Jessica's 5th and Madeline's 3rd birthday party!
Nick took the girls to ballet before hand and by the time they got back it was touch and go whether Jessica was going to be allowed to go - she was beside herself with excitement! But allowed she was - after an oath that she wouldn't show us up, then it was Maddy's turn to be hungry and therefore painfully grumpy! They were absolutely fine once they got into the swing of it though and all went without a hitch (although it wasn't heavily planned so would be quite hard to go wrong!). We danced, played games, danced some more, ate pizza etc, ate chocolate, ate more chocolate, and a few people had tears as they "didn't win". The joys of having children old enough to understand the point of the activity I guess... the littlies were just thrilled to be given ANOTHER chocolate and be allowed to eat it!
Nick was the games organiser and did a sterling job (I think), Janice and Peter were an excellent catering crew (with some assistance from John - although he was slightly deterred from helping by his youngest - Houdini!). A million thanks go to them and I hope the Chinese part made up for it! And what did I do I hear you cry? I was party planner and ensured the smooth running...... The honest answer is that I don't really know! Hovered, nagged, delegated and I suppose a bit of getting in everyone's way! Oh and some humiliation by making Nick join in the best dancer competition to U can't touch this although the only running man I saw was John's - perhaps he should have won instead of other Maddy! Chocolate in the post John!
So that was that for another year - hopefully it'll be bowling/cinema/or somesuchthing and a SMALL sleepover next year! Fingers crossed!
posted by Nick & Liz; @ 9:02 PM
7 Comments:
pizza and chocolate.... where was that then.... no it was pizza and star fruit and cherimoya.... as decreed by that fat tongued essex ponce....
I think you'll find the chocolate was only given out before the journey home.... for the hypertastic 'please stop talking now' 45 miles of it!!!!
John
as too the sleepover, will it be all of us again??....
I know it should be a bigger house but really, isn't that going to extremes!
(I know you wrote small....but I chose to ignore it!!!)
What the ? is a cherimoya? You made that up...
Oh! And I'm not sure - we'll be next to a field by then - Bongotastic opportunity!
WTF..... do you not get Cherimoya (or custard apples to the chattering classes) at tescos in Leamington spa...... in buckingham they are coveted.....darling!!!
here is a brief description for you!!!
Cherimoya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cherimoya fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Annona
Species: A. cherimola
Binomial name
Annona cherimola
Mill.
Moche Cherimoya. 200 B.C. Larco Museum Collection Lima, Peru.The cherimoya (Annona cherimola) is a species of Annona native to the Andean-highland valleys of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. It is a deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub or small tree reaching 7 m tall. The leaves are alternate, simple, oblong-lanceolate, 7-15 cm long and 6-10 cm broad. The flowers are produced in small clusters, each flower 2-3 cm across, with six petals, yellow-brown, often spotted purple at the base.
The fruit is oval, often slightly oblique, 10-20 cm long and 7-10 cm diameter, with a smooth or slightly tuberculated skin. The fruit flesh is white, and has numerous seeds embedded in it. Mark Twain called the cherimoya "the most delicious fruit known to men." [1]
The Moche culture of Peru had a fascination with agriculture and represented fruits and vegetables in their art. Cherimoyas were often depicted in their ceramics. [2]
Contents [hide]
1 Cultivation and uses
2 Pollination
3 Other Names
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
[edit] Cultivation and uses
The tree thrives throughout the tropics at altitudes of 1300-2600m (4,000-8,500feet). The name derives from Quechua chirimuya, meaning 'cold seeds', since the seeds will germinate at higher altitudes. Though sensitive to frost, it must have periods of cool temperatures or the tree will gradually go dormant. The indigenous inhabitants of the Andes say that although the cherimoya cannot stand snow, it does like to see it in the distance.[3] It is cultivated in many places throughout the Americas, including California, where it was introduced in 1871, and Hawaii. In the Mediterranean region, it is cultivated mainly in southern Spain, Madeira, Egypt and Israel. The first planting in Italy was in 1797 and it became a favored crop in the Province of Reggio Calabria. It is also grown in Taiwan and New Zealand.
Cherimoya seedsThe fruit is fleshy and soft, sweet, white in color, with a custard-like texture, which gives it its secondary name, custard apple. Some characterize the flavor as a blend of pineapple, mango and strawberry. Others describe it as tasting like commercial bubblegum. Similar in size to a grapefruit, it has large, glossy, dark seeds that are easily removed. The seeds are poisonous if crushed open; one should also avoid eating the skin. When ripe the skin is green and gives slightly to pressure, similar to the avocado. Ripe fruit may be kept in the refrigerator, but it is best to let immature cherimoyas ripen at room temperature. If the skin is brown, then it is good to eat and has ripened.
Different varieties have different characteristics of flavor, texture, and fruit shape contours. Contours can range from imprint areoles, flat areoles, slight bump or point areoles, full areoles - and combinations of the above. The flavor of the flesh ranges from mellow sweet to tangy/acidic sweet, with variable suggestions of pineapple, banana, pear, papaya, strawberry/'berry', and/or apple, depending on the variety. The usual characterization of flavor is 'pineapple/banana' flavor, similar to the flavor of the Monstera deliciosa fruit.
When the fruit is soft-ripe/fresh-ripe and still has the 'fresh' fully mature greenish/greenish-yellowish skin color, the texture is like that of a soft-ripe pear and papaya. If the skin is allowed to turn fully brown, yet the flesh hasn't fermented or gone 'bad', then the texture can be custard-like. Often when the skin turns brown at room temperature the fruit is no longer good for human consumption. Also, the skin turns brown if it's been under normal refrigeration for 'too long' - a day or two maybe.
Fresh cherimoya contains about 15% sugar (about 60kcal/100g) and some vitamin C (up to 20mg/100g)
[edit] Pollination
The flowers are hermaphroditic, but have a mechanism to avoid self pollination. The short-lived flowers open as female, then progress to a later, male stage in a matter of hours. This requires a separate pollinator that not only can collect the pollen from flowers in the male stage, but also deposit it in flowers in the female stage. It is acknowledged that there must be such a natural pollinator, and while so far studies of insects in the cherimoya's native region have been inconclusive, some form of beetle is suspected (Schroeder 1995).
Quite often, the female flower is receptive in the early part of the first day, but pollen is not produced in the male stage until the late afternoon of the second day. Honey bees are not good pollinators, for example, because they will only visit flowers in the male stage to collect the pollen, and then not return.
For fruit production outside the cherimoya's native region, cultivators must either rely upon the wind to spread pollen in dense orchards or else pollinate flowers by hand. Complicating matters is the notoriously short lifespan of cherimoya pollen.
Haver you really done nothing worth blogging since the party? Your audience is getting impatient!
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