Too much of a good thing, and maybe in need of a possum.

Persimmons: Sent by my in-laws from San Diego for my express enjoyment.



I love persimmons, as does my Dad.

I haven't found
anyone else with such hard wired enthusiasm.

The in-law are so-so about them. Bernie, their son, shares their level of appreciation.

The persimmon tree was a volunteer, apparently, in their garden. They didn't choose it, it chose them. And since it makes for a pretty tree, with nice color change in the autumn (there isn't much color change in San Diego...) and has beautiful colored fruit, they decided to just let it stay. It's been in the yard for as long as I have known them, some 32 years now.

Most folk are appalled at persimmons. "Bitter!" they exclaim. I explain that the persimmon is only ripe, and very very sweet, when the interior of the fruit is about the consistency of pudding, or honey.

Those who appreciate the unique flavor, (which I can not describe, although I have tried) like persimmons very much. Others who are texture sensitive can't get past the fluidity of the fruit.
"Slimey!" they frown.

Oh well. More for me!

The ones in the supermarket are usually expensive and obviously not ripe. There is also a hard version of persimmon, a Fuyu. It is a flat shape, where as the "let them get soft" style is kind of an upside down tear shape.

I love fuyus too. They're crunchy, and taste a bit like honeyed pear.

Right now I have 36 persimmons on my counter that are fully ripe. The ones in the picture on the right side, the darker colored ones are the ripe ones.

About twice that many are still hard.

I do wish I had a fruit drier. Or that I would get up the energy and get going making a persimmon cake.

But I would just wind up eating the treat all by myself.

What I really need is a persimmon eating friend. I don't think I could warm up to snacking with a possum, even if they do grin nicely while dining on persimmons.

Or so the saying goes:

"Grinning like a possum eating persimmons".

I'll try freezing some. Maybe I'll try making that cake, cupcake style, and allocating my self one cupcake per day.

Or maybe I'll just enjoy the persimmons now, as much as possible.

Persimmons are very low in calories. If I lose a sizable amount of weight, I'll write an article for a ladies magazine. Something like:

"I lost 30 lbs on the Grinning Possum Persimmon Diet"

I don't think it will happen though.

Ever see a skinny possum?

I didn't think so.