I Used To Make Mesquite Cookies.

I remember my first batch. I added some almond extract to the recipe to flavor it up a bit and they were a big hit. I would prepare them for any event, dinner party, holiday or family gathering and they came out perfect every time. One summer I picked a big box full of mesquite beans with plans to turn them into flour. I left them outside to dry but soon became lazy and when the rains came and I neglected to bring the beans inside mold developed and I had to throw away pounds and pounds of the harvested mesquite pods. It was heartbreaking and I vowed to never do that again. This year I picked only a small amount and left them in the back of my car to dry. Weeks later I noticed little round bugs flying around my driver's side window and remembered the bag of mesquite beans. Inside the beans these little bugs hatch then burrow there way out to freedom. In this case, they freed themselves from the pod only to be captive in my car. I switched the beans to the inside of my camper so they could still be protected from the rain, dry nicely, allowing the bugs to hatch, burrow out and fly around still captive, though. I do believe this year will come and go and those beans will still be in the back of my truck because the laborious task of picking ripe beans, drying then storing them and then taking them to a festival where they offer grinding the beans into flour, will never happen.

Today, as I walked for hours in the heat and progressively felt weak I glanced around at the mesquite trees dripping with beans and just as I felt that my energy was waning and that the little water I had left was not going to sustain me, I decided to munch on the beans. They have a sweet flavor due to their natural sugar content and as I bit off piece by piece, chewed them up, spiting out the fiber and hard inner seed, I felt my strength gradually return. Thanks mesquite, your natural low glycemic index and mild sweetness gave me just the boost I needed to return to my car and drive home without that exhausting feeling of having pushed myself just a bit too far. The desert truly can sustain us if we just look around. Does this mean no more mesquite flour cookies.......I doubt it. The holidays are approaching. Yum!