I totally agree with you on how wonderful those little gems are! I'll be interested to see what everyone says about freezing them since their only in season for such a short time.

I did notice that the grapefruit are starting to look real good again. At least they stay good for a lot longer.
Beth

I live in southern California, our citrus trees are loaded with grapefruit, lemons, oranges etc..
A salad with grapefruit, orange, clementine sections are delish. Especially combined with the addition of avocados.
Grapefruit sections, thinly sliced red onion and a vinegar based dressing is easy and refreshing.
Be sure to try preserving the rinds...many recipes on the internet.

When I was younger living in Hawaii, grapefruits were very expensive. I used to cut the grapefruit into halves (cross section). Instead of a spoon, I ran a butter knife around, inside the pith of each section. You can get almost all the flesh out that way. Once all the flesh was out, I place the cut fruit down and gave a little squeeze, just to get the last bit of juice. Never wasted a good grapefruit.

Stacie, what happened to the fourth little monkey?

Anyway, my grandma used to cut a grapefruit in half, cut through the sections to loosen them (if that makes sense), sprinkle on a little brown sugar and broil them.

I've just peeled and sectioned them with a sharp knife to get separate sections.

Annie

Oh, and Stacie, check the thread that Deanna started about what to do with citrus fruit, there are good ideas there too.

Annie

Annie,

My fourth little monkey is a picky eater:) I just ate another orange and gave her a segment, she sucked the juice out and that is it:) Peyton is getting less picky, but add picky and stubborn and it is hard to get her veggies and fruits in each day.

Stacie

Quick tip for rinds - I just bought a bushel of Honeybell Oranges. (Wish I could find the old fashioned Honeybell we used to grow in FL, the ones shaped like bells seedless and sweet as honey) Anyway, I've been saving the rinds for herbal cleaners, teas, etc and finally figured out a quick easy way to get the zest. I use a potato peeler. It peels just the zest in a continuous thread. Leaves the bitter white pith behind. It may be the same thing as a zest implement but I donÂt have one of those. (I used to use a grater for the small amount I usually needed.) Then I air dry by placing a paper towel on a cookie sheet, lay the peels on and cover with a cheese towel. In about a week they're ready to process however I want. Then using a serrated knife instead of just a regular sharp knife I peel the pith and section the oranges to use. My personal favorite is Oranges and Bananas.

To Freeze the fruit:
Section fruit and put in a freezer container. Cover with light syrup. For each quart of water use 3-4 c. sugar depending on sweetness of fruit. Allow 1/2" headspace.

For a less watered down flavor juice a few and sweeten with sugar to taste and then freeze the same as above.
Mike

We peel grapefruit like oranges and eat them segment by segment. They're like sweet/tarts! All six of my kids loved them this way when they were kids, and now their kids eat them that way. We'd go through tons of them every fall when the High school band sold them as fund raisers.

To segment a grapefruit:

With a sharp knife, cut off the ends of the grapefruit,exposing the fruit. Then setting the fruit on one of the now flat ends, start at the top of the other and cut down to remove the peel. You want to cut off the outer membrane too, so the inner fruit is exposed. With a little practice, you can do this without losing very much of the fruit.

When the fruit is naked of peel and outer membrane, you hold it in your hand and (holding it over a bowl to catch juice) carefully slice along the membrane walls, removing the fruit segments and leaving the membrane behind. You will end up with a handful of membrane and a bowl of pure fruit. Be sure and squeeze the last bits of juice out of the ball of membrane in your hand.

Grapefruit eaten this way is much less bitter and will please even many of those who don't think they like it. Good sized oranges can be done in the same way.

If these instructions aren't clear enough, let me know and I'll see if I can get DH to take pics of me doing it and I'll figure out how to post them.

Rachelellen....

Oh yes I've seen the TV chefs do it that way. Quite impressive and I must try it myself.

I have always used a double ended curved blade grapefruit knife with the {{gwi:1478986}} at one end to cut around the membrane. But your way really does look more professional.

I only wish our grapefruit tree was the sweeter, pink variety as ours are rather sour.

SharonCb

My family also loves clementines and we go through 2 boxes a week. However, the biggest fans in our house have four paws and a wet nose. My two dogs will do anything to get a segment. They can smell a freshly peeled clementine from across the house and will sit and drool while waiting. I am such a softie, I always share mine 3 ways.
Jo

I have a way to peel a pomelo.

I will have to buy one and do a video someday.

dcarch

I peel grapefruit the way Annie does - strip off the peel, then cut out segments with a sharp knife....

Here's a link to Nigella's clementine cake. YUM!!!

AM

Here is a link that might be useful: Clementine Cake

Preserving clementines: I saw a recipe I want to try that preserves slices of c in honey, peel and all. Pretty sure it was in Saveur, and you can check their website to find it.

Ha! I got smart and checked out YouTube, and found a video on segmenting a grapefruit the way I tried to explain:

Here is a link that might be useful: Segmenting A Grapefruit

Thanks rachelelen for the video, I understood by the directions but seeing it done I can understand better. Rhiannon is excited that we have grapefruit and I think that I will segment a couple for her, Hayden and me. As for the Clementines..... I think I ate 5 today, I just can't seem to stop, they are so sweet and juicy, will have to buy some more to satisfy my fix and maybe even freeze some for later.

Stacie

Thank you sooooooooo much rachellen! I try to eat more grapefruit when watching calories and this is so much easier. Great video too.

maybe even freeze some for later

I'm not sure that would work if you intend to eat them out of hand...might want to try one or two to see if they defrost OK.

We also love clementines, but we just eat them when they are in season. I don't think they will freeze well unless you then use them in some kind of fruit salad.
We just think of them as a yearly treat and enjoy them when they are here.
Lisa

The kids like frozen fruit a lot. I have frozen cherries, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, cantelope and honeydew melons and apples. They like to eat them with a little sugar while they are still frozen. I think I may try and freeze a couple after peeling and see if they like them. The freezer is about full with a half of beef and all the fruits and veggies in the garden.

Stacie

I have not made marmalade with clementines yet, but I bet they would make a great one. Not exactly the same thing as having fresh ones to eat, but nice to have around.