Minus five at five
Short fast walk with dog down street
Snow moon soon to wane
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Differently
We see.
“See the cloud”
A neighbor says
“It looks like a bunny.”
Another neighbor says
“Oh, no. Not true.
“It looks like a dog.”
Someone else says
“I see nothing.”
What does God see? -
The young women bagging my groceries when seeing the three persimmons asked, “What are those?”
“Those are persimmons,” I answered.
“What do you do with them? What do they taste like?” She asked.
“I am going to make persimmon bread and they taste a bit like sweet apples, honey-like.”
I had never heard of persimmons until I saw an ink wash of them in my book, Creativity and Taoism:
This ink wash of six persimmons by Mu ch’i, the pen name of Fa chang, a Ch’an monk from Szechuan, born in the early part of the 13th century, is regarded as one of the best works ever produced by Chinese artists.
I was so inspired by this work of art, I re-created it with six tomatoes:
But Bruce, what about the Persimmon Bread? Coming, my friends. I halved the recipe (From a favorite website; Natasha’s Kitchen), making one loaf, but I did used three persimmons. Other changes noted below.
Ingredients
2 large eggs, room temperature (I used 1 egg.)
1 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/2 cup.)
1 Tbsp real vanilla extract
3 cups ripe fuyu persimmon, pureed (a little over 1 1/2 lbs) (DO NOT USE Hachiya persimmons)
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted (I used 5.)
2 tsp baking soda, sifted to make there aren’t lumps (I used 1 tsp.)
1/4 tsp (generous pinch) of salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 cups.)
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces, toasted (I used 3/4 cup.)
1 cup raisins (I used 3/4 cup craisins.)Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter a 9 x5 loaf pan. Toast walnut pieces on a dry skillet until aromatic and lightly golden.
- Remove tops of persimmon with a sharp knife. Cut into quarters and remove any seeds if present then puree in a Cuisinart. I left the skins on.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, cup sugar and vanilla. Mix in persimmon puree and the melted butter.
- Add baking soda, tsp salt and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Whisk in flour until blended.
- Fold in walnuts and craisins until evenly dispersed and pour the batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 – 50 min or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 min then turn out onto wire rack to cool to room temp.
ENJOY!
This is what persimmons look like:
Oh, and last year, I made a persimmon pie!
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Quiet Life
Our dog has lost his hearing.
It’s sad.
Years ago I read to him
DOG SONGS by Mary Oliver:
“A puppy is a puppy is a puppy.
He’s probably in a basket with a bunch
of other puppies.
Then he’s a little older and he’s nothing
but a bundle of longing.
He doesn’t even understand it….”Thirteen years ago we said
“We want this one.”A few years ago
Without incident
We walked
And every few minutes I talked.
Good dog, Good dog.
On we went through the park.
All the time our dog here
There, everywhere
A scent sensation
He followed.
And when I wanted
To stop to photograph
I said, Freddy, sit, and he sat
And he waited and when I said
Okay, on we went
Our way past Meadow Trail And Beaver Brook.
This is my path. Our path.
We came to a hill.
I huffed and puffed to the top.
And our dog wagged his tail.
We made our way Home.Our dog has lost his hearing.
His bark is louder than ever.Good dog. Good dog.
