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The November issue of Fine Cooking has an article about persimmons with a few recipes: http://www.finecooking.com/item/11495/persimmons.

I wouldn't even bother making anything with them. Persimmons are good just cut up into little wedges. After cutting, soak in a little salt water for a minute and enjoy!

I just eat them plain like an apple! LOVE them. They are also sometimes called Sharon fruit because they grow in Israel.

When I was in Japan, my host mother always sliced them and added them to my fruit plate every morning. It took me days to get up the nerve to ask what on earth I was eating... but they're delicious!

I'm not sure what variety you have, but the ones I ate in Japan start a bit hard and somewhat crisp and get softer and softer as they ripen. Public opinion in Japan over which is more delicious is divided. I prefer them when the texture is more like an apple, but they also come to be cantaoupe-y in texture and then even softer. Try yours at various stages to see what you like!

Persimmon cookies are the most wonderful fall cookies, ever!
Just let your persimmons ripen 'till they're very squishy (no need to use the food processor that way) and use them for cookies.

Here's a sample recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Persimmon-Cookies-I/Detail.aspx
I use butterscotch chips instead of raisins and I think it adds an amazing taste combination.
If you really want them sweet, you can even top with a hard glaze frosting.

Yummy!! Eat them! Then make jam with the leftovers.

My favorite way to eat them is to let it sit out for a couple of weeks. they get all soft and gooey and the seeds disappear! :) It is one of my favorite fall fruits!

My Korean mother would let persimmons sit out until they soften till they're gooey, and freeze them. And she'd cut them in half and have us scoop out the fruit with a spoon -- she used to call them "persimmon ice-cream!"

I'm from the south and persimmon pudding is the best thing to make with these!! I really wouldn't describe it as a "pudding" though, but more a pie without the crust. It has sort of a pumpkin pie taste and texture, and it's very sweet. If the persimmons are extra ripe, you might want to cut back on the amount of sugar you add.

Here's a good recipe for it:
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=40876

If you have alot of persimmons, the pulp also freezes beautifully! Hope this helps!

I just peel them, slice them and eat them. They're just like any other fruit, though I like the "acidic" ones more than the "sweet" ones (which are darker inside).

While I was living in China, I was given a box of about 50 persimmons. I pureed them and added them to some bisquick pancake mix... It was totally cheating, I know, and I would have made them from scratch if it wasn't so hard to find things like baking powder! They were pretty yummy and nice for fall. You can see pictures here:

http://drakesindurham.blogspot.com/2008/11/just-to-spice-things-up.html

Lucky you! I live in a part of the world where persimmons are scarce and therefore expensive, but I really intend on trying this one day:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/11140
Keep us posted!

Just eat them straight! Wash them with just water first to get the dusty white stuff off first (sometimes they're already clean).

So jealous!

I like to slice them up, flambe them, and serve over vanilla ice cream.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I don't have an oven, so some of the suggestions are out, but I ended up using ladrake's idea of persimmon pancakes and had a brunch party with my whole building. It was a good way to use the persimmons, and have a cultural exchange about American breakfasts.

~Lauren