Top 10 Red Fruits - My Favorites

MY TOP 10 FAVORITE RED FRUITS

I enjoy red fruits year-round! I am a Fruit Lover and a Veggie Lover. I eat fruits for breakfast and as a mid-morning or afternoon snack. I also enjoy a delicious fruit dessert. I prefer to buy organic fruits whenever possible and support local stores and markets. We have different fruit that is available in British Columbia and on Vancouver Island depending on the season. Most of our fruit is imported in the winter from California, Washington and South America.

Summertime is the perfect time to enjoy fresh local fruits on Vancouver Island from local farmers or farm markets; even in the local grocery stores. The majority of our summer fruit is grown in the Okanagan Region of BC (on the mainland). Wintertime is also a perfect time to enjoy imported fresh fruits that are not stored or available from local vendors in the winter months. Imported fruits are as fresh and nutritious and are equal in quality to locally grown fruits in the summertime. The Travel Distance from California to British Columbia on the I-5 is only 1-2 days.

My Top 10 favorite Red Fruits are: Red Tomatoes, Red Apples, Red Grapes, Cherries, Strawberries, Red Plums, Red Raspberries, Pomegranates, Cranberries and Red Nectarines. I enjoy most fruits; blue, green, orange, and red but Red Fruits are my favorite. I love my Red Fruits the Best. Yum, Yum!

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Stay Healthy and Eat Red Fruits Everyday

Red Fruits - Art Print
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It's important to stay healthy and eat a variety of foods including Red Fruits and Green Veggies.

Refer to Canada's Food Guide to the right to see what the recommended Fruit and Vegetables requirements are for the day.

Sometimes it's hard to eat fruit and vegetables for meals and snacks everyday. I often snack on Red Fruits and Green Veggies to try and make sure I meet Canada's Food Guide's recommendations.

Another great way I enjoy my fruits, is in a fruit juice. I would love to have a juicer to make my own fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

#1 RED TOMATOES

Whether red tomatoes are eaten as a fruit or a vegetable, I enjoy them more as a fruit. I often snack on little cherry tomatoes to curb my appetite between meals. I also enjoy tomatoes like a vegetable in a green salad and on a tasty sandwich or juicy hamburger. My preferred red relish on meats is also red tomato relish.

Sometimes we grow our own tomatoes, depending on whether we will be home in the summer (to look after them) or depending on the weather. If we have had a particularly rainy spring, sometime we end up with a rainy summer and the tomatoes don't grow or ripen properly.

My parents have always grown tomatoes and grow a large quantity in their greenhouse. They often give us different varieties of tomato plants to try growing.

Many of our tomatoes are grown in commercial greenhouses almost year-round so there is never a shortage of tomatoes. There are many varieties that are grown locally or imported from California and Mexico. My favorite varieties are cherry tomates and tomatoes grown on the vine.

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#2 RED APPLES

My favorite wintertime fruit is a good old-fashioned red apple. I grew up eating apples and still eat an apple almost everyday. My mom always made every apple dessert from A to Z from every type of apple. My husband's favorite dessert is always made with apples or berries although my children prefer berry desserts rather than apple ones.

I usually eat a red apple around four o'clock in the afternoon. Eating an apple at this time of day really helps me to avoid snacking or grazing before and after meal prep. I prefer a red apple but will eat a green granny smith or yellow delicious when a red apple is not available.

Most apples are grown in BC in the summer months with a few imported from Washington and other countries like New Zealand. Both organic and regular varieties are grown but I don't really have a taste preference. However, my preferred varieties of Red Apples are Spartan and McIntosh Apples.

Red Apples - Photographic Print
by Jim Corwin
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#3 RED GRAPES

I enjoy the crispy crunch of green or red grapes and the juicy juice of white or purple grapes. I haven't tried cooking with grapes or wine (other than rice wine) but I enjoy the occasional grape in a canned fruit cocktail. A popular dessert salad that is made at family gatherings has raw green or red grapes and canned or fresh mandarin oranges. I don't mind dessert salads with grapes but I prefer to eat my grapes plain.

When I was growing up I only ate green grapes but as I love my Red Fruit, I do buy red ones now. My family prefers the green grapes but will eat either green or red grapes. One of the fruits we always take to the beach or lake in the summertime is grapes.

I tend to sample my grapes before I buy them, as the taste can often be bitter. Green grapes are imported from California year-round and in the winter months from South America. Both organic and regular varieties are available but organic grapes can be expensive and hard to find. I wash all grapes thoroughly except the ones I sample. Yes, it's bad, I know!

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#4 RED CHERRIES

I enjoyed the best red cherries last summer from the Okanagan of BC. I was able to purchase them by the bag full and we managed to enjoy them throughout the summer. When I was a young wife, I used to can my own cherries but now I enjoy the fresh cherries much better. I tend to buy the canned or canned pie cherries to make tasty fruit desserts.

Cherries are also imported from California in the summer months when local BC cherries are not available. Cherries are available to purchase by the kilogram or pound in small quantities or in large cases.

Lots of our neighbor's had cherry trees when I was growing up but now the birds seem to invade them before they have a chance to pick them. I am hoping we will have another wonderful cherry season, as they are easy to pop in the cooler and take along for a picnic.

Cherry, Close-up of Red Fruits - Premium Photographic Print
by Susie Mccaffrey
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#5 RED STRAWBERRIES

I love fresh local strawberries in the summertime and fresh frozen in the wintertime. For some reason I don't use them in cooking. My favorite sundae is a strawberry sundae but I'm not that fond of strawberry ice cream. Go figure! A favorite family summertime dessert is angel food cake with fresh strawberries and whipping cream. Of course, it's easy to have the same tasty dessert in wintertime with fresh frozen strawberries that have been thawed.

