My Love Affair with the Rose Family
It’s not just all about the flowers
Almonds, apples, apricots, cherries, loquats, peaches, pears, plums, quinces, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries are all in the rose family. Have you looked closely at their flowers? They all have five petals, or multiples of five, just like wild roses. Nothing in life compares with strolling along a blooming lane of white, pink or light purple blossoms filling your eyes and pleasing your nose with their delicate, sweet scent.
Best of all, everything in the rose family is edible! Enjoy these tasty memories along with me:
Almonds
Almond butter seemed so exotic to me when I first encountered it at age 14 while volunteering at a hippy whole foods exchange. It’s still my favorite combo with sliced apples for a light supper. I always left a small bag of almonds in a drawer at work, knowing 15 almonds is a perfect 100-calorie snack. But lately, I’ve started to feel like they’re a guilty pleasure because almond trees require so much water, and California is in deep drought.
Apples
Around ten years ago, I was one of the lucky souls who got to take an autumn farm tour of Windrose Farm near Paso Robles, California. On the tour, they showed how the trees were pruned into a goblet shape so that all…
