitter. It seems everybody else in my family likes grapefruit. I try it every so often  and still find if bitter.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    Somewhere have a recipe for an interesting salad which includes lettuce partially wilted by simmering in browned butter and then tossed with grapefruit sections. Don’t rightly recall what all else is in it.

  47. 47.

    Roger Moore

    I will go with my usual praise of pomelo over grapefruit.  It’s more difficult to eat- you have to peel the individual segments, and the shape is irregular so you can’t easily scoop them out with a spoon- but the flavor is much better.  I like to say pomelo is what grapefruit is trying to be.

  48. 48.

    craigie

    I have a red grapefruit most mornings. But I don’t peel and eat them like an orange – that’s barbaric.

  51. 51.

    Roger Moore

    @Yarrow:

    There are some interesting varieties we don’t see much. Yuzu. Buddha’s Hand. Ujukitsu. Calamondin.

    One of the reasons I love my favorite citrus farmer at the farmers market is because she has many of those obscure varieties.  The Buddha’s hands are particularly weird.  Other strange ones are the finger limes.  But the best of all is that she has Seville oranges, which are a must for homemade marmalade.

  56. 56.

    Spanish Moss

    I learned the “best” way to eat grapefruit at my Mema’s house in Fort Pierce, FL. Indian River ruby reds with just a little sprinkle of salt on top. Been eating it that way ever since. Yum!

  59. 59.

    Citizen Alan

    I just put two strawberry cheesecakes in the oven and am already worried. It’s a keto recipe (everyone in the house is diabetic) and I don’t think Stevia is at all convincing as a sugar substitute.

  62. 62.

    glc

    @dexwood: Yeah, I switched from grapefruit to statins a while ago. Never really understood how that works (from what I read at the time, it looked like a lower statin dose plus the grapefruit would get you to the same place).

    And to follow up another remark, I only recently encountered Graeter’s, and am working my way slowly through all locally available flavors.

  63. 63.

    tomtofa

    I have an autoimmune/genetic liver disease and also take statins. Why am I reading (and enjoying) a thread about booze with ice cream and grapefruit?

  64. 64.

    Gretchen

    I consider it one of the perks of adulthood that I will never again have to eat grapefruit or Lima beans.

  70. 70.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Just had a slice of yummy pecan pie : )

    Also too, I used to love eating kiwis when I was a kid. My mother would slice some up and put them in my lunches for school

  72. 72.

    Benw

    Speaking of cravings, my 14 yo orange tabby has gone from a dainty nibbler of canned food to a voracious demander of up to several cans of food a day. She’s fine otherwise: coat, eyes, activity are all normal. The vet doesn’t seem overly worried, and my online ramblings have suggested that a late-life change in diet can be normal in cats. Anyone have any ideas/experience?

  76. 76.

    Suzanne

    Back in our house in PHX, our next door neighbor had a grapefruit tree right between our houses, and he didn’t keep it trimmed enough. We got a roof rat in our attic. Fucker chewed a six-inch diameter in the duct main. Roof rats like citrus trees. We kept all of ours (lemon and blood orange) far away from the house. YOU’RE WELCOME.

  77. 77.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    OT, so I thought I’d share this high-larious letter sent in to Tegan Goddard’s political wire:

    P.M. in Currituck, NC, writes: Thank you for linking to the conversation Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) had with Politico‘s Tim Alberta, and it gratifies me to know that a member of the House Democratic caucus speaks for us folks who were “Obama-Trump” voters.

    As a native blue-collar Pennsylvanian, I highly resent many in the Democratic Party who display this elitist, snobbish mentality. They speak to us like we are idiots, and are extremely condescending. (Due to this, I have found NPR—probably the only intelligent radio broadcast outlet in the country—almost unlistenable.) We’re not stupid; we are proud of the life we built for ourselves, and are thoughtful individuals. We aren’t racist, ignorant, or yokels. We just think differently, and never think we’re better than someone else.

    Trump never talks down to people like us, and that is why so many people from my part of Pennsylvania (Luzerne County) voted for him in 2016 (and did so again in 2020). If the Democrats want our votes back, they should start talking to us like we are human beings, and listen to us—like Slotkin does. I am sorry I am not a constituent of hers. If I were, I would wholeheartedly support her, because she “gets” people like us.

