Taste Adventures...

'Tis persimmon season here - oddly enough - and rather than having apples ready to harvest, many of the trees here are drooping under the weight of ripe persimmons and oranges! That being said, there are an abundance of apples available at the markets here...which feels nice and autumn-like to me! I did feel the urge to pick up some persimmons the other day though, when I noticed that they were on sale and seemed to be the "in-season" fruit of choice. I had to track down one of my Japanese friends to get advice on how to eat it. (which is a little silly since they're not exactly exotic!) Turns out, they have the consistancy and taste of a peach/plum combination - though they look like little pumpkins hanging from the trees in our neighborhood. Maybe every one of you has tasted a persimmon in your day, but I thought I'd share my first taste experience with you.

In other tasting news, one of my students shared a bag of Japanese sweet potatos with me last week. She is very cute because she's probably one of my oldest students (mid 50's or so) and I get the impresson that she is one of the more self conscious ones when it comes to speaking English since everytime she tries to say something to me she breaks down and giggles no matter what we're talking about. Anyway, she had gone to a sweet potato farm and wanted to share some of her goodies with me. I think they're very similar to the ones you would find in the States - only the color seems a bit more yellow than orange. ...With a little butter and salt they were a yummy side dish to have with dinner!