Our first starfruit off of our new starfruit tree!

LOOK!  

We just picked our very first starfruit!

One of the charms of living in the wonderful tropical climate of Costa Rica is being able to grow your own tropical fruits in your backyard.  
There of course is an abundance of so many fruits and vegetables at the farmers market, on most every corner fruit stand and a great selection in the grocery stores, but there is just something about growing your own and picking it right off the tree to enjoy!

When designing the landscape of our new home we of course went all out with the many tropical flowering trees, plants and bushes that give such pleasure to the ambiance of outdoor living but also included a nice assortment of the edible varieties.


In our back yard we have planted a lovely herb garden complete with basil,  rosemary,  oregano,  peppers and even a vanilla bean vine!  Our assortment of fruit bearing trees includes a lemon and lime tree, the starfruit tree and a guanabana tree which bears a strange looking sweet fruit that is used locally to make smoothies.

I was amazed that our starfruit tree was bearing so much fruit so quickly and at such a short height,  it is only about 4 feet tall.   The limbs are loaded with flowers and when you look closely you can see how each flower is transforming into a lovely little fruit.  Some of the fruits are quiet large but still green so they need to ripen before we pick them.  The tiny little fruit pictured below is the size of a thimble.

So now that we know we will soon be blessed with a lovely crop of starfruit I guess I should start looking at some ideas on how to prepare this interesting fruit!  Let's see. . . fruit smoothies. . . well of course! . . .   fruit pizza,  fruit platter,  fruit salad,  fruit cocktail,  fruit relish,  Sangria (yum).... Let's serve it over some fish,  cook it in some bread,  saute it in a stir fry,  make a lovely sauce. . . oh the ideas are endless!  But when all else fails we can just slice it up and eat it or use it to decorate the rim of a nice fruity adult beverage!  

       Please share with me your ideas of what to do 
                        with starfruit. . . and better yet
                                  . . . come and have some with me!
                                                            
                                          PURA VIDA!