Fruit

Because there's nothing worse than buying fresh strawberries only for them to go to waste.

Ready to get baking with apples this fall? Pick one of these five varieties for the best results.

Ready to get baking with apples this fall? Pick one of these five varieties for the best results.

Whether you’re shopping on a budget or with a particular dish in mind, it’s helpful to know how many apples are in a pound. After all, most grocers price apples by weight, and recipes call for a certain number of pounds of apples (in that case, four).One pound of apples is about three medium-sized apples. To qualify as medium, each apple must be about the size of a tennis ball or something you can hold comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Around the fall, many people reach for seasonal favorites like apples and pears. If you’re looking for something in-season but a little different, we recommend learning all about quince. Quince is a fall fruit that looks similar to apples and pears, but tastes quite different. It’s yellow in appearance, short, somewhat round, and has a relatively tough texture. Whole quince fruit is not available everywhere, but quince paste is commonly sold in stores. Read on to learn about both!

The title of this story might seem a bit strange. After all, aren’t the best apples to eat out of hand whatever ones you like the most? While that’s true, if you’re looking to branch out of your regular rotation of apples, here’s a list of other delicious varieties you can try. We’ve already covered the best apples for baking and the best apples for cooking, but for straight snacking, most of us reach for crisp, juicy fruit. As for flavor?

Enjoy them all year long with our step-by-step guide.

Ours were still fresh after three weeks!

Try these two easy ways to core any kind of apple — all you need is a paring knife.

Go into your next orchard trip prepared!

This is the best way to keep them fresh and prevent them from sticking together.

It's way better than lemon water!

For all of your cherry-pie-making needs!

The methods are super simple!

Agua fresca! Cocktails! Pickles!

Slicing an avocado is a simple technique that requires minimal knife skills and just a few seconds of your time.

If you see a lot of fruit dehydrating in your future, buying a food dehydrator makes sense. Using one is more energy-efficient than slowly baking fruit in a low oven, and the results are more consistent. But if you just want to make the occasional batch of crispy apple chips or intensely-flavored dried tomatoes, keep things simple and gadget-free: use your oven to make dried fruit!

The best way to store blueberries takes just a couple of steps and will make sure your produce stays fresh for weeks!

Plantains are hearty, flavorful, and grow in abundance in many countries of the world.

Here's everything you should know about their differences and similarities.

This seasonal ingredient is like no other. Here's what you should know about it.

If you use lemons a lot in the kitchen, you'll want to try this clever hack!

Pomelos and grapefruits are both in the citrus family, but they have their own unique attributes.

Cara caras aren't like your standard orange, they're special in their own right!

Consider this your cheat sheet to peach shopping.

I am an equal opportunity fruit jam eater. I am just as happy with the loose, sloshy batches as I am the ones that have a firmer consistency. I love to use the runny varieties to flavor plain yogurt or as a sweetener for green smoothies. The slightly overset batches are perfect for serving with cheese plates or as the filling in a thumbprint cookie.

To wash, or not to wash? That is the ever-present question that looms when we return home with our berry haul. These sweet summer gems are delicate, and unless you’re lucky enough to pull them from your garden or backyard, most of them don’t come cheap. You want to treat them right, and if possible, even prolong their shelf life. When it comes to washing berries, the when and why depends on the type of berry you’re dealing with.

Don't be so quick to toss strawberry tops! Here's why it's worth saving them and the sweetest ways to use them up.

Its not all sweet!

It couldn't be easier.

Cut open a watermelon and you’ll see plenty of seeds — seedless or not. They may be black or white, but they’re seeds just the same. Is there a difference between the two colors? Do you have to spit out both? Yes, white and black seeds are different, and yes, you can eat watermelon seeds. The black seeds in a regular watermelon are just plain ol’ seeds.

How you eat a persimmon depends on the variety.

Use the vegetable peeler to keep as much flesh on your apple as possible when removing the skin.

Here's how to easily open the festive fruit without making a mess.

Load your shopping basket with these delicious fruits.

There's a lot to know about the unique fruit.

When you want to add a zingy, sweet citrus flavor to food, the juice is good, but the zest is even better. It has natural oils that will impart way more flavor than you’ll get from juicing. Plus, sometimes all you need is a little bit. So whether you’re working with lemons, limes, oranges, or any other citrus fruit, there are four easy ways to get your hands on some zest.

