A pomegranate and some sill

I've wanted to see what pomegranates are all about ever since I taught an annual Greek and Roman mythology unit. That's where I first heard of pomegranates: Demeter's daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped and taken to the Underworld by Hades. She was rescued, but not before she'd eaten a few pomegranate seeds. Because she ate four or six seeds (versions of the myth differ), she has to return to the Underworld to be with Hades that number of months each year. During the months Persephone is gone, her mother Demeter grieves, neglecting the earth and causing winter to arrive. So that's the story, but what about the fruit?

I finally bought a pomegranate last week, and I was wise enough to snag a pamphlet with directions for opening it.

It quickly became a messier job than I'd hoped for, but my, the seeds are sweet and delicious! I was surprised to discover the pomegranate was packed full of seeds.

They're all gone now: I put some in our daily smoothies, along with the frozen blueberries, yogurt, milk, ground flax seed, wheat germ, oat bran, and psyllium. Delicious.

And then there's the inlagd sill. (I don't recommend eating pomegranate seeds and sill together!)

The salt herring arrived from northern Maine on Monday, and before I knew it, I was doing Ken's job for him. He usually makes the sill, but I could see he was busy with hauling lumber he'd had sawed from trees he'd cut out back, so I decided I could take over the sill-making task.

Ken said the sill was delicious, but then the next morning he pointed out that I'd forgotten to add the chopped onions! I quickly chopped a large onion and added it to the dish of sill. No harm done, but I do wonder why I didn't notice the missing onions myself.

Next on my list: making a tiramisu. That'll happen on Thursday.