science experiments for kids: the grapple taste-test

We were totally due for some new-for-us foods around here, after our handful of awesome, new-for-us games, thanks to Toy Fair, Easter, and the kids’ new allowance. Which (eeeee!) I cannot wait to share–and give away to YOU!

So with each of our trips to the grocery store, Maddy, Owen, Cora, and I have had our eyes peeled for new and exciting foods to try: fruits, veggies, recipes, and (of course!) sweets. One of the coolest things about my kids is that they’re always–usually, mostly–willing to try new things.

And I really, truly believe it’s partly because we’ve always tried to keep things new and fresh around here–from our very first Pear-Off three years ago, to our Grapple taste-test this week, and everything in between.

Here’s the skinny. . . .

The Grapple: Not an apple, though it looks like one. Not a grape, though it tastes like one.

It’s the. . . . GRAPPLE! And the grapple is a combo of both.

Cora was with me when we saw the catchy–and confusing–new-for-us fruit, and we were both pretty excited to share it with Maddy and Owen when they returned from school.

Who wouldn’t reach for the Grapple with that cute monkey–I mean ‘ape’?–on the package?

We were reaching for our favorite Gala apples when I saw them.

They looked like a Gala.

But they surely didn’t sound like a Gala. So I said, Hey Cora! Check this out: it’s a Grapple. A new kind of apple, mixed with another kind of fruit. Do you have any guesses as to what two fruits would combine to make a ‘Grapple’?

She said, It just looks like an apple, Mommy, with a crazy monkey on the picture.

Right, I said. But even though it looks like an apple, it supposedly tastes like something different–a grape! That’s why it’s called a ‘Grapple’–part grape and part apple! What do you think? Should we try it? Bring it home for Maddy and Owen to try after school today?

The Grapple looks like an apple, but tastes . . . like a grape. Or does it?

She was up for it. And when we got home, she was sure to put them front and center on the counter so there’d be no question about what our snack would be once Maddy and Owen were back. It was one of the first things they heard at pick-up–our snack is the grapple!

And when they got home, though they were pretty beat like usual, they were a bit more interested in snack today because they were curious–I think we all were. So I gave Maddy the package and asked her to read it–which she did.

Everyone held the cleaned grapples, everyone smelled them, and everyone made guesses as to how they would taste.

I think it’s going to be mushy inside, like a grape. . .

I bet it will be purple inside–or maybe green?

It smells like an apple and feels like an apple. How can it taste like a grape?

I think it will be like a plum inside–that watery texture. . .

It will probably be a crispy grape. I bet it will be like a crispy apple-grape. . .

And it turns out, everyone loved them at first.

Oh my gosh! It’s so good!

It looks like an apple but it really does taste like a grape!

How’d that happen?

It’s not what I thought–crispy and not watery. . .

I can’t taste grape, but I still like it. . .

Seems dry to me. My mouth feels funny. . .

Mixed reviews–for sure–and our overall opinion was indifferent. We didn’t love them. And we didn’t totally dislike them. Grapples were fine. They were just. . .okay. We could take them or leave them.

But before I knew it, the grapple slices were eaten–really without much more discussion, other than about homework, the day’s specials, and the norm. So maybe they really did love them, or at least like them enough to fill their hungry, after-school bellies?

Either way, I don’t care that much; all I know is that everyone tried something new. And I truly believe we’re a bit better for it, which is why I love, love, love New For Us Fridays!