Friday, 14 October 2011

Ground Cherries & Tiger's Birthday!

Ever heard of ground cherries before? Me neither, until I spotted the seeds for them in a garden catalog this past spring. The flavor sounded intriguing, a cross between pineapple and citrus flavor, so I ordered some seeds and grew them this past summer. After a long, long wait, and being a little nervous about poisoning myself eating an unripe one, I finally tasted my first ground cherry! Nope, couldn't describe the flavor but not pineapple...or orange. I had to get a second opinion, and my son figured it out: a cross between a pear and a tomato. Ok, so now what to do with them? Recipes are few and far between for ground cherries! First of all I made a pie, it tasted similar to apple. Next  I cooked up a sauce and made a spice cake. Between the two, I preferred the pie, but then again, I love pies.  Not planning on growing them next year, but it's always  fun to try new plants in the garden.  Our cat turned 12 yesterday, so I made cupcakes in her honor.
Ground Cherries in their husks
Ground Cherries
Unripe Ground Cherry...Don't eat!
 
Ground Cherry Sauce
One Last Gladiola
Yarrow
Dahlia
Our Kitty on her 12th Birthday
Yum!