The word muscadine takes me back to my early childhood, to the home of a kind elderly lady, Mrs. Kelly, who taught my mother how to crochet afghans. I remember scads of skeins and yards of yarn in browns, oranges, and avocado greens—it was the 70s after all. And then, after hours of work and plenty of love, that yarn came together to form patterns and eventually a whole—an afghan, a handmade heirloom to keep our family toasty in the winter months.
In addition to crocheting advice, Mrs. Kelly provided home-spun wisdom for my mother. Mrs Kelly was the mother of Mom’s best friend, Eleanor, so she was already special to her.
But what I liked best about Mrs. Kelly was not her wisdom or afghans but her muscadines.
Muscadines, a sweet grape native to the southeastern US, ripen in late August and September. They love our hot and humid climate. They’re valued for wine, shade, and fall color, say the experts. You can make a sweet wine or yummy jelly from the fruit. You can use the vines to climb up a pergola or top an arbor for shade. The deep purple color of ripened grapes is a welcome addition to the ubiquitous oranges and browns of fall.
But my favorite use of all for muscadines is just to savor their taste, one by one.
Because of arthritis, Mrs. Kelly’s hands and fingers were stiff, bent, and painful. So, to help her, my mom would pick the muscadines that grew on the vine in her yard. And Mrs K would make sure that we had plenty of the dark purple grapes to take home with us.
Now, every time I eat a sweet muscadine, I feel like I’m that little girl tasting summer again.
Mom and I were not the only ones in our family who loved muscadines. Decades later, in the woodsy side-yard of my first home, grew a wild muscadine vine. My first puppy, a chocolate labrador, would test her legs (and sometimes my patience) by running through the woods. Somewhere along the way, she decided to stop and sample the purple fruit on the ground beside her big puppy paws. From then on, she looked for muscadines long after summer had turned to fall.
Last week, I helped my friend, Lorelei, pick her muscadines. She said hers didn't produce well this year, so it took a minute to find any. She lifted the leaves and peered underneath until she found a bunch. And then another and another. Soon, we had filled a bucket full.
“Have you tried one yet?” she asked, popping one into her mouth.
I had been resisting to that point but no longer. The sweet, bold flavor exploded across my tongue and took me back to the summers of my childhood.
It’s a distinctive taste that I will never forget.
Soon I had eaten three or four before I handed the bucket over to Lorelei. And now…well…now, I’m just waiting on that jelly.
What is one flavor that takes you back to your childhood? Let me know and I might use your response in a future blog post!
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