There was a moment of poignant delight at the Heart of the City Farmers’ Market last Sunday when i swooped upon Glenn Tanimoto’s booth in hopes of finding plenty of kiwi fruit. To my delight, i could see from thirty paces that he had piles of them.
Oh, but my delight was increased enormously when i pulled up in front of the booth and he exclaimed, “You blindsided me!” as his wife burst into laughter.
See, the week before i’d given him a jar of Manzana chiles i’d got from Yerena and pickled. Unfamiliar with the Manzana chile and assuming it was some kind of innocuous sweet chile, he took a big bite out of the top one. And oh, was he ever surprised to discover that they are at least as hot as Habañeros.
I just live for bringing little surprises to my friends, although i’d assumed he’d know they were hot since i’d given him pickled hot peppers before.
And speaking of little surprises, here’s a Florescencia gasmainia that i spotted while i was out on a walk in Santa Rosa with Gloria on New Years’ Day.