My Darling Clementine

I feel so ashamed that I used to be in the dark. I mean, I actually used to eat tangerines. I know, it’s shameful, but I had not yet tasted the sweet manna of clementines. Clementines are a particular variety of mandarin orange, and they are so wonderfully sweet and juicy that I’m salivating just thinking about them. They’re really easy to peel, too. If you have never had one, I insist that you drop whatever you’re doing and head off to the store to find them. I know it sounds strange, especially if you’ve had canned mandarin oranges, which are pretty terrible to eat plain. But you won’t regret it.

One other fruit that might be even more delectable than clementines is the Asian pear. You occasionally see them around here, but they’re about the size of an apple. The pears they grow in Korea are the size of a grapefruit. They have the delicious taste of a pear and the crisp flesh of an apple. You can sometimes find them in Asian markets; they’re not quite as good when they’ve had to travel so far, but they’re still worth trying.