I still remember the first time I ate edamame. It was my second night in Japan, and a co-worker took me to his local bar. The woman behind the counter gave me some green beans. I put one in my mouth and started chewing. I chewed on it for a long time, but I couldn’t swallow it. The woman suddenly started laughing. She realized that I hadn’t taken the beans out of the pod. We didn’t have edamame in those days in the U.S., so I didn’t know how to eat them. Now, I love edamame. They taste great when you boil and salt them. They are in season now, and yesterday, my daughter gave me some fresh ones. We had them in the afternoon. What a great summer snack!    (130 words)

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