fuzzy things

1. "envy" edamame, 2. peaches, 3. missing pea, 4. "enchantment" tomatoes, 5. garden forest, 6. kiwi ice cream

I have always kind of liked the texture of things. In junior high, I cut up an old velvet dress and used the fabric to cover my binder for school. My mom was not amused, but it's not like anyone else was going to ever wear the dress again (hehe). This was also before people got really excited over reconstructed craft pieces and creative reuse.

Anyway, I was in the garden recently as the sun was about to set and the light hit the tomato plant just in the right way so that the entire thing looked like it was flocked with green velvet. It was very pretty, but then kind of alarming. I mean, fuzzy is nice for clothing and small animals like puppies, but who knew that tomatoes were fuzzy?

I've been battling fuzzy plants in the garden for a long time. My neighbor on one side has this ornamental grass with wispy things that have grown over the fence and seem to always be poking me in the face or the back. Meanwhile, my neighbors on the other side have some sunflowers that swat me in the face and back with their huge hairy leaves each time I walk down the garden path. They've recently cut back some of the leaves... thanks, gardening neighbors!

Some fuzzy foods are ok, like peaches or string beans. Edamame is only sort of acceptable because you don't eat the outer, hairy pod. I have a friend who eats the skin of kiwis. Given recent excitement over tiny hardy kiwis that are small and hairless, I think most people draw the line before that.

The other day, I became unexpectedly obsessed with making kiwi ice cream popscicles. Homemade ice cream tends to freeze very solid and requires some time to soften up before scooping. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am not really into waiting to eat ice cream once the mood has hit, so I figured that the ice cream popsicle would be the perfect solution. Back in the 80s, everyone used to have those popscicle trays from Tupperware and now there are the Ikea versions as well. Since I didn't have any immediate invitations to a tupperware party, I figured that while my ice cream batter chilled in the refrigerator, I would run over to Ikea. That didn't turn out very well, since they were sold out and I ended up buying a two planters and some heart shaped ice cube trays, but no popsicle molds. I tried putting some ice cream into the heart ice cube tray, but they didn't unmold very well. The extra large ice cubes (I think they're designed for some sort of booze) ended up making the best almost-popsicle.