It’s one of the oldest fruits know to man. They spread from Persia to China and on around the world. Chaucer, Shakespeare and Homer have all extolled the virtues of…pomegranates. The pomegranate reached American shores by way of the Spanish conquistadors and the French named their hand-tossed explosive a grenade after the seed-scattering properties of the pomegranate fruit. It’s National Pomegranate Month and I commented the other day how I never got into them because, well, they’re fussy. I remember as a kid trying to pick the seeds out of the intricate little package they come in (an artful container, Mom Nature) like my friends. I’m too much of a “big gulp” kinda person. Give me the things I seek in big bites. My wife calls it the “Scorpio” in me. So it’s with thanks that I pass on some suggestions from Lisa and Ted. Lisa wrote “I recently learned how to open them w/out a lot of fuss:Cut them in 1/2, squeeze most of the seeds & juice into a bowl then w/the back of a wooden spoon hit the outside of the pomegranate and the seeds fall out into the bowl! If you mix them w/mangos, blueberries & a squeeze of lime juice it is a high in anti-oxidant fruit salad not to mention really delicious!” And Ted wrote: ” I press the half cut pomes with a citrus juice press. Yum, yum, just juice and no seeds. You”ll be surprised at the amount of juice one gets from one pome.” Thanks for the tips you two.

On his way back from a early morning visit to the gym, Dave from San Carlos called in with the answer to the Commuter Quiz. I’d asked about something that is increasingly necessary for Americans on the go. They were only for the privileged and well to do in Middle ages. One of the earliest from our country was signed in Paris by Ben Franklin and John Adams. It’s the passport. Dave is off to The Rakes Progress from SF Opera. Good luck tomorrow.

For the Blind Date I played music from the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius written in the year Russia responded to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country. The year was 1900.

Thanks for listening.

hs