What is there to eat?

I have eaten and enjoyed cashew nuts my entire life but always thought they grew in cellophane bags with salt already added. Not so. These three photos show a fruit from the cashew tree (we have one in our yard). The strange looking cashew-shaped “thing” at the bottom of the large red fruit is where you find the actual nut. The fruit itself can also be eaten and has a sweet -- although a bit unusual -- taste. The juice from the fruit – mixed with a little sugar and water it makes a very refreshing drink – see liquid in glass. The nut itself is well protected and difficult to remove from its protective “husk.” Wikipedia describes it best: “…The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing a dermatogenic phenolic resin, urushiol, a potent skin irritant toxin also found in the related poison ivy.” Every day we are trying new, different, strange, things that grow on trees...watch the blog for further culinary adventures.