I just can't help it!

I like hotdogs. There, I said it. I just love them! Every time I have one, it brings me back to being a kid, roasting some on a stick over a campfire by the lakeside, drinking a can of generic rootbeer from Supervalu.

I know what they are made of- I know how they are made- (I watched the Modern Marvels episode)
I know they are not exactly health food.

But I can't help it! I love them!

Best Miso Soup Yet

I love the fall!

This morning, I went out to the mushroom logs in back of the house and picked some Nameko,

Nameko (Pholiota nameko)

then down to the Kiwi pergola to pick some "Hayato Uri" or in English Chayote. 

The chayote (Sechium edule)

Then I made up some killer Miso soup.

Nice Day in the Park

Oh, Hi!

It really was a nice day in the park. We took this photo on the 11th, which was "Taiiku no hi" here in Japan. Basically "Phys. Ed Day" in English, and a national holiday. So we went to the park to ride kickboards, bicycles, skateboards, and unicycles. A lot of fun.

Persimmon Bread

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you replaced the bananas in banana bread with fully ripe persimmon pulp? Ambrosia happens.
Behold with the proper awe and adulation-

 Persimmons turn darker as they cook, so that is why it looks so dark and sumptuous.
Man, this was so good!

I got the recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.
Basically, just replace the mashed banana with strained persimmon pulp. You have to wait until the persimmons have achieved full ripeness, and are so soft you are afraid to touch them. They should feel like a bag of jelly, and the sepals should come off easily. Then just discard the skins, and mash the fruit with a fork, or take off the skins and take out the seeds and food process them to a pulp.

Quick and easy. And delicious. Let's not forget delicious.
I think I'll have to do a whole post on Persimmons later. They deserve it.

Peachy!

Everything is just peachy here.

This year my Indian Blood Peach tree, which I grew from a seed I got at Bountiful Gardens, grew another 3 feet and gave us about 50 peaches. Man I love peaches! But these are the latest, reddest peaches I have ever seen. Who ever heard of peaches that ripen at the equinox? 

There is very little to compare to wandering out to your garden, picking a peach, and eating it in the sunshine while you smell the soon coming autumn in the breeze.

Well, anyways, the peaches were discovered by wasps last Thursday, so the boy and I picked all of them, and spent a rainy Friday morning cutting them up and freezing the harvest. Twenty peaches, most with at least one wasp hole in them. But we cut around those, and have been drinking sweet peach lassi ever since. Put some frozen peaches, yogurt, and milk in a blender- it isn't rocket science, I don't measure them- and blend it up. Sometimes I put in a dash of vanilla or a spoon of suger. Maybe dust the top with some cinnamon. Bliss!

And, on another note, I saved all the seeds from the fruits we ate, and have been planting them all over the place. So maybe in 5 years or so, we could have a regular peach paradise here.