Persimmon cake

The last of the persimmon (fuyu kaki) crop is falling off the trees. If you slice them across the middle, you see the beautiful star inside. These are just ripe for eating but some were so squishy that the pulp had to be scooped out with a spoon. The pulp is perfect for making a cake. I don't have an original recipe but if you happen to have too many persimmon on hand, go to http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=Persimmon+Cake
for a reliable recipe.

I had just pulled a bundt cake out of the oven when my mother-in-law called. She gave me a "return gift" from our aunt in the next village- that is, a gift to show appreciation for the gift that we had given. Now we need to call the aunt to thank her for the gift she gave us in return for the gift we gave her. It feels complicated.

I was given a few more persimmon, a bunch of carrots, some Napa cabbage, gobo burdock root and some oddly shaped potatoes. I needed to move some sacks of rice around so obachan could polish some rice - we are almost done with last year's rice. Maybe we will be able to eat new rice for New Year's. As I prepared to leave the barn, balancing the heavy gift box under one arm and a broken, nearly bottomless box full of the vegetables under the other, she hands me a hoe and asks if, on my way home, could I dig a couple of rows in the small garden and plant some spinach and bok choy seeds? Sure, no problem!

How to Prepare Hoshigaki - Dried Persimmon

I mentioned kaki fruit a while back, those wonderful orange sweet round fruits that ripened at the end of October. Now, the variety in season is the Hachiya persimmon, slightly oval shaped with a pointed bottom. They are also beautifully orange in color but the firm ones are too astringent to eat. These, we peel, dip in hot water (to counteract the tannin), string up and hang to dry. By the New Year, they will have a thick coat of sugary residue on them and a leathery texture. Bits can be eaten as a treat. So today, I prepared hoshigaki or dried persimmons. For string, we used the fronds from a palm type plant growing in the garden - most palm-like trees have very strong leaves that are a great substitute for string. The challenge now is to keep the hanging fruit from molding and already it has started to rain. The kaki that are too soft to peel are almost jelly-like. I scoop out the fruit and use this is cakes or bars. When Hachiya are this ripe, they are sweet. Some of the general recipes I use are similar to those found at http://www.epersimmons.com/recipes.htm

Dreary Day

We didn't finish hanging the cupboard. Oh, surprise surprise. Never try to do a simple project with an engineer. My husband is drawing blueprints as if we were going to build a bridge. We had to take down one of the kitchen cupboards because the new refrigerator was too tall. We installed all of those cupboards in the first place so I figured we could uninstall and reinstall without much problem. My kitchen is full of tools and hardware now and the cupboard is on the floor.

It's been raining and overall very gloomy - no complaints - we need this and we've had weeks of

glorious weather. I sanded down the front door and realized the wood is just ruined. It really needs to be painted every year but again, being gone for 4 years left it in dire need of upkeep and I don't know if it can be saved, but I'll try.

This is the wonderful seedless persimmon from my husband's aunt's garden - the hanafuyu variety. It's less grainy than the usual ones we eat and so sweet and smooth. I don't relish kaki but if I could eat these, I'd be a fan. It makes me feel like autumn!

I tried to get more sticky tape off the windows but Goo-Be-Gone just isn't powerful enough. Taping windows for a hurricane is a myth - all you accomplish is getting sticky stuff on your windows. If the window breaks and wind and water get in the house, broken glass is not your big concern, your roof blowing off is your concern. The hardware stores encourage everyone to tape up their windows but my husband never did it until I was gone. Then he let the tape sit there and bake in the summer sun and now, the windows are stained forever.