For a green holiday, source materials from nature, repurpose and reuse what you already have.
Sustainable Christmas Wreath
Pine branches, California Holly (Toyon berries), pine cones, used gift-wrapping bows, florist wire, disposable wire hanger, metallic paint, gift wrapping ribbons, needle nose pliers, newspaper
Reshape the hanger into a circle. Arrange the pine branches roughly before wrapping with florist wire.
Tuck in the holly, arrange the bows and tie with wire. Add a long ribbon with a flourish. If you want to do more, spray paint pine cones with metallic paint and glue it down using a hot glue gun. I decided to use the pine cones for something else.
The wreath lasts at least three weeks, spray occasionally with water to refresh. The pine branches are compostable, the wire can be salvaged for another project, so also the bows. Just remember to wear gloves while doing this, it can really save your hands and yes, save the planet while enjoying its treasures.
Mini Tree Flora Arrangement
Cull mini pine boughs from different pine trees and stick them into a flower pot. Arrange on a platter with metallic spray painted pine cones. Decorate with mini ornaments, beads, and string lights. Et voilà! You trimmed your outdoor tree and created a mini indoor tree with trim and all.
Merry and Bright Hearth
Pine branches , painted or natural pinecones, all those ornaments, a large platter, and 5 LED candles
Line the platter with pine branches as bedding around the candles, arrange pinecones, spread glittering ornaments and turn on flickering candles to bring the merry and bright in.
Outdoor Tree Trim
Get the little friendly elves to help put up ornaments on outdoor trees. It’s a fun activity for the entire family.
“Be careful what you wish for…..” A passion for the fruit has turned into a challenge I must take.
The prolific persimmon pops up like popcorn at this time of the year. A generous and dear friend dropped off big bags packed to the brim. While I hold the belief I can never tire of this fruit, this time I get to put the hypothesis to test.
The pointy- ended one is the Hachiya persimmon. It’s uncomfortably astringent when unripe, and it gets super sweet and squishy when ripe. It’s a bit too sweet on its own, and it is an acquired taste. But, I like it in in small amounts. What do you do when you have tons of them during the pandemic? To find out, join me on my explorations.
Arm Candy
First, I used them to decorate my table. It gives a warmth and sense of abundance to the season. They look pretty, but they’re totally inedible raw.
However, you can rid them of their astringency to bring out their sweetness by dehydration.
Dehydrating Unripe Hachiya Persimmons
Yes, you can do it. It’s surprising how the astringent quality disappears with slow and prolonged heat, leaving behind the super sweet leathery treat. I slip it between two salt crackers, and the taste is delicious. Cutting them in rounds makes the starry pattern in the middle pop.
If you have a dehydrator, place the peeled and sliced in rounds persimmons for six hours in. You can also do it unpeeled, but it will take longer, and the skin is not exactly my favorite. You could also bake them in the oven at 130F for seven hours.
I made several batches, and I still have boatloads of persimmons. Now, I will bake bread.
Persimmon Bread
Next, I baked persimmon bread with the sweet, ripe Hachiyas. I slit the top and scooped out the pulp. With five persimmons, I had a little over a cup. You can mash it with a potato masher or the back of a spoon with ease.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
!/4 cup whole wheat flour
Pulp from 5 persimmons (yields a little over a cup)
Sea salt 2 pinches
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
butter to grease loaf pan
Preheat oven to 350F. You’ll need a 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan.
Sieve dry ingredients and sieve them together. In another bowl, cream butter, sugar until well incorporated. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat together. Add persimmon pulp at the end.
Gently fold in the dry mixture, and put the batter in loaf pan. It will be more moist than regular cake batter with all the fruit, that’s a point to note.
Place pan in oven. My convection oven does the job in less than 40 minutes. The aroma of this bread swirls in less than 15 minutes after sticking it into the oven. I love that warm, fragrant kitchen on a cool, crisp autumn day.
The bread is ready, and I decorate the top with dehydrated slices. The pulp in the batter adds unprocessed sweetness, richness, and it makes the bread incredibly moist. I just shared the cake with a friend, mailed the dehydrated persimmons to my daughter. I still have tons of fruit to play around with.
Almond Flour Variation
Keeping the same proportions except sugar which I added .75 cup, I added one cup almond flour and half cup whole wheat flour. I used extra virgin coconut oil instead of butter a third of a cup. Added splash of cognac, decorated top with whole almonds, cranberries and pumpkin seeds before sticking it into the oven.
Batter ready for the ovenAll Done!
Hoshigaki
The Art of Hoshigaki or naturally dried persimmons the Japanese way intrigues me. It’s a long process, and let me see where my take on this will take me.
