It is a challenge to shop for produce during the doldrums of winter. I’m not much of a winter gal myself, so it takes an effort on my part to find inspiration and keep things bright. As far as I’m concerned you won't find a brighter spot in the market than the piles of juicy citrus that start to appear in the fruit section each December. And among the cheerful yellows, oranges and blushing pinks radiating from the pomelos, grapefruit, oranges, tangerines and honey belles, my favorite hue is the cheery orange of the clementine. Clementines arrive in those charming take-me-home rustic crates and are impossible to resist, especially when they are branded with adorable names like "cuties."
We didn’t give our daughter any citrus during her first 12 months – it just intuitively seemed like these types of fruits would be too acidic for her and might wreak havoc with her developing digestive system, however once comely clementines hit the market this winter, I decided to take the plunge and introduce her to their sweet, juicy goodness and the powers of Vitamin C. Vitamin C has many benefits -- one of the most well-known is its immunity boosting powers -- eating one single clementine accounts for 60% of our recommended daily intake. And really, who can eat just one? Of course there are many other sources for getting your RDA of Vitamin C (like kiwis which are also in the market right now), but other than getting on a plane and heading down to the citrus groves of Florida, nothing beats the satisfaction of ripping into seedless, juicy citrus at peak ripeness in the middle of dark, dreary winter.
Clementines are ideal snacks because like bananas, they are conveniently packaged in individual-sized biodegradable packaging (aka the peel) but unlike bananas, clementines are remarkably hearty for on-the-go parents as they don’t bruise or squash easily if they wind up at the bottom of your bag. I find that this little fruit in particular is ideal for baby's snacks because of their small size, predictable fourteen sections, the easy peel-ability factor, and the fact that there are rarely seeds. I have eaten my weight in clementines this winter and have encountered about four lonely seeds.
Our little blondie will eat three clementines at one sitting (which may explain why she has had so few colds this winter)! Usually I sit her in my lap and peel each clementine for her, carefully removing as much of the pith as possible. I make quite a show of removing all of the stringy pith which delights her (she finds this exercise very funny), and much to my surprise, she quickly learned the word “peel.” As I peel these little orange packages for her, she points to the peel, grins and says “peel!” which is probably why we find ourselves peeling more than one clementine for her at a time.
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