    We don’t need or want your votes back. I don’t care how non-racist you think you are (I’m sure you have plenty of black friends! /s). You voted for a racist, authoritarian thug. You “Obama-Trump” voters have no moral center. You’re fucking scum

  80. 80.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Mai Naem mobile: It does have a bitter edge, but there are plenty of bitter things people enjoy, like coffee.

    My wife and I were both taught the same proper way to eat a grapefruit, sliced across the equator, sweetened with honey and eaten with a special spoon that has a serrated edge.

    And we both independently abandoned that silly method as teenagers and peel and eat them like oranges.

  81. 81.

    mayim

    @Ms. Deranged in AZ:

    One of the casualties of the pandemic is the Mediterranean bar at the local supermarket. Since I live alone, it was nice to be able to get the quantities I wanted of fresh-ish garlic-stuffed olives and roasted garlic. They put out some staff-packaged items in place of the self-select bar, but not those, and the mass-produced versions in the regular olive/pickle/condiment aisle are too expensive and not at all tasty.
    On the other hand, the store brand Maine maple mustard is a find  ~ very yummy. Excellent accompaniment to pretzels!

  82. 82.

    cmorenc

    I also love grapefruit plain, cut into eighths, preferably but not necessarily chilled in the fridge.

  84. 84.

    jl

    Shellfish, store I go to has a nice frozen shellfish medley, heavy on the scallops, throw it in some veggie broth with some veggies, cook it up, good to go.

    Avocados, either sliced or smooshed into guacamole. I realized earlier this fall I didn’t have any melons this year, so at the end of the season, went on a late season melon binge. Roasted eggplant.

  85. 85.

    Frosty Fred

    If you find grapefruit bitter, try pummelo. Or do without, you can still live a long and happy life. I miss both, owing to the aforementioned medication interactions, but have not yet starved.

  86. 86.

    frosty

    @Gretchen: I consider it one of the perks of adulthood that I will never again have to eat grapefruit or Lima beans.

    I’m with you there! But I’ll add beets (shudder) to the list.

  88. 88.

    NoraLenderbee

    @SiubhanDuinne: When I worked in a gourmet ice cream shop–back when gourmet ice cream was a new thing–we made ice cream with candied ginger in syrup. It was astonishing, like fireworks in the mouth. We didn’t make it often, and most customers didn’t care for it, but the ones who did were fiercely loyal. Your plan sounds wonderful (and please call me when you make it …)

  89. 89.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I’ll pile on to the lima bean hatred. Never understood why anyone would cook them on purpose. Don’t understand why restaurants have them on the menu.

    That and liver and onions. Who ever orders that?

  91. 91.

    Frosty Fred

    My sister-in-law ordered liver and onions when my brother was hosting dinner at a steak house; I’m quite sure that’s because it was the lowest priced entree on the menu, and there’s going to be times when that’s a consideration.

    Beets and lima beans, however, I quite like.

  93. 93.

    sdhays

    @schrodingers_cat: I’m with you. I want to like them and I thought I had a pretty high tolerance for “bitter”, but at least the ones I’ve tried were too much for me.

    I like pomelos, though. They’re not bitter at all.

  94. 94.

    jl

    I forgot corn! Corn corn corn  corn… corn corn corn corn… corn wonderful corn wonderful corn!

    Mainly corn on the cob. Homemade cream corn, pan sauteed corn, and corn corn.

  96. 96.

    Gravenstone

    @NotMax: The wilted salad I remember is a hot vinaigrette of bacon fat, sugar and vinegar. Brown butter and citrus juice is likely similar. For your salad maybe toss some nuts in for texture and taste.

  98. 98.

    Jim Appleton

    @Roger Moore:

    Mineola is a cross between pomelo and a tangerine.

    I hold that it is the best of the commonly available citrus.

    Agree that pomelo is way up there.

  100. 100.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NoraLenderbee:

    My one and only experience with ginger ice cream was at a Cadbury’s ice cream parlour on Princes Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, summer of 1959. They had a menu item called a “Freezing Hot,” which was a hot fudge sundae made with ginger ice cream. Best thing I’ve ever had in my life. I can still taste it in my mind, these 61 years later. Hope my jury-rigged version comes close. It sounds as though your gourmet shop made something very close to the Cadbury’s, and exactly what I have in mind.

    ***
    I detest lima beans. Also liver. Yuccchh.

  101. 101.

    NoraLenderbee

    Mmm, chopped liver. I’ll also take your beets and Brussels sprouts. You can have my jalapenos.

  102. 102.

