Tuesday, March 27, 2007

THE FLORIDA FEEDBAG

Kumquat Man
Eli shows off some home-grown kumquats.

One nice thing about Florida: You can live off the fat of the land.

Sure, there are restaurants and supermarkets a-plenty...but when you want to be Mr. Eater of Local Produce, you need never go hungry.

There are lemons...

Lemons

There are kumquats...

Kumquats

Tasty little fellers. You eat the whole fruit, rind and all, spitting out two or three small seeds. Eli and Toni had so many of these suckers growing in their back yard, they ended up canning a few dozen bottles full of ’em.

There are loquats...

Loquats

Loquats have a mild apricot-like flavor. As with kumquats, you eat the fruit, rind and all. But unlike kumquats, these babies have gigantic, impressive-looking seeds, suitable for stringing necklaces.

Strawberry Shortcake

Sunday night, we had Toni’s homemade strawberry shortcake. Fresh Plant City strawberries, marinated in a little syrup from some of her home-canned kumquats, served over lemon pound cake and topped with whipped cream. Reddi-Wip™? Not on your tintype, buddy. With Toni, it’s all homemade, all natural.

But the bestest treat of all didn’t even come from Florida...

Curry Chips
The latest taste sensation from Canada.

It came in a mysterious box that showed up on our doorstep last week, a gift from Chickie Carmarthen. Curry flavored potato chips!

You can’t get ’em here in the States. No, they’re only made North of the Border...giving us, along with poutine, donairs, and Tim Horton’s coffee, yet another reason to love our friends who live in the Land of the Maple Leaf!

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