Grape // fruit

🌱🍇🤔 Did you know that freezing is the best way to keep grapes fresh longer? Wash and dry small clusters of grapes, transfer them to an airtight container, and store them in the freezer. Plus, you can eat the sweet, icy grapes straight from the freezer for a refreshing snack. 

🍂 Grape season is in full swing! September and October mark autumn’s arrival and the period when grapes are picked. Get the most out of fresh local grapes, like Grandma Sita’s yummy homegrown grapes, by adding bright color, juicy texture, and sweetness to plant-based snacks, smoothies, salads, or desserts. Time to try Grandma Sita’s delicious plant-based salad recipe here carrot-apple-soup-and-grape-salad

👩‍🍳 Grapes are eaten raw, dried (as raisins, currants, and sultanas), or cooked and can be processed into products such as jams, juices, vinegar, and oil. Also, depending on the grape cultivar, they are used in winemaking.

💪 Grape seeds are also edible and have many health benefits. Ground grape seeds are used to make grape seed oil and extract, which have become popular health foods.

👵💚 Grandma Sita’s tips:
*Only wash the grapes you plan to eat right away because the washing process adds excess moisture.
*Avoid storing grapes at room temperature unless you’re eating them. Instead place the grapes in the back of the fridge into a well-ventilated container, such as a colander, and they will last a week.
*When you leave the grapes on the stems they last longer because the oxygen doesn’t get inside and causes them to go bad. If you see some grapes that look moldy or wrinkled, get rid of the bad ones to prevent the mold from spreading to the rest of the bunch.

📗 A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis that grow in clusters of 15 to 300 and can be crimson, black, dark blue, yellow, green, orange, and pink. Table grapes are generally the best grapes to eat fresh, and there are thousands of different varieties worldwide from which you can choose locally.

🌎 A plant-based salad that combines seasonal fruits and veggies is the perfect way to cook with zero waste and provides a wide range of health benefits. Make salads, not waste. Cheers to that! Eating local and seasonal fruits and vegetables helps to reduce food waste, saves resources, improves food quality and healthy habits, and boosts the local economy. Cheers to grapevine plants!