The Fruit Company

For today’s article, we take a look at Monthly Fruit Clubs and arm you with the questions you should be asking to ensure that you not only choose the best plan, but the one that’s right for you. Read more

We’ve all been there:  a forgotten birthday, a missed anniversary, an overlooked relative on Christmas.  It’s a three step process, one that we’ve all gone through, sometimes more than once:

Step 1: The Realization Read more

Father’s Day is in five days, and what better way to celebrate the Dad in your life then with food. Summer is an exciting time for fruit with the arrival of Cherries, Peaches, Nectarines, and Plums. But don’t forget the snacks! The Fruit Company also has a wide selection of cheese gifts, crackers, sausage, smoked salmon, and more. If you are having trouble deciding which amazing gift to send, here is a helpful guide for Father’s Day gifting.

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For the month of June, we’re focusing on the amazing apples we have in the Pacific Northwest.  We wanted to find a recipe as unique and flavorful as the apples themselves, and I think we found it!  This month, we made a Curry Salad filled with fresh apple, pineapple, and raisin.  The sweet and juicy apples complimented the savory curry chicken perfectly and made for a true summer salad treat.

The recipe calls for canned chicken and pineapple, but I opted for fresh sautéed chicken in a little olive oil and a fresh pineapple.  With apples this fresh, I didn’t want to risk it.  You can use several different apple varieties, depending on your preferred taste and texture. Tart apples like the Granny Smith or Pippin work great in salads and prevent savory dishes from being too sweet. I also like juicier apples like Jonagolds, Honeycrisps, and Pink Ladies, all of which hold their shape and provide a nice, crisp bite.  Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apples are great eaten as a snack, but they are a little too soft and sweet for a salad like this. Read more

Things have begun to slow down here at The Fruit Company since the Mother’s Day rush.  During Mother’s Day the fruit was flying, the production line buzzing and the phones couldn’t be tamed.  Everyone was asking the hard questions: Does Mom want apples this year?  Did she like the chocolate covered blueberries, or was it the cherries? Did she love the cheese or was that what she claimed gave her gas till Father’s Day?  In the midst of the whirlwind, it can suddenly seem as if the world will grind to a halt and fall off its axis if Mom doesn’t get the perfect gift.  It’s enough to put a ring of sweat on your upper lip and have you spontaneously sobbing to the Fed-Ex man.

Gift giving is the ultimate revenge on an already tired and sleep deprived world.  It’s also an opportunity to remember a few things: It really is the thought that counts, being re-gifted isn’t the worst thing on the planet, and taking a few minutes to relax may be the most healthy and productive gift you ever give yourself. Read more

With the 30^th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, we take a look back at the event and remember it like we do every year: in awe.  If you’ve seen photos or been to the mountain, you know that the eruption of 1980 was astonishing.  In fact, it’s hard not to consider pieces of the eruption (photos taken mid-blast, the plume of smoke, the collapsing north face) beautiful.

Unfortunately, the area was devastated from the eruption, landslides and lahars that spread some 230 square miles.

Thirty years later, things aren’t so bleak.  Mt. St. Helens is recovering and the surrounding wild life is in the early stages of returning to its once striking form.  Take a look at NASA’s collection of satellite images from the past 30 years, and note the spread of vegetation.  It’s incredible. Read more

When we talk about volcanoes, we talk about giants.  Sleeping Giants.

We knew that as kids.  Others called them volcanoes but really, they were always giants.  We learned their parts: the magma, the rock, the pressure and release.  We learned, to our disappointment, that most were dormant, or worse, inactive.  And then we learned about the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption.  It was the kind of thing we’d been waiting for, something even we couldn’t have made up.

It started with an earthquake on March 18^th—a tiny glimmer of life after 123 years of hibernation.  More would follow.   Avalanches crashed down the mountain side as earthquakes grew in size and frequency.  Inside the volcano, magma was swelling. Read more