Paying Homage To The Pineapple

Recently, I've become rather obsessed with pineapples. I think this mostly stems from my desire to eat healthier, which has gotten me (and B) eating more fruit. I also have been incorporating pineapples into our decor. It all started with a pineapple dish towel, then lead to a purchase from Uppercase Living that includes a pineapple (post on this to come...hopefully soon!).

On our recent trip to Frankenmuth, I purchased this pineapple cookie cutter. There were so many neat cookie cutters there, and each one came with a cookie recipe attached. Some other cute ones were a crab, a palm tree, a coconut, and a crown.

This recipe is for Kahlua flavored cookies. Yum!

I've been curious about the social history of the pineapple, so I did a little research on the pineapple as a sign of hospitality. This site goes through much of the pineapple's history since Columbus "discovered" it in the Caribbean. During Colonial times in America the pineapple was so sought after (and so expensive and rare) that hostesses would actually rent a pineapple to place int he center of their table as a show of their social status and then later return it to the shop owner who would then sell it to an even wealthier family who would actually eat it! For Colonial Americans, entertaining was the main pastime, and the women took it very seriously! In fact it was a bit of a competition, not much unlike today! They would employ "creative food display" as a means to show their personality and status. This quite often included using a pineapple (even if it was rented!) to create elaborate centerpieces often in the shapes of small mountain ranges, pyramids and pedestals of different heights. Pineapple History gives a more in depth history of the pineapple, and if you're a nerd history buff, like me, you'll find this really interesting, not to mention a great conversation starter!