Driving around cross roads (upper tbeach, lower malvern area) on a hunt with sister Annabelle for the perfect eggplants for roasting up the perfect babaganouch for our not so low fat Monday evening appetizer! Grocery stores...empty, local sellers...crop done; tally ho we go, can't give up, I can already taste it. Braaaaakes, I've spotted a ripe eggplant barely visible perched on the end of a stick on the road side, a sure sign that eggplant is sold here! Yippee.

Hellooooo, helooooo, anybody selling eggplant? Not a peep or puss in site. Praaps praaaaps (annabelle blowing horn). Hellllooooo...anybody? At long last a very relaxed man emerges from the house; but alas...no rahtid eggplant, or not here anyway. Rockstone and riverbottom. How far for the eggplant? Just down the road few miles.
I'm now dreaming of eggplant and willing to drive the few miles which will no doubt be more than just a few..
Annabelle: already in the van cussing to herself the rahtid waste of time, this is going to take all day and wondering just how many miles is a few?
Hey, we have all rahtid day anyway, so let's go!

Off we go in the 3 seater pickup. Annabelle driving, me and man squashed up in the back seat (half of which is being occupied by a large box). Down the road we go, tallyho tallyho, down the road we gooooo. Baps, 2 minutes and we reach...dat was quick and my God, enough eggplant fi stone dog! Out he jumps and proceeds zig zagging through the eggplant orchard filling his arms till they are so laden he can't carry any more. How much for all that?
No no, I can't charge you anything after you drove down here, its okay, next time.
Huh? Annabelle and I are for once...speechless.

Sooo, there's a little Treasure Beach story for you, hoping that some things never change.

Ahh that is soo nice! Well told Ms todd, I often too got given melon and thyme for free from the nice ole country folk of Treasure Beach. Bless them!

Wow, fantastic story! Thank You

Thankyou..you made me smile this morning invisioning your quest for eggplant !

Nice story!

Thanks for sharing that wonderful story Sarah. Now, how about sharing the babaganouch!

Rebecca, you are too funny! Two red people are here for the weekend and we'd love to see you, so come on over, we've got wine and plenty of baba....

I got the invite from Annabelle earlier today . . . Ya soon see me!

Ms Todd, So sorry to crash the party, but what is babaganouch? I've heard tell of it but can't recall. The only recipes for eggplant I know is one in which my grandparents made a veggie saute, and the other is eggplant parmagian. Also my former in-laws from P.R. use it in a codfish dish.
PS. I love your story and your wordsmith is wonderful too.

What is Babaganouch...you're joking right? Well firstly, I don't believe I've spelled it correctly. According to Wikipedia, it's spelled Baba Ghanoush. When you love eggplant you'll literally find anything to do with it and create crazy names to make it sound interesting;
Baba Ghanoush is an Arabic dish of eggplant (aubergine) mashed and mixed with various seasonings; I add onions and garlic to the baking dish of salted eggplant (to caramelize in the oven) and then blend it all together in a blender along with a squeeze of lime. It is frequently eaten as a dip with pita bread, and I've just had it for lunch (3rd day in a row), wrapped in a warmed up soft tortilla wrap (purchased at cross roads) along with a layer of goat cheese (donated by my sister)chopped tomatoes (donated by Tricia) a drop of olive oil/balsamic vinaigrette (stolen from Polly's secret pantry). Yummmo

Yes yes, sounds just perfect, and I can't wait to try it. I really love eggplant, both to look at and to eat. Thank you.

A magnificent story Sarah! I devoured it ravenously as it fed my soul. It is a true testament of the good will and good nature of the gentleman. Play it forward.