To have reached the age of 38 without knowing

[lougle]

That pineapples don't grow on trees, but grow in the ground? I'm well educated, went to university (twice), but I had never thought about where my pineapple had come from, and it never occurred to me that the 'chopped' end was on the bottom and not the top!

What didn't you know until recently?

...and as we've managed to mention penis already: my useful/not very useful fact is that the barnacle's penis is up to 17 times as long as the diameter of the shell: it is very bendy and will curve round less attractive barnacles until it reaches the one it want to impregnate.
mating barnacles

There's no such thing as a vegetable.

Mitzy

I don’t want to throw them away...
And freezing pineapples apparently (?) has to be done at exactly the right time. And seeing as they were used as decoration (and candle holders ) for a few days...

But pineapples compote is actually rather lovely. (DH made some... so there’s at least that.)

Goose barnacles are so called because at one time people thought that that was what barnacle geese turned into over winter (or whichever season it was that the geese disappeared).

And slipper shells change sex - they sit in a heap, the bottom one female, the top ones male, and as the bottom one dies off, a male turns into a female to keep the sex ratio the same. Not for nothing is their scientific name Crepidula fornicata!

Wow this thread has moved quickly - I only nipped out to Tesco.

OP - Holland is in fact a region of The Netherlands and not a country itself

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland

That Evelyn Waugh was a man and that Evelyn can be a man's name at all!

Holland is also an area of Lincolnshire.

That Evelyn Waugh was a man and that Evelyn can be a man's name at all! For some bizarre reason, a local charity shop classified their books as "male authors" and "female authors". I was waiting to see how they'd classify George Eliot.

@FreddieClaryHorshieLion Try pineapple salsa, it's lovely.

Is it not really sweet?

Pineapple slices sprinkled with salt and chilli powder 😋

Many people don't realise that 'gullible' is not a real word and isn't in the dictionary.

😁

You can’t lick your own elbow either...

I'm 40, and never knew that about pineapples!

JaneJeffer - I, too, blame Black Lace!

reely glad? I never knew that ...

Glad it bloody is, i checked 😏

did you know that if you mime picking up the salt shaker and shaking it into your mouth, you can actually taste salt? try it!

I had people at work arguing with me over pineapples until I informed them we had them in our garden when I was little and lived abroad. They went to google it. I bought a pineapple chutney at Christmas. It is to be eaten with cheese. It was a hit with the cheese board.

My Christmas cake has pineapple as one of the ingredients. It was a recipe my mum had called a Golden Christmas Cake and it is packed with fruit. Ideal for people that don't like heavy dark fruit. I like both!

@FreddieClaryHorshieLion I think Mitzi was implying that you were having pineapple vodka for breakfast...it did read like that!

mirime
That sounds nice. I’ll have to add a reminder (for next Christmas)

But it is a rather versatile fruit imo. DH made a lovely spicy pineapple and prawn soup a few days ago.

But I really do wonder how this pineapple Christmas tradition was started, tbh. It doesn’t seem to be common in the Uk (according to google...)

Pineapples were a status symbol in the 18th Century

Just so. I grew up with an antique four post bed that had hand carved wooden pineapples at the top of each post and my gran had a Tiffany lamp in the shape of a pineapple.

The way you can tell the top is that is where the spiny leaves are, to maximize the exposure to the sun.

Look 😀

www.todayifoundout.com/

BitOutOfPractice

Oops. Having reread my comment... yes, I see what you mean.

Nope. Pineapple for breakfast and pineapple vodka for NYE (well, I didn’t have any at all. But anyway)

Btw, I’ve found these online. These are rather spectacular. But DH (luckily) isn’t that dedicated...😉

bitoutofpractice, interesting bit of research. Only goes to further the conspiracy. I now really want some pineapple. Even though it makes my tongue hurt.