If you've never heard of passata, it's worth giving it a try.

Learn about the tastiest grapes for eating, adding to salads, and cooking.

Learn how to properly store grapes for maximum freshness.

Pad thai and many other Southeast Asian dishesThese blocks of tamarind pulp are the tamarind fruit pods stripped of the outer husk and compressed tightly together. Sometimes the seeds are removed, but we usually find a few errant seeds even in packages marked “seedless.” The pulp itself is very fibrous, so we need to soften it and push it through a fine-meshed strainer to separate the edible pulp from the strands of fiber.First cut off the portion you need.

Watch the video to learn how to cut a mango.

Ever wondered why some recipes call for a particular kind of onion and whether another can be substituted in its place? We certainly have.All these onions vary slightly in flavor, texture, and color, but can usually be substituted for one another. In terms of cooking, they will all behave the same in the pan. When buying onions, go for ones that feel heavy in your hand and firm. Avoid soft onions or ones that have a sharp oniony odor before peeling. These are indications that the onion is old.

As you can see, leeks aren’t the cleanest vegetables around! Not only do their roots hold dirt like Fort Knox, but grit drifts in from above and gets wedged between the oniony layers.Before using them in recipes like yesterday’s Arugula Vichyssoise or the amazing leek mat that Jill made for the smoked fish she served at her wedding, we need to clean them thoroughly if we want to avoid eating more minerals than we intended!Here’s how!

You’ve probably heard of roasting pumpkin and other winter squash seeds, but what about summer gourds like cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon? Nutty melon seeds are an inexpensive, fun snack and a great way to prevent food waste. This isn’t a totally new idea, either — roasted watermelon seeds are common in several Asian and Middle Eastern countries. To roast melon seeds, rinse, drain, and pat them dry.

A luscious, juicy peach is one of summer’s ultimate pleasures, but which is better: white or yellow? Opinions are divided in our household. Some prefer yellow peaches, citing their “classic peachy flavor,” while others praise the sweetness of white peaches. Do you have a preference?

And possibly make them even tastier!

Apple cider and apple juice look quite similar but can be made, packaged, and labeled in different ways. Learn the differences between apple juice and apple cider here.

Here's what you need to know to spot the perfect picnic-worthy specimen.

Up your knowledge on these baking basics.

What you need to know so your strawberries don't go to waste!

If you’ve only ever picked up an eggplant at the grocery store, you may think that each and every eggplant is the same — large, oblong, and deep purple. Well, take a walk through a farmers market mid-summer and you’ll realize that couldn’t be further from the truth. There are countless varieties out there, all unique in their own way. We picked 8 of our favorites to share so the next time you’re at the market, you’ll be inspired to try whichever you may find.

A juicy, ripe peach is always close at hand with this tip.

Lemons are an ideal way to perk up early spring cuisine; from salads to fish and desserts, they are an easy flavor booster to keep on hand. However, I always end up planning a meal around my last lemon, only to find out it has become hard and yields as much juice as a potato. Then I discovered this simple tip for making sure you get every last drop out of your lemons. Lemons sealed in a plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator tend to keep fresh longer.

No, this funny-looking, seed-packed fruit isn’t a deformed lemon or a discolored orange. Instead, it’s another exotic citrus that you should be on your radar.About the size of a tangerine, yuzu is an incredibly fragrant citrus fruit, but since it’s super sour and tart, it’s not eaten as-is. Instead, its zest and juice are used for flavoring in recipes.Yuzu is cultivated mainly in Japan, Korea, and China, and is not exported to the U.S.

They can't always be used interchangeably.

No more wasting any of your Sunday meal prep.

You have all the tools you need already!

There's a simple, foolproof way to tell whether you will discover a creamy, luscious green interior or a brown slimy mess the next time you cut open an avocado.

Did a bin of firm, underripe avocados dash your hopes for a piece of avocado toast once again? I don’t mean avocados that are still rock-hard — those specimens that seem like they require a chainsaw to cut open. I’m talking about the avocados that dash your plans because they’re just a little too firm for making your favorite batch of guacamole.