    Yarrow

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:  I was kind of meh about lima beans until I grew them. Home grown baby lima beans were a revelation. Don’t take too long to cook. Toss with butter and maybe some lemon or sage. Delicious.

    In the Great Seed Run this spring as everyone thought they were going to put in a pandemic garden I couldn’t find the seeds. Next year for sure.

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    @SiubhanDuinne

    Polar opposite. Enjoy lima beans a lot. Also really like liver (preferably calves’ liver when can find it). And for the record, steak and kidney pie, although many places that serve it make it with too much damn salt.

    Ordering the liver and onions is the only reason I once in a while would go to IHOP. Dunno if they still offer it on the menu. Memory now jogged that there’s some beef liver patiently lurking in the back of the freezer.

  105. 105.

    Barbara

    @SiubhanDuinne: I would love ginger ice cream.  I just used the last of my ginger infused maple syrup.  Love the hotness of ginger. Another interesting flavor for ice cream is burnt caramel. It is the first I ever made.  It’s why I own an ice cream maker. Recipe from Cory Kummer, the food writer. His first recommendation is not to use a pan you value highly.

  106. 106.

    Zelma

    I used to love grapefruit but I’m on two meds that warn against eating it.  My favorite appetizer at Thanksgiving for years was broiled grapefruit with brown sugar.  Yum.

  108. 108.

    opiejeanne

    @Yarrow:

     

    @Citizen Alan: My niece made what I suspect is the identical one last year, and the first bite was good, but the rest was inedible and no one finished it. She made it to be kind to me, the diabetic, so I explained that I can have dessert once in a while; I’ve told her before, so I hope it sank in this time. Thankfully, I had made another dessert.

    I hope yours turns out great.

  109. 109.

    CaseyL

    @oldster: My god, that’s a horrifying article!

    I adore red grapefruit juice, especially when I squeeze it myself, but have stopped having any since I started taking a statin.  Well, all but stopped: I’ve had maybe two glasses of the stuff in the last year.

  115. 115.

    catclub

    @frosty: But I’ll add beets (shudder) to the list.

     

    Fresh beets, sliced into thin sticks and added (  in small amount) to a salad, is fine. Otherwise, shudder is right.

  117. 117.

    dww44

    @frosty: and I love all three of those foods particularly beets. Pickled and not. Bought a jar today aamof. I think liking the latter 2 largely depends on how they were prepared and served when one was growing up.

  120. 120.

    Gretchen

    @Yarrow: My mother didn’t believe is seasonings or butter on vegetables – she had kind of an ascetic attitude towards food – so maybe I should try lima beans like that!

  121. 121.

    J R in WV

    Not crazy about plain lima beans, but as large butter beans, with sweet  onions browned in butter, that makes a pretty good lunch with crackers. Love beets pickled, not ceazy about regular unpickled beets but can deal with them in a big salad with other pickled veges.

    Never cared for (as in hated) liver until the time I was invited on a big deer hunt, and we had right out of the deer fresh liver browned with onions. It was actually really great, but getting it that way was so much work, for one meal… Pretty sure grocery liver would still be terrible.

  122. 122.

    Mom Says I*m Handsome

    @piratedan:  In my family we call Tillamook’s Marionberry Pie ice cream “BSMU”, for “Bitch Set Me Up”, which is what DC mayor Marion Berry (heh) said on the surveillance tape when law enforcement burst into the apartment to arrest him.

     

    I guess it was funnier when I explained it to my elementary-school-aged children.

  123. 123.

    Stardus614

    I went through a chocolate pudding mania a few months ago. Chocolate pudding every day. I had to have it. Then, it just stopped. Until…maybe tonight.

  124. 124.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Frosty Fred: Way late to the thread, but just to put my $0.02 in:

    When I was a grad student at Cornell I roomed at a frat house where the deal included 18 meals a week – BLD on weekdays, B&L Saturday, and Sunday brunch – everything but weekend suppers.

    One of the other non-frat boarders had wheels, & most weekends he & I would hop into his Beetle & puttputt down to the State Diner in the heart of Ithaca. And my go-to meal there was, you guessed it, liver & onions (with fries & slaw). It was preiswert, as the Germans say (& I was living on a research assistantship check of exactly $133.32 every two weeks), filling, the cook did it up well – and I actually liked it. (Tastewise it beat the bejeezus out of the mutton the cook made for supper once. Lot of brothers & boarders went to bed hungry that night.)

    Good memories from a cwaaaazy year that ended up breaking my heart in about a dozen ways….:^(

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