Ever struggle with the whole “peeling, coring, slicing, dicing” thing?

It’s usually not a problem for me (although, I have to be honest, it’s not my most favourite thing to do…soooo tedious!!).

Especially if I’m making pie or crisp, I find that this way of peeling apples is relatively easy.

But if you need an apple (or pear) half instead of slices, it gets a bit tricky.

Let me just preface this by saying one of my “foodie” pet peeves is finding a piece of that hard core when I’m eating something like apple pie or apple crisp.

Arrggghhh!

So, here is a pretty simple solution…all you need is a melon baller!

Cut the fruit in half and scoop out the middle with the melon baller (make sure you get right in there so you can get all of that core out).

Then, take out the bottom and top core pieces like this:

If you are just going to scarf it back, then go ahead…scarf it back!

If you are using this for a pie or crisp, you can peel it with a veggie peeler (or sharp knife…but if you’re not a pro-peeler, you will take off more flesh than you need)

The nice thing about using the melon baller is that you have a nice cavity to fill with yogurt or ice cream or whatever your heart desires!

I paired a poached pear with some pumpkin oatmeal and when I served it, I poured some of the poaching liquid in the cavity…so cute, no??

See, now you don’t have to feel bad for spending that whole $2.99 on your melon baller!

Go on, get ballin’…

(wow, did that sound rude, or is it just me?)