Cracking Coconuts!

In our producce co-op basket this week there was a coconut....what do we do with a coconut??? Well we dug out the cookbook and found some info on getting the meat out. First we poked the eyes out with a screwdriver to get the juice out...not to be confused with coconut milk, which you have to make by cooking milk or water with the meat and straining it, who knew? The juice was really sweet and yummy but like the people on Survivor, I can get sick of it real quick! Then we put it in a baggie, wrapped it in a towel and hammered the heck out of it! It cracked open but we still couldn't get the meat loose. So, as instructed, we put it in the oven for 15 minutes and it loosened up...not without some prying though! The kids didn't like the meat but we chopped it up in the food processor and it's now sleeping peacefully in our freezer for future use in cookies, smoothies or pina coladas. Here is the one before picture we managed to snap before all the excitement began...