It was August 1984, and the subject was nectarines.
"Botanists have debated the link between the nectarine and the peach, while cooks added another rumor of a possible relationship with plums," wrote staff writer Lee Svitak Dean. "But studies indicate that the peach and nectarine probably are descendants of an extinct ancestor. The nectarine's existence goes back more than 2,000 years when it was a delicacy in ancient China and the Near East. Like other stone fruits -- cherries and apricots -- the nectarine is a member of the rose family. Today all that remains of that distant relative is the slight fragrance of flowers."
It was a fun-facts-style story, food section-style (example: 85 varieties of nectarines are cultivated in the United States, with 95 percent produced in California), with a half-dozen shortie recipes.
My favorite, in part because it's very Lee Svitak Dean: Moisten the rim of a festive glass with lemon juice and invert into granulated sugar to coat the rim. Chill glasses, and when ready to serve, add nectarine slices and fill with chilled pink champagne, ginger beer or ginger ale. (Lee's motto: It's always a good time for champagne.)
Bakers also got four more elaborate recipes utilizing nectarines, including this crumble-crisp-brown Betty variation that Dean called a "crunch." Whatever the name, it's an easy-to-prepare summer winner.
