It is very important when buying fruits and vegetables to know thy ingredients.

You pick an avocado in the following manner. It should not be hard as a rock, but soft for about a quarter-inch, firm but resistant. The same is true for a mango. If you buy a mango, the red variety, and it has big green spots on it, let it ripen in the fresh air for a couple of days. The sugars develop, it turns red, and you peel it.

A papaya should also be firm to the touch but give a little. And it should be yellow. If it is not, then let it ripen in the fresh air. If it has big brown spots, skip it.

Papaya and mango may be eaten green. In Vietnamese cooking, one can slice a green mango or a green papaya, before the sugars develop, and make a salad. These are healthy and delicious.

A honeydew should sound hollow when you knock on it, and it should give at the stem end. You can smell the stem end for the sweet smell of honeydew. That’s how you know the melon is ripe. Ditto the cantaloupe.

I mention these because they are the fruits of summer and summer is upon us.

Cherries are excellent for puree and so are grapes if you have a powerful blender and there are no strips of skin in the puree. If you do not have a high-speed super blender as discussed in the guidebook, then strain the puree and make sure there are no seeds in it as well. Anything to avoid choking.

This is a journey and it does not have to be boring or hard. It can fit into the life of the average American family or even the modern American family.