Pomegranates are native to the Himalayas and India. Since Biblical times, they have been cultivated and naturalized over the entire Mediterranean region. Pomegranates flourish in the drier parts of Southeast Asia, Malaya, East Indies and Africa. The fruit was first introduced to California by Spanish settlers in 1769. Since the pomegranate prefers a semi-arid and mild temperature to a subtropical climate, they are grown primarily in California and Arizona. Some are even grown in greenhouses.

The character of the fruit is quite different from most common cultivated fruits. Pomegranates grow on small trees or shrubs, which typically reach a height of about 12 to 16 feet. The tree has bright scarlet flowers with 5 to 8 petals. They self-pollinate, and are additionally cross-pollinated by insects. Some species of pomegranate have survived up to 200 years, however, fruit production usually declines after 15 years.

This funny fruit will probably outlast most common edible fruits of today, even the genetically altered ones. Most pomegranates are 2 1/2 to 5 inches across in size, and have a leathery skin or rind with a yellow to maroon color. Within the fruit’s jacket are a multitude of juice-filled sacs surrounding seeds. Before the appearance of modern manufactured beverages, the juice was considered to be a desirable refreshment by those who lived in arid regions along the Mediterranean. Its essence is used to make grenadine, a popular component of many modern cocktails. It has also been used in various medicinal forms throughout time.

There are other interesting facts about this ancient fruit. In Thailand, a branch from the pomegranate tree dipped in water is used to spray attendees returing from a funeral, a ritual which was though to free one of any evil spirits that may otherwise follow you. From 14bc to 135bc, the image of three pomegranates appeared on a silver coin used in Jerusalem. The image of the pomegranate was also used in the building of Solomon’s temple as noted in I Kings 7:18

Today, the pomegranate is gaining new acceptance not for its impressive historical virtues but its amazing anti-oxidant value. Besides being placed into many vitamin supplements, its juice is growing in popularity. For good reason! Compared to an orange, the pomegranate possesses nutritional superiority. Trader Joe’s or local health food stores have many versions of its tangy juice. If you thought that the cranberry has a pucker, your lips are in for a new surprise at your first sip of this Biblical berry.

For those who own a tree:
Your fruit will be ripe when the fruit develops a distinctive color and makes a metallic sound. If picked too late the fruit will crack. The apple and the pomegranate have a similar shelf life and can last up to 7 months in cool temperatures. While the sacs can be twisted out and eaten as is, there are several ways in which the juice can be extracted: by a wire press or warming the fruit and rolling it in between your hands to soften. Besides drinking the juice, it can be used for jelly, sorbets and hot or cold sauces. Oddly enough, as the fruit ages, it becomes juicier and stronger in flavor.

Unfortunately, living in an age when consumers expect everything instantly and properly spiked with ample sugar, this amazing fruit most often ends up in a Martha Stewart fruit bowl with a gourds and dried twigs design painted with paints from Ms Stewart’s latest craft corner at the big K. Of course, a few truly adventurous souls will realize that this funny ancient fruit has some amazing value and they will take the time to test its pleasing pucker power!

As we reluctantly watch the exit of summer, Mother Earth is releasing her horde of crisp multi-colored apples. They seem to be spilling over everywhere from the Farmer’s Market, along the roadsides, and brought by in shopping bags by friendly neighbors.

