It Never Rains But It Pours

This has been an excellent growing season, due in part to the almost continuous rain that we have had. For the past week, it seems to rain almost every day. We wake up to a darker dawn, and it keeps raining throughout the morning. Then it clears up for a while in the afternoon, then rains again toward night.

The darkness keeps us very sleepy in the morning, but the abundant supply of rainwater has made our fruit trees very fruitful indeed.

Some years we have no fruit at all. One year a late frost killed off all the blossoms before they had a chance to grow into fruit. But that did not happen this year.

This year, even though we had snow in April, we still ended up with an abundance of fruit.

 Our peach trees are laden with fruit. Absolutely no work went into producing this bounty. I did not spray, fertilize, water or otherwise tend to these trees. I never water. In fact, last year, when there was a severe drought, we lost two peach trees in the front yard and one in the back. Since it didn't rain, they got no water, and they did not survive. You can catch a glimpse of the dead trees in this video from yesterday, when I was picking up pears from the ground during a short lull in the rain.

Even though we have more peach trees than pear trees, it is the quantity of pears that is currently overwhelming. How can we possibly eat all of them? Even after we give some away to friends and neighbors, how will we preserve the rest?

The storm broke off a branch from the pear tree, so we are picking those pears off the branch and bringing them home when they are still green, though they turn yellow when they ripen.

There are bunches and bunches of pears crowded together on every branch.

 Many fall to the ground before they are ripe.

Some are already a little overripe by the time I pick them up. Because of this, I have been serving pear slices to my family for dessert, cutting out the rotten bits and saving what is good.

Just because this pear is partly overripe does not mean we throw it away.

I cut out and discard all the brown bits, but there is still enough to make a nice snack of pear slices.

Bow appreciates every slice of pear I serve him.

Nature is all feast and famine, drought then flood. It is the way of life. It is how we are tested. Those who don't survive the famine have no place at the table for the feast. Next year, that might be us. There is no telling what the future will bring. But while we still may, we enjoy the feast before us.

Petits Fours

Bow is becoming quite the gourmet. He has a delicate palate and samples foods that I have barely even heard of, much less eaten.

Yesterday, when it was time to pick an item from the gift basket, it was the petits fours that jumped out at us.

I did not know exactly what they were, but the bottom of the box said petits fours.

Bow was quite eager to sample them, but he had good manners, and he ate with great delicacy, savoring every bite. Not knowing exactly what he was eating, I was very curious and tried to get a look at the inside of the petit four after he had taken a bite. Bow was quite accommodating, willing for me to look. However, he did not offer me a bite. When he was done, he willing relinquished the box.

I think Bow may have a career ahead of him as a food critic. People from all around the globe can send him luxury foods to sample, in return for his unbiased, but expert opinion.

Plain Avocado

At my local, local store, everybody knows that a big portion of the fruit I buy will be consumed by Bow. They even sometimes ask how Bow liked his bananas or his apples last week. But I shop for fruit in other stores where people do not know me as well, and there are people in these stores who have some other conjectures about why I buy so much fruit.

One cashier asked me recently whether I have gone vegetarian and whether I have taken to drinking juice exclusively. I was surprised by this question, because in addition to the bags of apples and pears I was getting, I was also buying pork chops. How could she think I was vegetarian? And if you saw that someone was buying large quantities of fruit, why would you assume they would make it all into juice?

It turns out that there are people who are on some kind of health kick where they drink fruit juices exclusively, and that is probably why she thought that.

At my house, we are not on a health kick. We just eat healthy. And most of the time, we eat things as close to their natural form as possible. Take avocado. I don't turn it into guacamole. I wait till it is soft and ripe. Then I slice it in two and eat with a spoon. In Bow's case, he dispenses with the spoon. He just doesn't need it!

Is Bow a vegetarian? Hardly. He eats meat, too. But he does enjoy his fruits and vegetables in their natural form. You don't have to be a vegetarian  or on a health kick, to eat healthy. You can just enjoy the feast before you!

Brussels Sprouts and the Moon

Sometimes the feast before us is a feast for the eyes. This morning I watched from my front door as the school bus picked up my daughter as usual. There was a big, bright round moon shining.

Last night, we had Brussels sprouts as part of our feast. Brussels sprouts are like tiny cabbages, so small that you can put one whole in your mouth. This is not necessarily the recommended method of eating them,  but it's something you can do if you want to, and something you are likely to do if you are a chimpanzee.

The way I prepare Brussels sprouts is very simple: I boil them, but not too long. I stop when the dull green gets a little more intense, with a sort of dark blue overcast, but I do not leave them in there until they get brownish or soggy or super soft. My Brussels sprouts are still quite chewy.

I made a bowl like this for each of us, but one person -- not me-- left two. So after Bow finished his first bowl of Brussels sprouts, I ended up serving him two more. The video below is of Bow enjoying his extra Brussels sprouts.

Hello

I used to subscribe to a blog called "The Feast Before Us", but today, when I went to read it, it turned out that blog does not exist anymore, and Blogger asked me whether I would like to have that blog address. It's a catchy title, so I said yes.

I'm thinking that this should probably be a blog about food and about how to enjoy it. I'm too busy editing a book today to actually write a new blog post about food, but as starters, I think I will share this video about how to eat an artichoke. (Be sure to boil it first, then do what Bow does, sort of.)

Enjoy! And maybe next time I'll have something completely different on the menu!