Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, October 7, 2017

Mountain View News Saturday, October 7, 2017 3 Mountain View News Saturday, October 7, 2017 3 
Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side

by Deanne Davis 


“I’ll miss you most of all, Scarecrow!” L. Frank BaumThe Wizard of Oz 

Being a connoisseur of scarecrows, when I cameacross this lovely couple, I had to stop and take theirpicture for posterity. Now I ask you, are these guys notincredible!! 

It’s officially Fall and persimmons are appearinghere, there, and everywhere and I, being a persimmonlover, want to share my persimmon story with you,
dear friends and neighbors..

Some years ago, my Dad lived on four acres of limetrees in Valley Center, a community up in the hillsbetween Temecula and San Diego. As Valley Centeris not far from the Mexican border, my Dad alwayshad plenty of guys who were looking for work to helphim with the trees. He would practice his Spanish withthem, give them food, spend time talking to themabout their lives in the country they had just left andwhat they hoped to find in America. My Dad loved totalk to people, any kind of people. Many of these guyswho wandered into his yard were from Guatemala,
which is a very long way from the border. They toldtales of murder, desperate hunger, desperadoes waitingto rob these migrants and were beyond grateful for afew sandwiches and a bottle of water. But I digress...wewere talking about persimmons.

While he still lived in Valley Center, before his wifepassed away and he moved to Ajijic, Mexico himself,
he had an extremely prolific Hachiya persimmon tree.
I would go down for the day to visit them and he wouldgive me a big bag of persimmons. I would send someto my cousin, Cindy, eat a lot of them and occasionallymake persimmon cookies. I’m still mad that he soldthat lovely home and moved to Mexico. He’s been inheaven for a while now, but I treasure the memories 
of those days in Valley Center, Dad’s persimmons, andthe delicious champagne we occasionally sampledtogether.

At one time a persimmon tree grew down in thelower reaches of our yard. It sat down there doingits job for years and then one day, apparently tired oflife, it broke in two. What a disappointment, as thefruit was delicious and I had finally learned how to dosomething with them, other than just wait greedily forthem to ripen and devour them.

Fortunately, it was overlooked. No one was in a 
hurry to tear it away from the last shred of stump thetree was still clinging to. For a while, I forgot about itand then one morning walked down to look at it, anddiscovered there was more fruit than I could count! 
Hard and pale orange, but they would ripen beautifullyby November. Persimmon cookies!

One windstorm too many separated the tenuouscoupling between branch and root and that was thatSome years later I planted a persimmon down there inthe lower region, a Fuyu. I have never had even onepersimmon from that tree. It’s really in a bad spot,
forced to fend for itself as far as water and sunlight areconcerned. If it ever bears anything, the squirrels get to 

them first. 

Now that our persimmon tree is gone, Dad and hispersimmon tree are no longer within my reach, I looklongingly at the few persimmon trees in our area andconsider introducing myself to their owners, somewhatlike Oliver Twist, “Please sir, could I have some more?” 

Persimmon Cookies 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees 

1 tsp. baking soda1 cup persimmon pulp (Hachiya persimmons, notFuyu)
2 cups flour
. tsp. cinnamon (I like cinnamon so my tsp. tends tobe heaping)
. tsp. ground cloves
. tsp. nutmeg
. tsp. salt
. cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar1 egg 

You can also add a cup of chopped nuts, raisins,
chocolate chips or some of all three.

Puree persimmon pulp in blender. If you cut the topoff the persimmon and squeeze the ripe fruit over theblender, it will spill right out. Then dissolve the sodainto the pulp. It will become very thick, like pudding.

Blend together flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg andsalt. 

Stir in dry ingredients, persimmon-soda mixtureand raisins/nuts/chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto well-greased cookie 
sheets. 

Bake at 350 10-12 minutes. Makes 5-6 dozen. These 
freeze well. 

Drop a dozen in a Ziploc bag and give them tosomeone you love, or someone who needs to be loved.
Or hide them in your freezer and eat them all yourselfone rainy day (I use that term laughingly as SouthernCalifornians get a spoonful of rain infrequently) inFebruary.

Watch for scarecrows! They’re popping up 
everywhere!

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Blog: www.authordeanne.com 

“A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”
is now available at Sunrise Books + Coffee at Pasadena 
First Church of the Nazarene – just down the road onSierra Madre Blvd. 

Kindle readers, give yourself the gift of the EmmaGainsworth Adventures: 
“Just Dessert: A Fall Fantasy” – “The IntergalacticPumpkin Battle” – “The Lost Amulets” 
They’re on Amazon.com on my book page!
Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@
playwrightdd 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com