Let Me Introduce You To Penelope

Today was a busy day filled with a one year Doctor's appointment for Mr. Robert, a trip to Target, Grocery shopping and my favorite store . . . Trader Joe's! Whatever part of the country or world you are reading from, I do hope you have the opportunity to visit a Trader Joe's at some point! It truly is the best!

I can literally wander around Trader Joe's for hours! I just LOVE everything about that store. The amazing foods, the cool trail mixes and oh, the fabulous freezer section. I always find something fun and new to add to my grocery cart.

Well check out today's find from my local Trader Joe's!

Trader Joe's carries Pineapple plants and for a bargain of only $12.99.

 So, I am now the proud new owner and caregiver of a beautiful little pineapple plant!

We have named her Penelope . . . it just seems to be a fitting name for  a  Pineapple don't ya think?

I'm not sure if I have shared with you all  my love for Pineapples? My dining room has a pineapple decor for the Summer months. I have a huge pineapple welcome sign from New Orleans on my front porch and I have a pineapple Pandora bracelet charm from my sweet friend Melissa ( who lives in Hawaii).

I don't know what it is about a pineapple that just brightens up my day and makes me smile!

I did a little research on the history and meaning of the pineapple and here is what I found:

The Meaning of The Pineapple



The pineapple has served as a symbol of hospitality and warm welcome through the history of the Americas.

Christopher Columbus wrote the first account of a western encounter with the pineapple in the journal of his second discovery voyage across the Atlantic. He and his men landed on the Caribbean island of Guadalupe where the sailors enjoyed this sweet, succulent new fruit, which had already become a staple of native feasts and religious rites.

In 1493, Columbus first brought the pineapple back to Renaissance Europe that was largely devoid of sweet foods, including fresh fruit. The pineapple's exotic nature and sweetness soon made it an item that soon acquired both popularity and curiosity for centuries after its European arrival. For two centuries, as European horticulturists struggled to perfect a hothouse method for cultivating pineapples in Europe, the pineapple became even more a coveted commodity. In the 1600s, King Charles posed for an official portrait while receiving a pineapple as a gift.
In colonial America, hostesses would set a fresh pineapple in the center of their dining table when visitors joined their families in their homes. Visiting was the primary means of entertainment and cultural exchange, so the concept of hospitality was a central element in colonial life. The pineapple, then, symbolized the warmest welcome a hostess could extend to her guests, and then often it also served as the dessert for the meal. If the visitors spent the night, they would be given a bedroom with a bed in which pineapples had been carved on either the bedposts or the headboard -- even if that was the master bedroom.

Creative food display became a competition among the hostesses, because it declared her personality and her family's social status. Hostesses tried to outdo one another in creating memorable dining events. In larger, more affluent homes, the doors to the dining room were kept closed to create an air of suspense and excitement over the preparations of the hostess. Colonial grocers sometimes rented pineapples to hostesses desperate to create a dining experience above their financial means. Later, once that hostess had returned the pineapple, the fruit would be sold to more affluent clients who could afford to actually buy and eat it. Regardless of ones financial ability to actually buy and eat the pineapple, however, visitors to the homes that displayed the pineapple felt particularly honored that the hostess had spared no expense to secure one in their behalf.

By the Gilded Age, which was the era in which Samuel Couples lived, through the present day, the pineapple became a familiar symbolic image of welcome, good cheer, and warmth and affection between all who dwell inside the home.

And there you have it  . . . the meaning behind this beloved fruit! Now, I just hope I can keep my little plant alive and well! :)

Blessings,

 Sarah