Grammys Corgi Country

I LOVE persimmons… I have a friend whose husband has grown several persimmon trees and every year, she calls me and invites me to come and pick as many as I want… I get plenty for my family and for all of our relatives and friends, and my friend is really happy that she doesn’t have to clean hundreds more squishy, mushy ripe and rotting persimmons up than she already has to. We are both happy with the arrangements.

This year, I want to try to dry some and see if that will work so that I will have them for a longer time, because persimmons ripen fairly quickly and then they are gone. I’ve googled to find ways to dry them and since I like dried fruits of other kinds, and persimmons are so VERY sweet already, I’m sure they will be almost like candy when they are done. They also had a bunch of recipes that use persimmons, so I’ll probably make some cookies, breads or muffins for Christmas and Thanksgiving.

My friend has two different kinds of persimmon trees… The native type that you have to wait to eat until they are mushy or they will pucker your mouth, and the Japanese type that taste like a persimmon, but can be eaten while they are still hard and crisp… almost the texture of an apple. I LOVE both types. The native type is really great for cooking. My friend’s husband told me the secret to ripening them overnight… Just put them in the freezer overnight and when you thaw them in the morning, they are soft enough to cook with. Their trees were still loaded when we left with several boxes full and this is the second trip we have made.

This lady is such a dear friend, and not just because she shares her persimmons. We have been friends for over 18 years. She was the first teacher that I worked with when I started being an Instructional Aide for the Special Ed. kids. She worked with them over 37 years before she retired and she taught me so very much. I am truly indebted to her for her wisdom and the way she modeled being a wonderful teacher for the kids… They didn’t get away with much in the classroom and her patience with their handicaps was amazing. She told me that where a regular student may take 100 -300 repetitions to remember and apply something, a special ed. student may take 3000 or more to “get it…” some even more, and some won’t get THAT thing you’ve worked on, BUT they may get something else.

It started to rain tonight while we were picking the persimmons, so we got a bit damp. It really rained hard during the drive home. (I’d gone to a Dr. appointment in the big town about an hour away, and stopped by her place on the way home – about 45 mins. from our place.) We are SO HAPPY that it FINALLY rained !!! This has been one of the driest years we’ve had in this area and the air was really getting nasty, too.

It is a blessing to get this much rain… in a way… probably won’t be good for the alfalfa farmers, though, and THAT isn’t good. Alfalfa has gone up in price over the past several years from $8 to over $13 a bale. Still… we really needed it… I think they had enough notice to be able to get most of it baled the past couple of weeks and under cover… I didn’t see any cut hay down in the fields on the way into the big town.

Well, I better close for now… I’m supposed to get to see my grandson tomorrow and it has been several weeks since I last saw him, so I’m REALLY looking forward to it. I miss him a lot since he moved a couple of months ago… Before, I’d seen him at least once, and often twice a week since the time he was born and he just turned 5.

I will also be making the Thanksgiving Pies for our big family dinner on Thursday. I have a lot to be thankful for this year… I’ve got bunches of persimmons… I can WALK… I’ve got wonderful family and friends… I have a God that loves me… Yes… a LOT to be thankful for… I pray your holiday is as wonderful as mine is going to be. Have a wonderful day.

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