Pears and Pomegranates

I love this time of year for many reasons, of course, but one of the reasons is all the surprises I receive in the mail or by other delivery services. Yesterday, I was totally surprised by two packages. The first was a gift from my bank, one of the new institutions I have opened accounts with recently. I thought the days of giving out toasters with every new account were over, especially in this economy, so I was very pleasantly surprised to receive a box of Harry & David's famous Royal Riviera Pears courtesy of Farmers and Merchants Bank plus a gift card towards a future purchase.

Now pears are not a low-carb fruit. Each one of these beauties delivers 31g of carbs, so when you are trying to keep your daily total between 30 and 60g, just one pear will do it for you. So last night I treated myself to half a pear, and an under ripe one at that (apples and pears are lower in carbs when green or under ripe). Just by chance I had purchased some delicious raw milk Pt. Reyes blue cheese and a bottle of pomegranate wine earlier in the day. I had the makings of a fantastic dessert.

Pomegranates and especially wine made from pomegranates have been found to be very high in anti-oxidants, containing three times more than the same amount of red wine or green tea. I had purchased The Republic of Tea's Pomegranate Green Tea earlier this year when it was available. Apparently, it is a seasonal thing. But my favorite way to consume pomegranates is to buy the fresh fruit and dig out the arils myself. It is a tedious job and the red juice splatters everywhere, but the arils don't keep very long out of the fruit. My son told me that there used to be a pomegranate bush on his way to school and that he and his friends would pick the fruit and eat it like an apple while they walked. I asked didn't the juice go everywhere and turn their hands red? He said yes, but they didn't care.

The wine came from Armenia and it turned out to be a good dessert wine. It was very reminiscent of blackberries and cherries although not very sweet. It is 20% alcohol, and 10 to 15 fruit are needed to make a gallon of wine. Something different.

The other surprise was a package from my cousin who shares my genealogy passion. She inherited boxes of stuff from our great aunt who also was very interested in our family history. Until now my cousin has not had time to go through the boxes, but a recent move has forced her to take a peek. What she sent me was a photograph of my father taken at the time of his high school graduation. My father died ten years ago and I had never seen this photo before. Now I can clearly see the resemblance between my father and my younger brother and my son. They all even sport the same hairstyle! It brought tears to my eyes and warmth to my heart. What a treasure!