I saved a few pictures because I didn't know whether I'd be able to download pictures and post while E is in PA. Also, I knew I had a dentist appointment and there wouldn't be much to talk about that day.
There are cute little gardens squeezed in everywhere you look.
One of our neighbors lost a glove, but will soon find it.
I've been meaning to write something about where our food comes from. It is surprising to go to the store and see produce from a place that you thought of as desert, or which you didn't think had it together enough to export anything. Or sometimes the food is a different variety, which is interesting. In the picture above are pistachios from Turkey as an example of a different variety. They were smaller and browner than we're used to. They were so good! R described the taste as stronger pistachio. Next to them are tiny dried apricots from Afghanistan.
Some research showed that Afghanistan used to be very big in dried fruit before the 80's. Now most of the fruit stays in the country, partly because it is sun dried and doesn't always meet health standards in other places. These made it through. They were very dry and tough and still had their pits. I think they were so dried that the sugar had concentrated into a generic dried fruit flavor. I wondered if maybe they were supposed to be soaked before use, so I soaked one for a couple of hours. It was easier to eat, but watery. Duh! If these aren't for snacking I imagine they are supposed to be soaked then cooked in a pilaf or something. We'll eat them as is - they're still pretty good, and it was fun to try them!
Where has our food come from lately?
- Tomatoes are in season! They come from southern Italy.
- Melons from Morocco and Tunisia
- Pineapple from Benin (small-ish and shaped like a long teardrop)
- Strawberries (and anything else the East Coast would get from Florida) from Spain
- Dates from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other places, but none as good as from California
- Apples, carrots, and potatoes are always from Switzerland
- Pears are from Switzerland, but sometimes ones from Germany sneak through
- Cucumbers, Spain, and they are half the price here than in the US. Shocking to find anything cheaper!
- Asparagus from the US (white asparagus from Slovakia)
- Corn on the cob is $2 an ear (even in season- we never buy it) lately from Senegal
- Zucchini, peppers from Italy. Italy seems to provide everything that wasn't cheaper from Spain.
- Mango from Burkina Faso.
- Peaches, plums, and out of season stuff we'd get from South America in the US, from South Africa
- Anything that could possibly come from Switzerland is from Switzerland. That is always a huge selling point here. Even restaurants point out what comes from Switzerland in their menus.
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