Persimmon Season = My Favorite Kind of Autumn Chaos

Persimmon season is here, and I’ve been having a little too much fun in the kitchen.

Recently I tried something a bit unusual:

I burn the whole persimmon.

Not gently. Properly blackened.

The outside gets soft and a little jammy — like it suddenly remembered it has a dramatic side.

Then I mix it with shungiku (chrysanthemum greens), a very autumn vegetable in Japan.

On top, I add Parmesan or burrata.

It shouldn’t work… but it absolutely does.

It tastes like autumn decided to dress up and surprise me.

I’ve also been baking again —

a simple banana pound cake with free-range eggs.

Bananas that were almost giving up on life suddenly became a warm, sweet afternoon snack.

Slowly, my cooking energy has come back.

Not in a busy or showy way, but in a “I have space to enjoy food again” way.

It feels like a small kind of richness —

not luxury, just everyday life turning warm and flavorful again.

These tiny kitchen experiments remind me that even in a busy season,

there’s always room for a little joy, a little fire, and a soft, nearly-burned persimmon.