While walking in a top secret location yesterday I spotted the rotund, dangling bodies of some persimmons hanging off a tree. I walked into the Coop this afternoon, and there they were again! I'm being stalked by persimmons, but that is no problem. Where I am from most recently (the frozen north) we don't have these marvelous fruits just growing willy-nilly. Lucky Georgians.

A ripe persimmon tastes kind of like a spicy custard wrapped in a thick orange skin. Erin's kitchen (http://erinskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/11/how-to-eat-persimmons.html) describes the finer points of eating persimmons, but it's basically a peel (or not) and eat kind of a deal. We tried one at the Coop and found it had a subtle sweetness, with a hint of sweet potato or yucca--there's something delightfully crunchy and almost vegetable in the taste.

These persimmons come from Mountainville Nursery in Auburn, GA. They are a mere $2.70/# and if you're lucky I'll leave some for ya.

"Possum in a Simmon tree
Raccoon on the ground.
Raccoon says you son-of-a-gun
Shake some Simmon's down!"

--from "Bile Them Cabbage Down" 

Photo courtesy of http://localecology.org/localecologist/2007/10/harvest-walk-persimmon-pomelo.html