Quince..ever had it?

While cleaning up our yard for the winter, I came across a huge bush in our yard that had this strange hard fruit on it. I googled it and found out we had a Japanese Flowering Quince bush. It was late at night and after reading about it, I was so excited about the prospect of making jelly that I was ready to go out in the dark and pick them all off the ground.

In the morning I was able to get pounds of them. It is a really huge bush. They are not the most attractive fruit, but their smell is sweet filled perfume. There are oodles of recipes on-line and I chose Martha Stewarts Quince Jelly with Star Anise.

Most of the pectin (thickening agent) is in the seeds and skins, so it all goes into the pot.

I also made Membrillo

And finally Quince Pound Cake, which was just delicious.

I also just adore the history of this fruit taken from Wikipedia:

Cultivation of quince may have preceded apple culture, and many references translated to "apple", such as the fruit in Song of Solomon, may have been a quince. Among the ancient Greeks, the quince was a ritual offering at weddings, for it had come from the Levant with Aphroditeand remained sacred to her. Plutarch reported that a Greek bride would nibble a quince to perfume her kiss before entering the bridal chamber, "in order that the first greeting may not be disagreeable nor unpleasant" (Roman Questions 3.65). It was a quince that Paris awarded Aphrodite. It was for a golden quince that Atalanta paused in her race. The Romans also used quinces; the Roman cookbook of Apicius gives recipes for stewing quince with honey, and even combining them, unexpectedly, with leeks. Pliny the Elder mentioned the one variety, Mulvian quince, that could be eaten raw. Columella mentioned three, one of which, the "golden apple" that may have been the paradisal fruit in theGarden of the Hesperides, has donated its name in Italian to the tomato, pomodoro

On another note, my dad had a small heart attack over the Thanksgiving holiday and is on the mend. As soon as I finish this post I will go visit him for the day.

I hope to do more blogging this month...time will tell.