Very often, I do not make desserts. We don’t usually have dessert during the week, and when I’m cooking dinner I usually don’t have a lot of energy left over to make something. On the weekends, very often Michelle will make something for dessert. Yesterday we split the duty, she made one dessert while I made another. Both were very easy to make, although the tapioca pudding did seem to take a little while as far as the procedure. The recipe I made, however, for a mango pineapple fruit salad was very easy and only took a few minutes.

Mango Pineapple Fruit Salad

1 fresh pineapple
1 pint strawberries, sliced
2 bananas, sliced
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 mango, sliced
1/2 cup red seedless grapes, halved
1/3 cup honey
2 limes, juiced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut flakes (optional)
1 bunch fresh mint

Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise. Carve out the insides from the pineapple halves. Save the halves to serve the fruit salad in. Dice the pineapple, discarding the core from the center. Mix the pineapple, strawberries, bananas, kiwi, mango and grapes together. In a small bowl, combine the honey, lime juice and cinnamon. Pour the mixture over the fruit and toss well. Place the fruit in the pineapple shell, sprinkle with coconut flakes (if using) and garnish with the fresh mint leaves.

Michelle it also made some homemade whipped cream which we served on the side to put on the fruit if you want to date me. I did not have a kiwi on hand so I did not use them. I also omitted the coconut flakes as none of us are really crazy about coconut here. The great thing about fruit salad is they you can really add whatever you want to and it will always taste great, so if you have any fruit on hand that you wanted to use this is the perfect opportunity for you.

We had bought the small pearl instant tapioca a few weeks ago since I use it when I am making fruit pies. We had also picked up a bag of the large pearl tapioca by accident and needed something to do with it, so naturally we simply decided to make some tapioca pudding.

Tapioca Pudding

1/2 cup large pearl tapioca
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a bowl, soak the tapioca in 2 cups of room temperature water overnight. Drain the water. In a double boiler, heat the milk just until no longer cold. Add the salt and the tapioca. Continue heating until small bubbles appear at the sides of the pan. Cover, turn the heat to very low and cook for one hour. Make sure that the milk mixture does not simmer or boil.

Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light yellow in color. Add a little of the hot mixture to the egg yolks and blend thoroughly. Add the egg yolk mixture to the hot milk mixture, stirring constantly. Place the double boiler over medium heat and cook until the tapioca mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes.

Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and. Slowly fold the egg whites into the hot tapioca mixture. Stir in the vanilla. Serve the pudding warm or chilled.

Personally, I am not a big fan of putting of any flavor really. There’s a long story behind it, and it has to do with when I was in the hospital doing my recovery and was forced to eat pudding two and three times a day. Ever since then I’ve kind of gotten away from it, but Michelle and Sean both enjoy it and they really liked the large pearl tapioca.

There was the only recipes I have for today. I do have several other recipes of items I made last week and things I have planned for this week, so you can expect to see some new postings later on this week. I think the recipes are things everyone will enjoy. Until the next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!