Did you know that crab apples can be eaten?

Yes, crab apples can be eaten when they become crab apples (although Marash Girl doesn't believe that these apples can be eaten by crabs). Haven't tried eating the flowers yet . . . especially on Friday The Thirteenth!

Above photo of Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. DD Crab apple Rosaceae (or, as another website identifies the flower, Malus × spectabilis (Sol.) Borkh. Asiatic apple Rosaceae) taken by MarashGirl©2022

Orange From Birth?

Is an orange orange from birth? No checking on the internet!!! Just check in with Marash Girl in a couple of days to find the answer! And don't feel bad if you don't know the answer. . . Marash Girl learned the answer only after a trip to California during a visit to Marash Martha's back yard orange orchard!

The Secret of Persimmons

Marash Girl first encountered persimmons when she was a freshman in college.  Her dear friend Linda was the regular recipient of a large box of persimmons, persimmons which she generously shared with her friends.  But persimmons?  Pucker up persimmons? 

Linda taught us that to enjoy a persimmon, one had to wait until the persimmon was soft and squishy -- you got it -- nearly rotten.  Then the true flavor of the persimmon, the sweetness comes through . . . causing no puckering, no grimacing to the person who ventures a bite.  

Oh, how delicious . . . both those wonderfully ripe persimmons and those early years in college!

More on Grapes -- or, Serving Grapes Jennie Style

So there she was at the Armenian Library and Museum of America, viewing an exhibit of needlework sponsored by the Armenian International Women's Association.  (More on the exhibit tomorrow.)  And naturally, because it was the opening of an Armenian event, there was a table of refreshments, a table in the center of which was a large bowl of grapes.  But the grapes were in several large bunches.  What to do?  Pick off the grapes and leave the bare ugly short stems sticking out? That's what folks were forced to do.  There were no tiny silver scissors in view to cut off a short stem or two . .  .  

Where was Marash Girl's mother when the ladies were preparing this fruit bowl?  Marash Girl's mom, of course, is in heaven with all the saints, but when she was on this earth, she would never have put out a bowl of fruit with a huge bunch of grapes and no way to remove the grapes neatly.  She would always snip the grapes into graceful little bunches so that her guests could enjoy those grapes without denuding the bunches of grapes decorating her carefully set out fruit bowl.  

Thanks for the lesson, Mommy!

Has anyone out there ever heard of Mangosteen?

                                             Absolutely delicious, but even one bite costs!