living in the woods and making stuff

I was out of town for a week, and when I returned, I imagined that everything in the garden would be brown. Fortunately things disappear in stages. The arugula, kale, thyme, and parsley seem to be holding out for as long as they can.

My two favorite November fruits, pomegranates and persimmons, were ripe when I was visiting California, and I made sure to bring as many back as I could. (We picked some and purchased some from farmers, and from the farmer’s market!)

Pomegranates must be my favorite fruit. There is something SO satisfying about carefully peeling each seed away from the bitter white surrounding it, making sure that each seed remains whole, and then collecting the seeds in a glass, or perhaps eating them one by one.

There is a trick however, if you ever find yourself without the time to spend on carefully peeling each seed. Simply fill a deep bowl up with cool or room temp water. Score the outside of the fruit all the way around in several sections with a knife and submerge the fruit in the water.

When the pomegranate is submerged, carefully break the pomegranate sections apart, keeping the fruit under water so that the seeds wont burst and spray you with the bright red juice. When all the seeds are removed from the white, the seeds will sink, and the white will float to the surface to be gathered and discarded. Then remove or strain the seeds, and gently dry with a kitchen towel. The entire process is done under water, and this helps to reduce or eliminate staining, and keeps the seeds separated from the inedible white part!

For lunch today, I wanted to mix fresh Iowa greens with fresh California pomegranate. I picked some of the lingering spicy arugula, and topped it with sweet ripe pomegranate seeds. For salad dressing I spooned on top some raspberries that I preserved in apple cider vinegar about a month ago. Then I drizzled the whole thing with a little bit of olive oil. And a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground pepper. Yum! This salad is also really good with the addition of fresh crispy pear slices.