Eat your heart out

A few weeks ago Ben randomly asked me if I knew what season it was. Um, Duh. Winter. No, he said. It's mango season!

We absolutely love mangos. You can slice, dice or squeeze 'em up any way you want and we'll go bananas for them! There are like a hundred different types of mangos, but we both have an especially sweet spot in our hearts for the little green ones that are so commonly found in Guatemala. They're not the kind you can peel and slice very easily. Instead you squish them up with the peel still on being careful not to spring a leak, bite a tiny hole in the top and squeeze the juice right out into your mouth. So delicious!

We even had our mango lady (who set up shop right next to our pineapple guy) in the Antigua open market. In high season, we could come home with a bagful for about a dollar. Oh, those were the days......... Unfortunately although we do live in the south now, we are no where near the tropics and therefore there are no mangos here. Honestly, I can't even remember seeing mangos in the grocery store even when it was warm. I guess I'll have to do some investigating come summer.

So the other day during a regular shopping trip to Trader Joe's, something caught my eye though. I know what you're thinking, but wasn't in the produce department - rather it was hiding in the back of the store near the granola.

Holy cannoli! Who knew there even was such a thing? Of course I had to get them, regardless of their pricey little tag.

So fast forward a week or so, to Valentine's Day. We don't really celebrate the silly holiday, but I still like to do a little something special for Ben. This year it was a fun gourmet food bag, and you guessed it! The mangos are what started it all off. I also added in some of his favorite sweets, like a huge bar of Toblerone, gummy fruit slices, dark chocolate peanut butter cups and a mint chocolate truffle bar. Of course it was a hit! And of course, I was super anxious for him to rip open that green mango bag so we could try them. Score! They are delicious and quite possibly the best thing that has happened since we came to Charlotte. Seriously.

If you have even the slightest love for mangos in your heart, you need to try them. Run - don't walk to your nearest Trader Joe's!