Can you name this mystery food? A friend of my parent's here is a cotton farmer. They also grow all kinds of veggies, and some fruits. Three times a week, Mrs. S sells her goods at the farmer's market. Often, she drops off her leftovers at my mom's house (just a couple of blocks from the market). 2 weeks ago, she dropped these off at my mom's house. Since my mother was busy with a garage sale, she gave them to me and said, "They make great cakes and cookies." I've never seen these. Ever. Had to look up how to eat them. The ripe ones are really s-w-e-e-t! The rest are ripening in a paper sack on my counter. Do you know what they are?

PERSIMMONS!

The settlers of Jamestown described persimmons as "very sweet and pleasant to the taste, and yields on distillation, after fermentation, a quality of spirits." When Captain John Smith was not busy with Pocahontas, he is quoted as saying, "If it be not ripe it will drawe a mans mouth awrie with much torment; but when it is ripe, it is as delicious as an Apricock."

**Update, I should have mentioned that the above information about Jamestown and Capt Smith was from my research on how to cook persimmons.