Here's Jeff. . .

Fruit Friends - I've been taking a break from writing the weekly newsletter and wanted to formally introduce Jeff Koelemay who has been filling in for me. In the spirit of the FruitGuys family, Jeff is not only a longtime employee who has done everything from packing and delivering fruit to managing our distribution system and customer service, but he is also a budding writer who is known in FruitGuys lore as the originator of the statement: "The angelcot has a texture as soft as mouse feet on freshly fallen snow."

As always, feel free to email me with any questions or concerns. We always want to have a direct relationship with those who eat FruitGuys fruit. Plus I'll pop up writing here and there as I can't resist a public forum to work on some bad fruit poetry. Enjoy and be fruitful.

- Chris Mittelstaedt chris@fruitguys.com

Fuyu = Fun for You

Our clocks fall back for a reason this season - they're overwhelmed by the cornucopia of amazing Autumn fruit we're finding! Our FruitGuys Detectives hooked up this week with a Chief Lieutenant of Farming, Torrey Olson from Gabriel Farm in Sebastopol, CA. All you West Coast Junior Sleuths will have a chance to find Torrey's organic Fuyu Persimmons in our Harvest Flyer and Organic crates this week! (East Coast customers will be seeing Fuyu Persimmons in their crates as well, for the second week in a row).

The Fuyu is a squat, flat-topped orange thing that is slightly bulbous in Persimmon four corners, like a cloverleaf, and typically sports a matching clover-shaped green leafy top. An average Fuyu is about as big as a hockey puck and can be eaten when raw and crispy. Be careful not to confuse the sweet, flat Fuyu with its larger, acorn-shaped cousin, the Hachiya, which usually must be cooked to become palatable. Of course you can cook a Fuyu persimmon as well - a poached Fuyu served with low-fat vanilla yogurt makes a healthy snack or dessert and is an excellent way to bring the persimmon to life. At The FruitGuys, we recommend quartering a crisp Fuyu like an apple, and eating in wedges. It can be eaten peeled or with the skin on, but we've heard that some folks feel the skin overpowers the delicate nutmeg flavor in the flesh.

West Coast Staples Snoops will find my favorite apple of the year in their jurisdiction, a delicious Sierra Beauty coming to us from Lee Walker's prize-winning Walker Ranch, also in Sebastopol. And East Coast Investigators will have organic Asian Apple Pears from Subarashii Kudamono Orchard in Coopersburg, PA, as well as early clementines. Check online to see what's in your regional mix.

-Jeff Koelemay info@fruitguys.com