from a small grower nearby. Today was our day to pick up the strawberries and, as you can see from the picture, they were luscious!I put up about half of them in the freezer for later use but picked out the ripest ones for eating fresh with plenty of sampling as I worked. My husband hovered nearby, begging me not to eat them all. “You’re as bad as a little kid!” And when it comes to berries, he’s right, I am.
I have always loved berries; any kind as long as they were ripe, juicy and sweet. When I was maybe nine years old, I used to ride my bike all over, exploring my town and its environs.
There was a place with a fenced pasture and a friendly palomino horse. I frequently visited, bringing him treats of apple or carrot. I liked horses, still do, but that wasn’t the REAL draw. What brought me back again and again was the promise of a bumper crop of black mulberries. That farmhouse had a huge mulberry bush that stood about six feet tall and its thicket of branches draped gracefully to the ground, forming a tent like structure. When the berries were finally ripe, I would crawl inside those branches and eat mulberries until my face and hands were stained purple-black. And, of course, the resulting tummy ache would torture me all night, but it was worth it.
Currently I’m keeping a close eye on my red raspberry tangle that it huge and overgrown on the edge of the woods. Every year I think I will trim back the canes and make a path through it to make it easier to harvest. But, I just can’t bring myself to disturb what nature has so thoughtfully provided. Soon, I’ll put on boots and get scratched and caught up in the briars, but the resulting reward of fresh raspberries will be well worth the few drops of blood, although it’s a bit embarrassing to be a 50+ woman going around all scratched and skinned up like a kid.
And then there will be blueberries! When I hear the lyrics, “I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill.” It’s not amore I’m thinking about, but sweet little blue orbs like the ones pictured here, providing a burst of heavenly flavor on my tongue.BERRIES! Imagine the taste! Imagine the desserts!
Oh, berries. What is more perfect than a berry. I took a walk one day in England, no one knew where I was. As I walked, I ate wonderful berries growing along the path. I barely worried about "poisonous" because, well, berries seem to be the most luscious and innocent of fruits. Enjoy the year's harvet.
ReplyDeleteHere's my favorite strawberry pie recipe. One way among many to enjoy that delightful fruit:
ReplyDeleteStrawberry pie:
1 9-inch pie crust, baked
2 16-oz containers of fresh strawberries
1 cup water
1 cup, full, sliced strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
sprig of mint
Wash and hull the strawberries, reserve the biggest for the pie. Set aside one cup of strawberries for slicing.
Mix the sugar and constarch together and set aside.
Bring the cup of water to a boil in a saucepan. Place the 1 cup of sliced strawberries in the boiling water and bring to the boil again and cook for a minute until soft. (I use a masher to mash them to a pulp). Remove from heat and push the mash through a strainer over a bowl.
Return the strawberry liquid to the saucepan and add the sugar/cornstarch mixture. Bring to a gentle boil and stir until the liquid becomes translucent. Remove from heat.
Arrange one layer of strawberries in the pre-baked pie crust. Pour half the strawberry sauce over them. Arrange a top layer of the best looking strawberries and pour remaining strawberry sauce over them. Chill for an hour, top with a sprig of mint, and serve with whipped cream if you wish.
Quick and beautiful.
Act 3. Scene II
ReplyDeleteAntony: "I come to seize your berry, not to praise it."
Oh Rocky - rasberries are my favorite. Love 'em. My son adores ANY form of berries When he was very young he loved blackberries, of all things - a sour berry if you ask me. But he ate as many of them as he could.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm hungry.
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteThose pictures of berries appeal even to the dinosaurs! Even carnivorous ones!
SHAW - that recipe sounds so good! Definitely going in my recipe file and I'm going to try it before I eat them all!
ReplyDeleteLAURA- You know, I've never worried about berries being poisonous. I mean,being such a berry addict,I usually recognize the berry, but I'll sample ripe berries while walking in the woods and not think twice. Oh well, if you ever hear they found my cold body in the woods next to some sort of bush, you'll know what happened!
SQUID - Your son is a lad after my own heart.
CLEO to ANTONY: "Keep your hands off my berries and I MIGHT let you live."
Dino - I remember that! My raspberries may come in handy to distract any wayward dinosaurs from snacking on the family.
ReplyDeleteAh, hiking in the woods. Here that would mean being ankle deep in the water with snakes, giant spiders and land crabs and of course hardly anything edible, but with coconuts, bananas and pineapples within steps, why get your feet wet and machete all dull?
ReplyDeleteHOLY SHIT -- I just now saw a puma run across the street -- honestly! Un effing believable! There are only a handful of these things left!!!!
Fogg - a puma, really?! Years ago, while living in rural CT of all places, I was driving on a winding back road with one of my sons when something started into the road and to my shock I found myself slowing down for a mountain lion! (I think that's another name for puma or cougar). Not sure where it came from although a couple of ciruses had summer farms in the area. A sight to behold, however briefly.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it was the Florida version - the Florida Panther. I've seen them in captivity and I'm sure I'm not mistaken.
ReplyDeleteWe've had a boom in the rabbit population lately and I think that spells Chow Time for our sleek furry friends.
I see bobcats all the time and they are a sight to behold, but these guys are bigger, darker and have a long tail.
I live on one of the longest stretches of undeveloped coast in SE Florida and it's a wildlife sanctuary. Sometimes that's a nuisance and sometimes a thrill.