aem wrote:
>
> Forecast to be 100F+ today here in SoCal. As opposed to that bad
> news, the pool is 78F, and breakfast was enhanced by the backyard.
> Picked oranges and squeezed them for juice. Picked a lemon and some
> basil leaves, and an Early Girl tomato. For some reason these early
> tomatoes are growing only to about golf ball size. Taste good,
> though. I sauteed some mushrooms with a sprinkle of lemon juice, then
> added the chiffonade of basil and the diced tomato and the beaten
> eggs. In a moment, tasty omelets. Would have been good without the
> mushrooms, too. Later on there'll be fresh lemonade. I like
> summer. -aem

This morning, I was in the Oriental food store
that recently opened near me, and I saw something
I've never seen before. It was a dried, nearly
spherical fruit about the size of a golf ball.

A few Google searches tracked down what it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siraitia_grosvenorii

According to this, one of its uses is to make
a "cooling drink" for use during hot weather.

I didn't buy any because I didn't know what
it was at the time, but maybe I will the next
time I'm there. There was a warning on the
package to boil it for 10 minutes before
consuming.