• Apples are cheap, they are plentiful and packed with a nutritional punch. Heathful pectin is abundant in apples, additionally, they are low calories, have high amounts of potassium, and contain only 16 grams of fruit sugars (in a medium size apple). All the more reason you should be chopping one of these delightful spheres of fiber. Unlike many other fruits that demand a tedious peeling, the apple is ready to go without any special preparation. Their versatility is boundless.
• Having lived several years in Santa Rosa, I visited Sebastopol – the self-titled “Apple Capitol of the World” – many times. Sebastopol holds two festivals celebrating the apple each year, in April, the “Apple Blossom Festival”, and in August, the “Gravenstein Apple Fair”.
• Johnny Appleseed was a nickname for the real John Chapman, who spent most of his life traveling and planting his beloved trees throughout the Allegheny Valley to the territories of Ohio and Indiana. He was a gentle and religious man.
• Apples are steeped in tradition and folklore. Apple pie, Apple cider, Applejack and “apples for teacher", just to name a few.
  Apples play prominent roles in our cultural history: one only has to think of Newton and his discovery of gravity, Snow White and her evil stepmother or Eve in the garden chomping on this source of great temptation.
• Apples have a long history of being adulterated with alcohol. Before prohibition Apple Brandy was popular and also referred to as Apple Jack and Jersey Lightning. Who could forget an 1800s-era political slogan like “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!”? William Harrison promised “log cabins and cider” This cider was hard. During long political speeches, the jug was passed among potential voters.
• The longest lasting symbol of the apple lies in New York City. How did the pet name of the “Big Apple” attach itself to New York City and remain so for 75 years? It is now thought likely that the term originated in horse-racing circles and was first popularized by John J. Fitz Gerald, although there are numerous legends surrounding the origin.

Just like every good thing that nature has provided to people, we’ve managed to screw the apple up. In the fall, we like to dip these crisp gems of natural goodness with caramel coating. Thousands of commercial pie companies place them inside a
pastry shell half – cooked and heavily sugared, especially during the holidays. For preservation purposes many are coated with wax. Some are stored a little too long and taste mealy. All the above seems to be part of living in a modern automated society. Regardless, the apple cannot be changed and it promises a savory flesh within its protective skin. Nutritional data on apples and other fruits is available at www.bestapples.com.

Here are some easy rules and suggestions for getting all the benefits from this wondrous fruit phenomenon. If possible, buy from a grower’s or farmer’s market where prices are usually most reasonable. At home, store them is cold place like the bottom of the refrigerator (please take them out of any plastic bag). Place a few in a place where the family spends time. Keep apples handy when potato chip and cookie cravings become unbearable. Wash, quarter, and remove the seeds of apples before putting them in kids’ lunches – this will keep the school garbage can from being filled with half-eaten apples. It’s even possible to freeze sliced and seasoned slices for busy future days.

Learn to make bottomless apple pies: Recruit family members to peel and cut into small pieces enough apples to fill
a 10 inch glass Pyrex or even a long glass lasagna pan. Add only 3 tablespoons of sugar along with teaspoon of cinnamon and 2-3 tablespoons of flour.Sprinkle over apples and cover with thin pie crust. If you wish, piecrust is available in the freezer case, or make your own (look inside the Joy of Cooking for crust-making directions). Apples are already sweet, so the addition of minimal
sugar is meant only to provide a base for the cinnamon and flour to adhere to. Here the true sweetness of the apple brims in glory.

Homemade apple sauce is a good way to utilize those apples waning in flavor: add a little lemon, about ¼ cup of water, place in a double-boiler. Cook down gradually, the use of a double-boiler will prevent the apple sauce from scorching.

Recently I’ve revisited the Waldorf Apple Salad. The original recipe was retuned for a client, who wanted to introduce more walnuts and celery into her diet. I cut up lots of apples and combined them with celery bits and dried softened cranberries. To this mixture I then added the walnuts. Use a simple dressing of canned cranberry sauce and equal yogurt, and if desired, a bit of low-calorie sour cream. Easy is the key word. By keeping routines simple you will see in time that preparing an apple pie can be a piece of cake.

BAG YOUR DINNER: In the time it takes to drive to your local fast food outlet, dinner could well be on its way to the supper table. Roasting your own meats is so simple and easy that it should be emphasized in every high school economics class. A simple cooking bag made from a few food wrap companies eliminates the mess caused by ordinary roasting. It’s also a great idea for those who dine alone. Choose any meat or poultry and place seasoning on top of meat. Add some carrots, potatoes and any other veggies. Adding a small amount of water will help create some great broth. It is wise to make a few puncture holes to prevent the bag from ballooning. Check the cooking time of your choice of meat as roasting times vary. Besides retention of vitamins, the dinner will moist and be teeming with natural flavors. So remember it is definitely a “Dinner for Dummies” and you didn’t even have to buy a book!

