The good news is that it appears I’m getting over those two days of nasty congestion, but the bad news is that I didn’t manage to get over it before that little turkey trot last night.

I’m very glad that I ran with friends, or else I really think I wouldn’t have been motivated to finish at all. I ended up finished in 29:22, definitely a personal worst. When I realized how awful I was going to feel the whole time, I really just concentrated on the fact that I was truly thankful that I was capable of running at all. There’s always next time, and this race helped to raise a lot of money for cancer patients in Lafayette.

After the race we grabbed some mediocre red beans and rice and Powerade, then hightailed it out of that place.

I’m hoping I continue to get better by this 5 miler on Saturday. Last night was somewhere around 75 degrees, and my body produced more sweat than is acceptable at the end of November. By Saturday morning it’s going to be in the low 30s – that’s Louisiana for you!

To look on the positive side, I did have a delicious breakfast this morning!

A little over a month ago I bought some cranberries with no idea how to use them. I ended up just sticking them in the freezer with the confidence that a good recipe would come along sooner or later.

Then yesterday it did: Jenna’s Cranberry Walnut Orange Bread. I had barely thrown down my book sack yesterday before I was digging through the pantry for ingredients. Since we didn’t have walnuts, I subbed pecans fresh from the tree in my sister’s backyard and it turned out absolutely delicious.

This morning, I decided to take her advice and use this bread for french toast. Lord help me, I think a new favorite breakfast has been born.

I’m hoping that between this and a big glass of orange juice, I’ll be feeling normal in no time. Thanks for the recipe and great idea Jenna!

Here’s what my Granny’s persimmon tree looked like at the very beginning of August. The fruit was hard as a rock and green as her thumb, and it took months of patience for them to be edible.

Here are three persimmons from that very tree, perfectly ripe. When ready to be eaten, the fruit turns a deep orange color and gets very, very soft. If you think they feel too soft, that probably means they’re perfect.

I think persimmons are some of the most naturally sweet fruits out there, and I wait for these all year. Once they’re finally ripe, here’s how you can peel and eat them.

First off, the stem of a ripe persimmon should pull right off without any problems.

Once you’ve pulled off the stem, there should be a pretty good sized hole in the top. From this hole, you can simply pull the fruit apart into halves, revealing the pulp.

At least I assume you would call that stuff pulp. Heck, all I know is that it’s good fer eatin!

Now since the persimmon is nice and soft, you should be able to slide a spoon right between the skin and the pulp (?). This is just like you would do to an avocado, except probably easier.

Once you’ve done the first half, go ahead and do the second half. Now you’ve got some skin to throw away and some pulp to eat. But just how are you going to eat it?

Personally, I like it any and every way. Sometimes I just gobble it up like that. Sometimes I mix it with some greek yogurt and pomegranate arils. That’s especially delicious if the persimmon was super ripe; it can be whipped right into the yogurt. Persimmon is also good stirred into oatmeal, used in a salad, or included in baked goods. Some folks like them best whole, skin and all.

However you choose to enjoy them, persimmon season is just another one of the reasons why fall is the bomb.com.

Have you ever tried a persimmon? How do you like to eat them? Do share!