My husband, Brady, gets very excited over new foods, especially exotic fruits. We currently have goji berries growing in our backyard, and he had small paw paw plants growing until the chickens got a little too excited about digging for bugs near them. While these might not be unusual to some, they are both plants that are definitely not common around here, which makes them something of a novelty.
While on the drive home from picking up Gizmo from camp, we stopped for French fries to appease an angry Squirt. While in the Arby's drive through lane, Brady spotted a store labeled Asian Market. He got out of the car right then and told me to meet him over there when we got done. After he took a look at the store, it was decided that we should all go in.
One of the neat things we found was a jackfruit. Brady had read about them, but it is not something you would normally see at the grocery store, so we had not been able to actually taste it before. Naturally, we picked one out to bring home.
It was big...
Upon cutting it in half, there was white goop that starred seeping out. We underestimated just how sticky it would be. I am not talking about sugary kind of sticky either. It was not water soluble, and incredibly sticky. Getting it off our hands and countertops required lots of scrubbing with baking soda.
After cutting out of the core section and the rough skin, you can begin to pull the white rubbery string off the bulbs of fruit. Again, they are very sticky and will stick to your fingers.
The bulbs have large seeds in them that you will want to get out, and the you are left with a large amount of orange pieces of fruit. It tastes like a combination of cantaloupe and mango to me. Gizmo and Princess have really been enjoying it.
But soon got the octopus's head off and started enjoying the cake. The funniest part was when he poked a hole in the cake with his finger, ripped off an octopus leg, and tried to shove it into the hole he made. I guess he wanted to redesign it. 
The aftermath...
Princess was quite a bit more dainty with her cake, although she did decapitate the mermaid at one point.
They both really liked their presents, too. Squirt got new clothes and a talking Mater that is squishy like a stuffed toy, yet moves it's mouth when it talks. He has giggled at that quite a bit.