HOME MADE PENICILLIN: Well it does not come out of a test tube or even from your local health food store, but it could serve a similar purpose. It is time for you to load up your freezer with home-made broth. Turkey wings are probably the cheapest way to make a soup starter. Chicken wings are also good but a little more expensive. Use beef neck bones for a brown broth. Add any orphan veggies that are still firm but that have lost their youthful looks or appeal; they are perfect for the soup pot. Simmer until cooked. Once you have made your broth, place in plastic pint containers (remember to leave ample space for liquid expansion), label clearly and date. Its best to write with marker pens as paper labels sometimes fall off or deteriorate. A word of caution when removing from the freezer: DO NOT THAW in plastic containers. I recommend placing the frozen carton in hot water for a few minutes; it will quickly separate from the sides of the container. Then, place frozen liquid in a microwavable bowl or container. You will have penicillin power on hand that is easier to get than running to the store for a box of flu medicine. Broth is also a great winter warm-up beverage for any time of day! If you make your own broth, the cost is usually less than 35cts a carton.

HALLOWEEN TREATS: Giving away candy on Halloween is like handing guaranteed future patients to your local dentist. Besides, now there is also the added fear that too much sugar, and therefore also candy, is contributing to type 2 diabetes. I am the first to be guilty of having allowed my children to scour the neighborhood resulting in them to come home with enough sweets to open a candy store. Now, some 30 years later, I realize how I was taken in by the candy and movie moguls who use their icons on every candy products imaginable. So, instead of perpetuating this dreadful tradition, break free and give out healthy snacks. Buy some big bags of apples or buy several types of nuts. I have found that every kid in the world loves pistachios. So please just go nuts with some real natural treats! A lot of moms will have that much less candy to discard!

I just read that after eight years and millions of dollars scientists have managed to created the food technology of the century. Yes, all you finicky eaters who must have your white mushy bread (God forbid you try the goodness of real whole grains) will now be able to have your white bread with a few whole grain specks tossed in.

This amazing new method of adding inconspicuous ingredients was developed by ConAgra Foods Inc. The process will be used to give the illusion of nutrition to junk food. I wouldn’t be surprised if its presence will even be touted in donuts. They created an entire new food group called Ultra White Whole Wheat. It has been designed to meet the requirements of the USDA’s new food pyramid. You can get half of your daily supply of whole wheat with this new bogus bread product. It might just take the place of low-carb products as the year unfolds.

With the exodus of the low-carb diet foods, companies now need to replace those vacant shelves with new products. Atkins is gone and his company is now bankrupt. Americans are ready for the next big food item. Will hi-fiber become the new messiah for the food industry?

They are introducing products with Ultra White Whole Wheat in TV commercials using encouraging words like “It’s so good. It’s so soft. But it is actually whole wheat bread. Imagine wheat bread made for white bread fans.” Well, actually, it’s only 30% whole grain. The bread is fundamentally the same but now carries the blessings of the USDA! If there is a nutrition problem in our country, leave it to our government to solve the problem by keeping the American public in the dark about what the real truth is behind the advertising.

Tammy Yamon, the Director of Nutritional Services for Omaha Public Schools has stated that children have an aversion to eating anything brown or with seeds. She thinks adding extra fiber into food products will make it easier for youths to follow the guideline of consuming 3 daily whole grain foods. Of course, schools in America have students who are served real grains from a very early age before their finicky behavior sets in. However, you can be sure that Tammy Yamon has signed up to purchase ConAgra’s Ultra grains for some 2,600 school districts.

