custard apples | artforthesoul

Creative Ways To Be Creative

During the custard apple harvest season, not a lot of painting gets done. This could be a frustrating situation but it also brings opportunities to be creative with what I do have, which is custard apples! I recently made a Custard Apple Nicecream each day for ten days and uploaded each one to Instagram. And because custard apples are bff’s with all the other fruits, there are so many possibilities.

We’re still in the thick of the pandemic, and in lockdown, so a ten day challenge seemed like a good idea. You know – you have to try to make the most of everything you have, don’t you!

Custard Apple Mixed Berry Nicecream with fresh fruit.

It’s great to think that dessert can be so good for you!

Custard Apple, Nectarine and Plum Nicecream.

I really, really love plums, with a capital L,O,V & E, so it was a happy day when I saw some for sale. I had to buy some to put in this Custard Apple Nicecream.

Custard Apple Nicecream with Choc Chips and Ginger.

Oh, this one! Mmmm …. my favourite! The choc chips and slices of candied ginger gave this one texture and bursts of rich flavours.

Custard Apple and Strawberry Nicecream With Pitaya Unicorn

A unicorn made from a dragonfruit, or pitaya was the inspiration here, and I think it’s an idea to revisit for later. It was a fun and light-hearted approach because I made it on one of those days when lockdown was hard going.

This one was made from custard apple, coconut milk, coconut cream and spirulina to make it blue. It was a day where I longing to go to the beach, but you know – lockdown, so I brought the beach to me!

Custard Apple Nicecream with Avocado & Orange

I wanted to see what it would be like to use avocado with custard apple. On their own, they seemed a bit quiet, but with the addition of their citrus friend, they really came to life. It was like sunshiney happiness in a bowl.

Custard Apple, Banana and Mango Nicecream

It was such an intensely sunny day that I wanted to make the most of it, with lots of colour and flavour, but I possibly went a bit overboard.

Custard Apple, Raspberry and Strawberry Nicecream

This was a tasty one!

This was one of my favourites. Strawberries and custard apples go so well together.

When I picked the oranges off the tree, I found a four leafed clover. And that, my lovely readers, makes this one the lucky last in this post!

Harvest

So busy! In the last post, I was enjoying a bit of pre-hectic-harvest-time bliss, but that was short lived. Now it’s all business. Well, nearly. It’s important to appreciate what you’ve got because it’s all over so quickly and everything in life moves to either a memory or photograph. My artistic outlet at the moment, is to take photographs of my surroundings and the custard apples. There is some wonderful and precious time for date night, lighting fires and walking through the orchard at sunset. These are a few of my favourite things!

All you need for a romantic winter date night dessert, is a custard apple and two spoons. Plus your love, of course.

We have a driveway across the front of the farm, and it is a thing of joy to watch the sun go down.

A few days ago, we watched Venus set. That was pretty special. Just as it reached the horizon, it did a little dance and popped up and down a couple of times before finally dropping down, out of view.

I think it’s always good to celebrate life, by appreciating what you have around you. There is so much beauty everywhere. Sometimes you collect it, harvest it or make it yourself, but sometimes it’s in your surroundings. Already there, just waiting for you to notice.

Lazy May Days

May is often busy, with the custard apple harvest in full swing. But today, a-may-zingly, I am all caught up. My husband was out picking fruit all day long, but I just frittered away my time, which is one of my favourite things to do. Time well spent is to simply enjoy the luxury of time! Do I feel guilty? Well, I hadn’t felt any twinges of remorse until I asked myself that question. No, I have decided I’m not going to waste time by feeling guilty about that. I had a great day. I even collected some flowers to garnish my custard apple snack, and by garnish I mean Garnish with a capital G!

*How do you like your custard apples? I like to celebrate mine, and with Mother’s Day tomorrow, it seems like the right thing to do*

Some harvest love. What a beautiful time of year.

Weaving Into Autumn

Autumn. It’s a beautiful time of year here in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, but it makes me feel a bit restless. I have to learn new creative skills or start a new projects to help balance that uncomfortable feeling. Recently, I went to a weaving workshop with my friend Claire, who is also my neighbour. We spent the day learning how to use natural fibres and grasses.

Basketly Beginnings. Raffia seems to be the easiest fibre to use for the binding. Blanket stitch and whip stitch are the the two types of construction methods here.

The small blue and green basket in front is made entirely from raffia. The larger green basket is made from iris leaves stitched with raffia. And the creamy coloured basket has Bangalow Palm for the sides.

I thought they would make good baskets for my custard apples now that it’s harvest time. I can see that I’ll have to make bigger baskets if I want to hold more than one or two pieces of fruit.

It’s very restful and meditative to weave a basket this way. I think many problems could be solved by taking up basket weaving.

Blue Super Smoothie

Raw Food, Vegan, Gluten Free. Serves 2.

Summer has arrived, and one thing that means is Smoothie-making time. I froze some custard apples during the harvest season to use for this very purpose. A bonus was finding some Davidson’s Plums in the garden that were ready to pick.

Recipe

To make a smoothie like this one, you will need: A small tray of ice cubes, 1/2 teaspoon of blue peaflower powder, 1/2 cup of almond milk, 1/4 cup of thick coconut yoghurt, 1 cup frozen custard apple (I just cut mine into slices straight off the chunk of frozen custard apple). Whip all the ingredients up in the blender and place in bowls. Top with grapes, Davidson’s Plums, and a sprig of mint. That’s it. Couldn’t be easier.

I discovered some Davidson’s Plums growing in my garden a couple of years ago. They are quite sour, and it takes a few to acquire a taste, but with a sprinkle of salt the flavour is reminiscent of Umeboshi – also known as Japanese salty plums.