The Japanese peel the fruit, tie the stems with twine and hang it on a bamboo pole. It’s an exercise in patience and may take as long as 6-8 weeks. They watch it closely, massage it, and let it dry into a chewy, moist, frosted with its own sugar treat.
Here’s a quick reference
When you pick the fruit, make sure to leave a stem.
Wash, trim the tops and peel all over. Remove the leafy calyx, but retain stem.
Dunk for 10 seconds in hot water to prevent mold.
Tie stem with kitchen tie. Use one string for two persimmons.
Hang near window (preferable to have ventilation and light now and then).
Leave them alone for a few days
After 8-10 days, start gently massaging to remove any lumps.
Watch for mold, and to prevent this, you could spritz with cider vinegar or vodka, and ventilate.
Let cure for a few more weeks, and enjoy!
Instead of a bamboo pole, I decided to improvise. I rediscovered my old cafe curtain tension rod. The reason the Japanese use bamboo pole with a wide diameter is to make sure fruits do not stick together while drying. Although skinny, the cafe rod fits nicely in my kitchen window.
My experiment has begun. It’s going to be a long while. In the meantime, I have lot more persimmons to think of.
Day OneDay Five The case of the shrinking fruit…Massage time for the fruit. This is done to dissolve lumps. Day 11Eleven weeks later….
Meanwhile Moments
For this segment, these are recipes created by yours truly. Hope you enjoy them. I take inspiration from the familiar and like to put my twist on them.
Breakfast today….Saffron Persimmon Oatmeal
Ingredients
Half a cup cooked oatmeal
Saffron threads
One scooped out ripe Hachiya persimmon pulp
Pistachios and dehydrated fruit(persimmon again) for garnish
I cooked half a cup of oatmeal over the kitchen stove with water. Added a few threads of saffron at the end, and with the heat, the spoon, and the stirring, I could release much color and fragrance. Although the color is not necessary, the fragrant saffron complements the delicacy of persimmon. Added scooped out persimmon to the cooled mix and seasoned with pistachios and a few snips of dehydrated persimmon for texture.
Alternate Ideas for Oatmeal
.Snips of dehydrated persimmon, nuts of your preference, cooked oatmeal and pure maple syrup. No pulp required, as maple syrup will sweeten the oatmeal.
.Spicy Oatmeal with persimmon pulp with either cardamom or clove and ginger powder. Top with pumpkin seeds.
Persimmon Kshirkand or Srikand
Kshir means milk and Kand is sugar in Sanskrit. This is a creamy dessert made with hung curd, very similar to Greek yogurt. You add sugar, cardamom, saffron, fruits of your choice and pistachios and blend it well. It’s one of my favorite sweets.
My simple and quick recipe is just scooping out a pulp of one persimmon with equal quantity of hung curd or 2% milk fat Greek yogurt. Beat it up with crushed cardamom powder, saffron for a delicate flavor, and garnish with ground roast, unsalted pistachios. I like mine whole, so I skipped grinding it fine. I omitted sugar altogether, but if you like a little more sweetness, add a tsp or two of sugar while blending the yogurt and persimmon together..
No cook(Raw food)/ Quick Food/ 4 Ingredient /Lactose-Free Breakfast
For the raw food enthusiasts, for the on-the-go folks, and for the lactose intolerant, here’s my dedication.
No-cook minimal ingredients max taste snack
A handful of Cashewnuts, a quarter cup raw oats, and persimmon pulp are all you need. Soak nuts and oats in water overnight, and blend together with persimmon pulp. It’s important to ensure you add water to blend if the nuts and oats have soaked through all the water. If you wish for some spice, you could add cinnamon or cloves. But these three ingredients and water for soaking and blending will suffice for a tasty treat.
It’s been a sweet journey, so I will change it up with a Fuyu persimmon savory salad.
Fuyu Persimmon-Daikon Salad
Select 2 crunchy, sweet Fuyu persimmons(the one with the round bottom), a quarter daikon or radish, salt, red pepper powder, lime juice, and cilantro.
Peel persimmons and daikon, slice them in discs, Then cut them in match-stick thin strips, add lime juice, cilantro finely chopped, red pepper powder, sea salt to taste and mix. Let sit a while and enjoy the salad.
Persimmon Gelato (Recipe Courtesy and Creation, Dear Husband)
Ingredients
Whole milk One Cup
Heavy whipping cream 3/4 cup
Sugar 1/4 cup
Sweet persimmon pulp 1 cup
saffron threads
cardamom
Blend ingredients finely, and let the gelato maker do its work. Alternately, whip it till much air is incorporated and freeze for a most delicious treat.