Many whole wheat consumers are not so pleased with this innovation. They believe that eating the real thing is actually more satisfying to the stomach. When you eat a sandwich with a two solid slices of 100 % whole wheat you feel more satiated, whereas eating a slice of white bread with Ultra White Whole Wheat is more like eating Styrofoam with sprinkles of wheat dust intermingled. Besides you mustn’t forget that they add just enough high-fructose corn syrup to camouflage the wheat dust.
Others are equally unhappy with this innovation because obesity in adults and children is still currently a major concern. Classifying these products as whole grain is a marketing tool that will send mixed messages to responsible parents. Many nutritionists and doctors share this same outlook regrading fiber-fortified foods, as they further complicate meeting the food pyramid guidelines. I say we should just skip bogus wheat bread and learn to enjoy the real thing. Your colon and the wheat growers of America will both be grateful for your choice!

General Foods who offers whole grains in their products is petitioning the government to define whole grains according to Kim Rawlings a spokesman for the FDA. According to the FDA guidelines such products must not be made with whole wheat flour in order to be labeled as “whole wheat.’ Whether any new rulings will hurt the new bogus white wheat flour bakery campaign is yet to be seen. Where I come from, we like to a call a spade a spade and notably we like to think of whole wheat bread is made from real grains. If you looking to our government to define the discrepancy between fool’s gold and the real nuggets you may be in for a long wait.

In June 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) held a consultation on the health implications of acrylamide presence in food. The subject has been mentioned before in journals and warnings have previously been issued, but the fast food industry has shown little signs of changing their position until their lack of response began to affect the bottom line.

It took many caring scientists several years to get the pesticide DDT banned, even after the book “Silent Spring” ominously forecast the death of all birds from DDT. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the most damning evidence that cigarettes caused cancer was suppressed for years, and, thus, many died without ever knowing the cause of their demise. Giant conglomerates care little that their products might bring harm to others, and when they can no longer ignore it, they down-play any ill-effects that may occur.

The WHO has always been concerned about acrylamide and they established an international network to publicize the presence of acrylamide in food. While small amounts of acrylamide appear to be safe, one food that is of great concern is french fries. Carcinogens are created by the potato being fried at excessive heat; one can think of French fries as an edible cigarette! Acrylamide can be found in foods other than French Fries; even potato chips have acrylamide, although it is present at a much lower percentage. A taco shell can have 1 or 2 micrograms. Many institutions and businesses are being poor role models by encouraging us to consume of such unhealthy and dangerous products. For instance, the state fair promotes deep-fried Twinkies and corn dogs washed down with what is essentially sugar water. Local TV stations and even radio stations joke about eating junk food. Once children know that wholesome foods are not promoted on TV, in movies, or by their role models, they have difficulty eating them.

California Senator Bill Lockyer has filed a lawsuit against nine manufacturers of potato chips and French fries. He is seeking a court order that will require them to warn consumers of the carcinogenic substance acrylamide that can be found in these products. There is currently a law called Proposition 65 which requires companies to notify consumers of any potentially dangerous toxin in their foods. The WHO and other scientific affiliates have confirmed the danger associated with acrylamide.
One of their many findings is that women who consumed large amounts of French fries as teens have a higher risk of getting breast cancer in their later years. The World Health Organization also claimed that barbecued meat often showed presence of carcinogens in the portions that had direct contact with the grill. These carcinogens are created when melted fat reaches hot coals and its smoke is then absorbed by the meat. Your home cooked French fries will likewise be coated with the same chemical, acrylamide. I therefore recommend that rather than French fries, you prepare your potatoes in the following manner: Cut each potato into strips or wedges. Cover them with oil & seasonings and bake them at 375 degrees in the oven. Bon Appétit.

If you are interested in learning more about acrylamides, I have aggregated many sources on this subject.

Firstly, Senator Lockyer has his own website with numerous resources. Secondly, the FDA should have information on the subject. And lastly, the Center of Science in the Public has been on top of this matter for the past 3 years. Here are their recommended websites:

http://www.cspinet.org/new/200206271.html
http:/www.cspinet.org/new/200206251.html : Charts on acrylamide
http://www.slv.se/engdefault.asp : Report from Sweden with recommendations
http://www.who.int/inf/en/pr-2002-51.html : News release from World Health Organization