A Coconut Story

I am not sure why I bought these coconuts. I saw them at an Asian grocery store recently, and they called to me, so of course, I had to bring them home.

It could be that I wanted them for the sake of nostalgia, helping me to remember my childhood days of seeing these round, hairy, brown balls all over the place.

It could also be my optimistic self, thinking that I can make something out of them, involving the kids in the process. I thought it would be fun to show them how to whack these things open, anticipate the coconut water that follows, and grate the white flesh in preparation for making coconut milk.

I validated myself today and put these coconuts to work. We did all of the above, including moments of reliving my childhood: I remembered grating coconut meat on a "Coconut Bunny" (as it is known in Thai...after translation of course), and then playing with the coconut remnants after my grandmother had finished making her first and second and third rounds of 'milking' the grated coconut meats.

Of course the kids loved hearing about it all, asking with curiosity about the Coconut Bunny, and what we would make with the coconut milk afterward.

I had a grand idea. I wanted to make some sticky rice (white and black), and soak in with the creamy coconut milk we had made ourselves with a bit of palm sugar and salt. We would have it for dessert tomorrow, maybe with a bit of mango, or that frozen Durian I still have in the freezer.

The kids did a wonderful job making coconut milk from scratch. They proudly brought me a bowl full of the said milk and wanted me to be sure to strain out all the coconut meat that got in by accident. Sure, I said, I can do that.

If my head was in the right place, we would be eating that delicious dessert tomorrow night. Except that we won't be. I did everything right, but forgot to have a bowl under the strainer. Yup, you guessed it. The precious coconut milk went down the drain.

On the bright side, I did get to accomplish all the reasons (I think) I bought the two coconuts in the first place. After all, I did not buy them while dreaming of a sticky rice dessert, did I?