pomegranates

Pomegrantes are so beautiful and delicious.... And they are here!!

Honeypie had never seen or tasted one, so it was a great introduction into such a neat fall fruit.

Lately we have been reading greek myths and the story of proserpina and pluto fit the part perfectly! Pluto, who was the god of the underworld (hades) falls in love with proserpina (persephone) after cupid shoots him with an arrow. Pluto kidnaps proserpina and takes her down to the underworld. "Once you taste the food of the underworld you cannot leave", says Pluto but Proserpina had already eaten 6 pomegranate seeds ... so, the deal turns out to be that Proserpina may be on earth for 6 months of the year and the other 6 months she must spend with him beneath the earth. And Ceres, the goddess of Harvest grieves for those 6 months Proserpina is not on earth and she makes everything wither and die... (thus the season changes of fall and winter, so the story goes.)

We tasted the Pomegranate and enjoyed all the juice and seed investigation, we even painted with the juice!

With the rest of the fruit, we decided to make pomegranate agar agar "jello"...

(Agar agar is a jelly like substance made completely or extracted from seaweed. Like ordinary gelatin, agar is flavorless and becomes gelatinous when it's dissolved in water, heated, and then cooled. Since gelatin is made from animal tissue, many vegetarians use agar agar as a substitute for gelatin. It gels more firmly than gelatin, and it can even set at room temperature. It is full of protein and contains tons of minerals one would expect from seaweed.)

Great to use for making fruit juice "jello"... a healthier alternative.

Proserpina and pluto

Beautiful !

Look at all those seeds!

Here's our painting with pomegranate juice...

Pomagranate juice agar agar (jello) ... delicious!

To make pomegranate agar you will need:

-7 cups of liquid

(My 7 cups consisted of : 2 cups of pure pomegranate juice, 1 cup of water, 2 cups of apple juice and 2 cups of coconut milk)

coconut milk was a nice addition but as you can see from the picture the coconut tends to separate and rise to the top...(its inverted)

-You will also need 1 tablespoon of agar agar powder which you can find in any asian market or even natural health stores.

-Lightly oil a pan or mold where the "jello" will form.

-Place the seeds of 1 pomegranate scattered on the bottom of your mold.

-In the meantime simmer in a pot on medium heat all of your liquids.

-When they begin to boil, toss in the agar agar and stir until all is dissolved.

-Turn off the heat and cool for 3 minutes.

-Pour all the mixture into your mold with the seeds and wait about 2 hours for it to harden. This can be done in the refrigerator or out.

-Store the in the refrigerator.

~enjoy!