Extra Credit Questions

[Laurie Verge]

Tom,

Our family's recipe for persminnon pudding is very much like the old English plum pudding. It is steamed and more like a cake. The important thing is to make sure that the persimmons have been touched by frost so that they are sweeter. I was also flabbergasted when I first saw the huge persimmons that are now sold in grocery stores. The ones native to Maryland are smaller than apricots.

The Huntt house that I cite so much has a huge persimmon tree that stands about forty-feet tall. Years ago, my Persian cat snuck out of the house and decided to climb to the top of the tree. Of course, he did not come down. I will not repeat the words that my father used in "encouraging" that cat's descent.

I would bet that persimmons became a staple in some Civil War soldiers' diets.