Kumquat Festival

This past weekend was the big yearly Gasparilla pirate festival in Tampa.  We have as yet to attend it.  An article in the Tampa Bay Times challenged readers to attend the Kumquat Festival in Dade City instead of doing the other festival in Tampa, just for a fun experience with small town ambience.  Dade city is about an hours drive northeast of Tampa.  With a one year old and a child almost turning four it sounded like it was not that far of a drive.  However, by the time we reached the town limits of Dade City, the younger child, Clarissa, was screaming and quite literally trying to pull her hair out!

It was necessary to park at the fairgrounds, a distance from the festival, and board a bus.  The big purple astro-themed bus totally charmed the little ones and for the rest of the day we had some very happy children.  It also helped that it was a cool overcast day, and we did not have to deal with the brutal heat, which had been a downer for us at other festivals. 

Just maybe you are wondering what are kumquats.  From our travels in Texas and Florida we do know that they are a small citrus fruit similar to the orange.  As we walked around the festival grounds (located in the heart of downtown Dade) I chanced upon a lecture as to how to eat them.  They are too small to peel, rather it is best to pop the whole fruit in your mouth.  DO NOT try to separate the peel from the fruit while chewing because then you will only taste the bitter peel.  Taken together it is possible to get a burst of sweetness in your mouth.  I tried to eat one some time back and I did not care for them and am unwilling to try again!

John liked the kumquat pie, and had already taken a bite before I could snap the picture.  The pie is made with the same ingredients used in key lime pie.   For cooking purposes the whole fruit is pureed and then strained.  At the festival we saw many products made from the fruit: dressings and marinades, jams, soda, wine, and ice cream.  I noticed bits of the peel in both the ice cream and pie, which is a turn-off for me.  Just the reason that I do not like orange marmalade.

As I mentioned previously, we had a very pleasant day wandering the many booths scattered over several streets.  And we happened upon one celebrity- the Queen of Pasco County who is pictured above.  We found a wide selection of food to choose from, including a hot dog with no black grill marks for our picky grandson Nathan.  There was musical entertainment for our dining pleasure, as well as available chairs, at the large lawn located in front of the courthouse.  We listened to many fine classical/operatic musical offerings from the local music store while our little ones found other children and toys to play with.

We stayed much longer than we thought we had planned and bought a variety of local craft items.  Clarissa was able to get her afternoon nap in also, so our trip home was fairly pleasant.  It also helped that we took major highways and moved a bit faster than our earlier trip.  For our trip then, John wanted to see some of the countryside between Tampa and Dade City.  Unfortunately young children do not appreciate rural beauty!