Salutations Sandy...

>What are fresh ju-ju-bees?  I must know!

My kids don't dig them too much, but I really love 'em.  They grow
beautifully in these environs and we raised four or five different varieties
up in Malibu back in the '80's.

Dale Kerr, my favorite fresh pistachio supplier at the Vista Farmer's
Market, grows the Jujube's ( I think that's the correct spelling), too.

Am sure that your friend Steven Spangler has them in his nursery.  They are
like miniature apples, although not as symetrical, some being roundish and
others oblong.  The tree is quite thorny, but not impenetrable.  Used to
climb up them in the mornings during the Fall season...gobble up a load on
the spot...and throw the bird-pecked ones down to our veggie dog down below.
He loved them as much as I did. They are extremely popular in China and some
parts of southeast Asia, although not too well known over here outside
oriental communities.

Have been able to find the dried ones from Canada to Mexico, where they're
oft called "chinese red dates," even though they aren't at all related.
Frankly, I can't stand them dried, but love them when fresh and crunchy.
The dried variety will keep for years without refrigeration...I still have
some bags that are at least five or six years old.  Fresh, they're quite
sweet, but not overly so, as I think the dried ones are.  The texture of
fresh ones is much like that of a fresh apple, too.

>The last I heard they were a candy!

Yup.  I remember those little sweet junkies, too.  There's probably a
connection in the name, I suppose...but that's the only similarity, aside
from their small size.  It's the same with those tiny orange bananas, too.
The first time I ever had them, was as a kid...and they were totally phony,
being made of some sort of fluffy marzipan.  When I got into the real ones
many years later, I was reminded of the candied imitations that'd helped
errode my teeth as a kid.

> Also, what is your opinion of the pistachios and other nuts from Jaffee
>Bros. as that's where I get most of my nuts?

Don't really know, but a gal who attended our last raw food potluck down
here, the weekend before last, actually works there.  She'd be able to shed
some light on those questions.

:)

Ric