double the flavor, double the fun!

Let's face it: two kinds of fruit are more interesting than one. Two kinds of fruit gain twice the attention, offer double the flavor, and provide context for contrasting colors, flavors and shapes. This little bag of grapes plus kumquats offers more than just, well, grapes and kumquats. It adds interest: and that is saying something. In fact, in this bag particular bag of mixed fruit, there was entertainment for lunch hour at my children's school.

I am always trying to inject my boys' palates with attention to detail and an edge of curiosity. I prefer they learn to have opinions by tasting an ever-expanding range of flavors. So when I told them that these dainty 'mini-me' orange wannabes packed a shockingly sour punch [mom grimaces on cue] then a surprisingly sweet finish, their curiosity was adequately peeked. And what elementary school boys wouldn't want to trick their friends into eating a blithely jaw shuddering round orange ball? "Sure, it is sweet," they would say to their friends, watching them take their first bite. Eyes popping out of their friends' heads, they exclaimed coolly: "Well, sweet in the end."

And so lunchtime entertainment goes, palates and friends amused with this little fruit-like dynamite. Though you can pop the kumquats into your mouths whole, I don't prefer the seed size or crunch, so I sliced them in half, pop out the seeds with the end of a knife, and throw the half-sphere jaw-shockers into a bag with their lovely, sweet, seedless red grape counterparts.

Welcome to lunch, boys.

In case you end up trying and loving kumquats:

• kumquat recipes
• kumquat wiki
• kumquat meets epicurious
• kumquat in the press