Dealing with Fresh Fruit

Are you disappointed when your sliced apples go brown in just a few minutes? All you need to do is squeeze a little lemon juice on the apple pieces, and they'll stay snowy white.

Do you often find that your bananas go ripe too quickly? The next time you have some bananas that have gone too far, just put them in the freezer with their peels on. They will then be great for any banana recipe. They'll turn a brownish color, but it won't affect the taste of your banana bread or muffins. Pull them out to thaw a few hours before you need them for a recipe. They'll mash nicely with a fork.

You can enjoy large fruit like melons and pineapples even if you live alone and won't use the whole fruit yourself. Just ask the produce clerk to cut fruit in half for you. Most grocery stores are happy to oblige. This works best if you go to the same store every week. They get to know your face, and they will always be looking for the repeat customer.

Keep strawberries fresh in an uncovered colander in your refrigerator. Don't wash them until you're ready to use them. Strawberries are like little sponges. To prevent strawberries from soaking up too much water after washing, toss them in a salad spinner and spin them around a few times. After most of the water is gone, go ahead and cut off the tops. Use your cleaned strawberries at once for best flavor.

If you want your berries to be their best, pull them out of the refrigerator an hour or two before you serve them. A berry's flavor is best at room temperature.

You can keep grapefruit in a fruit bowl on your counter for about a week from when you buy them. However, if you want your grapefruit to last longer, all you need to do is put them in your refrigerator in a plastic bag, or use the fruit and vegetable bin of your refrigerator.

Unripened kiwi fruit, which are very firm, can keep in your refrigerator as long as six months if they haven't started to ripen. When you're ready to ripen the kiwi, remove them from the fridge and leave them at room temperature until they soften.