The Perfect Fruit

by Chip Brantley

  For their encouragement and enthusiasm, thanks to all the Barrys, Hugheys, Smyths, Johnsons, Daths, and Campbells. My loving parents, Neila and Bill Brantley, have always encouraged my writing, even when I wasn’t doing it. I wish Mildred and Frank Cantey could read this; she taught me what to keep in and he taught me what to leave out.

  When I’m with Elizabeth, I never want to be someplace else. (I don’t know why I said this. It is true.) We discovered pluots and each other at roughly the same time, and when I told her I wanted to write a book about the fruit, she said, I’d like to see you try. I hope this pleases her as much as a good party.

  A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR

  Chip Brantley is the cofound er of Cookthink.com, a cooking and recipe Web site. A former food writer for the San Francisco Examiner and features writer for the Albany Times Union, he has contributed to Slate, the Boston Globe, the Oxford American, and Gastronomica, among others. Brantley was also the head cheese maker at Westfield Farm, an award-winning cheese company in Hubbardston, Massachusetts. A native of Alabama, he lives with his wife and son in western Massachusetts.