Papaya Persimmon Salad (a Som Tum Thai variation)
Here’s another vegan recipe I created with the inspiration of the vegan Som-Tum Thai version. Thai Papaya salad is a perfect combination of sweet, hot, sour, and salt with crisp and crunchy textures. Although I love it, the amount of sugar used in the original is not exactly my favorite part. With all the persimmon pulp I have, I created my version of a dressing.
Dressing
Rice wine vinegar 2 tbsp
Persimmon Pulp (Hachiya) 2/3rd cup
Soya Sauce 1/2 tbsp
Half tsp sea salt
green onion chopped a tbsp
Thai chillis 1-2 sliced finely
Salad
2 cups grated papaya
grated carrot half a cup
One Persian cucumber grated(optional)
One Fuyu persimmon cut in julienne strips
One handful mixed finely chopped herbs(mint, cilantro, and basil)
2 tbsps roasted peanuts coarsely chopped
Mix the ingredients of the dressing making sure they’re well incorporated.
Peel the raw, green papaya. Take out the center seeds. If you have a mandolin slicer, you could cut thin strips and julienne cut the papaya. I just grated mine in a regular grater. Grate the carrot, cucumber, and cut the Fuyu into matchsticks. I simply peeled the Fuyu, cut them in rounds, and then sliced them into strips.
Pour the dressing over the grated items and mix well with spring onions and fresh herbs. Reserve a bit of the chopped green onions and herbs. Just before serving, add the salt and mix. Then, garnish with reserved onions, herbs, and top with roasted peanuts.
I was pleasantly surprised by the way the dish turned out. With zero refined sugar, the sweetness came from the Hachiya pulp in the dressing and the crunchy Fuyu in the chopped mix. I loved how it turned out and hope you like it too. Happy kitchen pursuits!
Hoshigaki Time!
Eleven weeks later, the shriveled persimmons are ready. The dehydrated fruit push out the sugars, and there’s a bloom on them. I was lucky the bloom emerged early. Humidity conditions were right for them. If you don’t see a bloom after 6 weeks, put them in a mason jar to encourage the sugars to activate. You should see them in three to four days.
I could have harvested my persimmons earlier, but I waited just let them hang loose till I was ready.
Sugar Bloom
How does it taste? Is there a difference between the dehydrated version and this prolonged labor of love?
The Hoshigaki tastes divine, with a plush texture and honeyed sweetness. Some may find this a tad over-sweet, but it is a great dessert choice.
There’s no leathery feeling in this method of air-drying versus the dehydrator method. The texture is chewier as well.
I am going to enjoy this with green tea. Happy experimenting, and Sayonara from me to you for now!
The COVID-19 crisis is actually an opportunity if we listen to the birds.
Spending hours at home, I decide to choose stillness over paralysis. I step out to the backyard to shut off all thinking and talk. The whirring sound of the ruby-throated hummingbird as it flies to sip nectar from the flowering salvia, feels like a mantra. These feisty, little creatures literally brush over me, and I am grateful for that trust. I sometimes gently bring out my camera to take a few pictures, but I cannot capture their quick wing movements with it. I just want to be the inconspicuous, nonintrusive human, eavesdropping on my avian friends. Although I am no fly on the wall, I feel included.
I see bluebirds, finches, house wrens, sparrows, and I hear them twitter away. I recede further, as I see them fly, chirp, and socialize. There’s an easy rhythm, a hum in the way moms and dads pack their children lunch, send them to school, get ready for work. Someone has to bring home the worm, and off the worm-winners go to work. There’s literally another world going on if you pay attention. The retirees sit on their perch and gossip, and they chitter chatter, while the love birds swing from tree to tree, cooing at each other.
Suddenly, I can discern that change in the twittering and chirping. The easy buzz, the hum, the banter changes to something frantic. It’s almost like an urgent message. The sounds start from afar, and the message is passed on like a baton. I sense something amiss when suddenly, everything turns quiet. There’s not a cheep, and the whole chattering community has tucked itself in nooks and crannies. Where did the busy world go?
I look up to see them approach. They’re graceful hawks or eagles So that is what it was all about. In that frightening moment, I saw advance warning and communication with camaraderie amidst the varied prey. A small glow warms my heart.
The raptors glide in large, graceful circles, and I watch quietly. After a while, the predators leave the scene without much luck, and the world comes out. The chitter chatter resumes like nothing happened, and it is business as usual. Whew, danger averted! I breathe a sigh of relief.
