Wednesday Word Compote, Compost
In honor of Eldest Child, who at the wise old age of six decided that home-made applesauce is ‘enough gooder’ than the store-bought stuff that he’d help peel the apples himself, and is now teaching Little Red peel apples. Eldest Child used to confuse the two words, because while the apples went into the pot, the peels went to … grandma’s compost heap. Start with one item, send it in two directions with almost identical words.
It takes approximately 22 large apples, diced small, to fill a 12 quart pot to the brim and beyond. Throw in some cinnamon, while you’re at it. Don’t bother adding sugar, the apples cook down into almost pure fructose (fruit sugar). Low flame for three hours, covered for the first two or two and half hours.
That’s a lot of compost. Er, compote. Both. :)
Compote - a dessert of fruit cooked in syrup. First Known Use: 1693. French, from Old French composte, from Latin composta
Compost - a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land. First Known Use: 1587. Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin compostum (neuter of the fem. composta)
Apparently, the words are related in more ways than one.
It takes approximately 22 large apples, diced small, to fill a 12 quart pot to the brim and beyond. Throw in some cinnamon, while you’re at it. Don’t bother adding sugar, the apples cook down into almost pure fructose (fruit sugar). Low flame for three hours, covered for the first two or two and half hours.
That’s a lot of compost. Er, compote. Both. :)
Compote - a dessert of fruit cooked in syrup. First Known Use: 1693. French, from Old French composte, from Latin composta
Compost - a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land. First Known Use: 1587. Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin compostum (neuter of the fem. composta)
Apparently, the words are related in more ways than one.