We have a small strawberry bed on the side of our house but we usually buy our strawberries from a local farm or grocery store. The first strawberries of the season are imported from California and then they are available from local Vancouver Island farms in the late summer months. I don't think I've ever seen organic strawberries either locally or imported or know if there is such a thing.

When I was growing up we ate a lot of strawberries, as there is always a plentiful supply in the summertime. My parents always had a strawberry patch or grew strawberries in containers. They still have a few strawberry plants but they often travel to a farm in Cumberland on Vancouver Island. This local farm has the most delicious and tasty large strawberries I have ever tasted.

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#6 RED RASPBERRIES

I have a thing for raspberry everything except fresh raspberries. I actually prefer fresh strawberries to fresh raspberries. I have raspberry bushes along our back fence that the previous owners of our home planted. I usually mix the fresh raspberries with strawberries or freeze them for winter to have with angel food cake and whipping cream.

If we have a bumper crop of raspberries, I always make my favorite Raspberry Cream Pie. Our company always loves it and it's a good way to use up our raspberries. The Raspberry Cream Pie doesn't last long as it's made of delicious Cool Whip, raspberry jello, and raspberries folded into a pressed graham wafer pie crust.

I absolutely love raspberry jam and use it in many recipes and at one time I made my own raspberry jam. My hubby loves strawberry jam but my children always preferred raspberry jam. Now that my children have moved out to their own homes, I don't have to worry about any of my favorite raspberry jam disappearing. I very seldom buy raspberries as they are very expensive and the quality is often poor. We can buy raspberries by the basket or the case like strawberries locally. Occasionally, imported raspberries are available by the basket.

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#7 RED PLUMS

I enjoy many varieties of plums but my absolute favorite are the tiny Red Rosa Plums. They are so sweet and delicious and are quite scarce to buy. I always have to look for them when they are in season or I miss out.

Many varieties of plums are grown in BC in the summer months but I love the little Red Rosa Plums from California. There are a few other varieties of red plums imported from South America that are also delicious. I occasionally buy them but they do not have the same taste. My husband prefers the large purple or prune plums and that's find with me. My children love all kinds of plums and aren't too fussy on what variety I buy.

I use the purple prune plums for baking and only enjoy the Red Rosa Plums raw. Little Red Rosa Plums are also a favorite to have in the picnic cooler in the summertime. They are a preferred fruit to take along, as they don't bruise as easy as other summer fruits.

Red Plums, Sugar and Vanilla Pods - Photographic Print
by David Loftus
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#8 POMEGRANATES

I enjoy the taste of pomegranates, either raw or the juice. I buy pomegranate juice in a mixed juice rather than from concentrate. If pomegranate juice wasn't that expensive, I would buy it more often. Being the frugal person that I am, I can't see paying the price that the grocery stores charge for this tasty juice.

I have purchased the occasional pomegranate for a treat but my family isn't fond of them. Pomegranates are quite tasty but you don't get a whole lot of fruit or juice in a single pomegranate.

When I was growing up pomegranates were not a popular fruit. Today, they are highly recommended for their nutritional and antioxidant properties. Simply put, I wish there was more to a pomegranate and the pomegranate juice was more affordable.

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#9 CRANBERRIES

I enjoy the taste of cooked or dried cranberries and cranberry juice but it's not a fruit my family enjoys very much. One way they will enjoy cranberries is a little bit of cranberry jelly with turkey dinner. My daughter loves her cranberry juice so I often drink it at her home. I therefore don't buy cranberry juice or cranberries very often. Either one seems to be a favorite when I'm on holiday or traveling.

Fresh Cranberries are grown in the cranberry bogs in the Okanagan Region of BC. My mom always makes her own cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries or freezes the cranberries to make in winter. Dried packaged cranberries are available in the grocery store but I prefer to buy them mixed with nuts like in a trail mix.

I will have to cross-off cranberries as a family favorite. For me, they seems like a treat away from home and one of my favorites is dried cranberries in a spinach salad.

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#10 RED NECTARINES

My most favorite must have summertime red fruit are Red Nectarines. I buy them by the bag full when they are in season and I prefer them to peaches. They are so sweet and delicious and a family favorite to take for a picnic or to the beach.

Depending on the variety, nectarines are either medium or large in size. The large ones are as big as a large naval oranges but I perfect the medium ones. The medium size nectarines seem sweeter and have a delicious red color. Red Nectarines are grown in the Okanagan of BC and are also imported from California and South America.

I use nectarines instead of peaches in fruit desserts for a unique taste. I also mix nectarines with peaches in a fresh fruit salad in the summertime. I store them in the fridge and take only take out a few to ripen naturally in the fruit bowl on the counter.

Several Nectarines in a Black Dish - Photographic Print
by Michael Paul
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My Favorite Ways to Eat All Fruits

I love fresh fruit salads, baked fruit desserts, canned fruit, dipping fruits, frozen fruits, fruit yogurt, occasional fruit smoothies; all ways of enjoying fruits...canned, cooked or raw.

I have experimented with a lot of different fruit recipes especially in desserts and they are often the preferred dessert in my family. I enjoy making delicious Apple or Berry Crisps, Fruit Cobblers and my ever so delicious Raspberry Cream Pie.

It would be impossible for me to pick just one red fruit, as I really Love My Red Fruits. But, if I was to make a choice, it would probably between Red Apples and Red Nectarines. My preferred fruit in the winter is a good old-fashioned Red Apple and in the summer it is a juicy Red Nectarine. My favorite fruit juice is apple juice or a blend of apple and cranberry juices.

Staying healthy is important to me and I always make sure to eat and enjoy a variety of fruit and vegetables. Below are a few good fruit and nutrition facts for you to enjoy and share, too.

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