Blasted Coconuts

This is a year of 'firsts' in the kitchen for me...

first homemade pickles

first homemade strawberry jam

first attempt at cake pops a la Bakerella

first homemade yeast bread

And today! First time I've ever pierced the hard, hairy exterior of a fresh coconut. I say fresh. I mean 'off-the-tree' coconut. Because by the time my hammer and screwdriver combo infiltrated the little monster, my only reward was some grayish-vanilla looking coconut meat. I didn't imagine that this was how the prize was supposed to look, but I tried a teeny bite of it anyway. Nasty, nasty, nasty! I'm cringing just thinking about it now. The whole thing got dumped in the trash, and then, of course, I had to soap down the hammer & screwdriver and sweep up the kitchen floor of all sharp coconut shell bits.

I will now be using the prepackaged coconut to make this coconut cream pie.
I don't consider today's project a failure. As Jerry Seinfeld put it, 'Fruit is a gamble.' I get that. I also get that the ready-made coconut is a LOT less effort. I'm pretty practical, and it's likely that from now on, I'll be sticking with the easy way.

On to new successes!