Muscadines

We were at the local produce stand the other day and while we were checking out, Jeni asked about these large, round grape looking things. The guy said "Those are Muscadines." Jeni responded "What's a Muscadine?" He explained that they're like a grape, but with a thick skin and let Jeni try one. (He also made a comment about her obviously not being from the South if we've never heard of Muscadines and when she responded that she was from Virginia he made a little gurgle sound in the back of his throat like he wanted to say that Virginia isn't "South" enough but resisted ... but that's not the point) These Muscadines are the grapes a lady who was once friends with her parents would grow. She called them wine grapes and Jeni was SO excited to finally find that taste again since she's been buying all kinds of large purple grapes in hopes of finding the right one. It was one of those moments when a taste takes you back to a moment. Well, I had two last night, and it turns out they taste just like the grapes my greatgrandmother used to grow along the trellace behind her house. (She also had a fig tree ... don't ask me what that has to do with anything, except I remember he canning figs ... and a small dish of orange circus peanuts, but I digress...) Just amazing how a taste can transport you to another time and place.