I decide to take a walk through the pathways meandering my town. I take a narrow path surrounded by bushes three times taller than me on both sides. Suddenly, a loud clapping sound makes me run out of the path. It sounds uncomfortably close. I quickly get out of there and scan the distance.
Perched high on trees, I witness at least a half a dozen turkey vultures. These are New World vultures. Though they do not harm humans, they do vomit as a self defense mechanism. I know they feast on carrion or dead animals, and I skedaddle out of these gourmands’ path.
Along the roof eaves, I spy several bird homes. They will stay there without disturbance or relocation. I’m gratified to see an uptick in non human lives from preCOVID-19 days. It’s comeuppance for us humans to finally take that back seat.
I baby my curry leaf plant. It’s a little over five years old, and this is what it looks like today. I gingerly snip a few off the stems to season my food now and then. It must not have reached puberty I think, for I see no growth spurt despite the years.
So, when our friend asked me if I wanted curry leaves from his friend’s garden, I was only too happy to accept. I expected a small baggie or two, but he surprised me with the mother lode when we physically distanced ourselves through a marvelous hike. The ubiquitous curry leaf seasons Indian cuisine, and it grows like a weed all over the place. In the US however, this is pure gold.
I thought of sharing the leaves. Instead, I will make my mother’s curry powder recipe that goes with everything; bread, rotis, hot rice, yogurt….you name it. If it comes out as good as hers, I will make more to share the finished product.
CURRY LEAF POWDER
Ingredients
1 cup washed and towel-dried curry leaves
¼ cup Bengal gram or split chick pea
A tablespoon whole urad dal
1 tsp coriander seeds
A teaspoon of oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
a lime-sized ball of deseeded tamarind
4 or 5 dried red chillies. I like the wrinkled kind.
Dry coconut slices or grated dry coconut 2 tbsp
Two pinches of asafetida
Salt to taste
A small ball of jaggery or 2 tsp brown sugar
In a large pot, toast the curry leaves till it becomes dry and crushes easily by hand. Powder it in the blender and keep aside.
Next, in the same pot, add a generous teaspoon of oil. I used extra virgin coconut oil. With a low flame, roast the lentils with coriander seeds and cumin. As it turns golden and aromatic, add the asafetida, red chillies, and dry coconut. Roast all of it and add salt at the very end with the jaggery or brown sugar.
Let it all cool, and powder mixture with the dry curry leaves patiently waiting in the blender.
Transfer the good stuff to an airtight container. Enjoy with bread and butter, rotis, hot rice, or yogurt rice. I like to use it as a rub when I roast vegetables or sprinkle it in my soups as seasoning. Create your own possibilities!
I must confess it tastes delicious. I will go ahead with a bigger batch next time. If you want some, you don’t have to curry for my favor, I will share happily. Get here before it’s all gone and remember to curry up!
The people you once defended sleep with no care. They don’t remember you, but mother does. Nights are long, as she tosses and turns in loneliness. She fights to keep the tenderest memories from hurting her the most.
They say you upheld loyalty, where was that loyalty to her?
They say you would never abandon anyone. Why did you abandon us?
They say you lived by duty. Why did you exclude familial duty and us?
So, you won the highest honor, but let me tell you, a piece of metal is a cold, hard bargain for one warm and gentle hug.
If you were the defender, then why are your own defenseless?
Here I am, needing your advice and fabled wisdom. I can only scan through the limited memories I have of you. A pair of unworn combat boots reminds me of the battlefield called life without you.
There is that trace of a lingering scent though. It gets triggered when I see the lofty pines standing so proud. Your encouraging words had to be logged short. They froze midway like my unwiped tears, and I learn to fend for myself. I try hard to recall your voice. I call out to you from the top of my lungs. All I hear is the whispering of leaves in response to the roaring wind.
Some say you were inspirational, and my morale could really use a boost. Where have I not searched for you? I delved deep within the recesses of my mind for you, scoured every nook and cranny. But Dad, you left too early to leave behind a retrievable cache of memories.
Who would have thought? The one who took you away from me instilled the very values you upheld. It says I am that part of you that never quits. I’ll try be that loyal team player, and not just think of our family without you. I’ll toughen up, and one day I will surely realize you had to do what you did to protect freedoms of people who will never know you. I will remain disciplined, while they continue to take freedom for granted. I promise I will honor and guard it like you did. Rest assured, I will learn to respect our sacrifice despite their ignorance.
I am the daughter of the valiant soldier, and I have looked long and hard for you. Finally, I found you and your voice in the Soldier’s Creed. This time I will not let you go.
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