We haven't had a very hot summer this year, quite the opposite actually. We have been mostly cold, rainy and windy with summer like days thrown in just often enough that we don't all go mad. Luckily, even though we don't have sunny hot weather we are still basking in all the other great things about summer...especially the fruits and berries! We try to eat as seasonally as we can, especially with fruit. So we haven't tasted fresh berries, nectarines, peaches, watermelons, pluots or any other delicious fruits since last summer. We have missed those sweet flavors tremendously, and we are trying hard to make up for lost time.
We found organic cherries at our local farmers market, and threw them in this delicious fruit salad. I found the "recipe" here, although it does seem pretty silly to follow a recipe to make a fruit salad. But the addition of orange juice wasn't something I normally would have done and it did bring out the flavors in the fruit quite nicely!
A couple weeks ago Matthew and I took the kids and a big bowl for a walk to the green space that runs through our neighborhood. A guy we know that lives a few streets down had told us about the wild blackberries growing there, and that the homes association doesn't spray them because they know people like to pick them. We had to really get in and search for them (and had the scratches to prove it) but we came home with a big bowl of beautiful berries:
After some discussion on facebook as to what I should do with them, we decided to make a blackberry cobbler. We got the recipe here and it turned out pretty good, although I would have liked it a little sweeter. I am not a big fan of the tartness of blackberries!
Lulu has been getting in on the summer fruit lovin too! On those rare hot days I have tried to keep her as cool as possible...not easy since she lives in a fur coat. I put ice cubes in her water, and freeze damp hand towels flat in the freezer. When its frozen stiff as a board I take it out and set it in her hutch, and she hops over right away to lay down on it. It really seems to keep her cool. Big chunks of cool watermelon seem to help a lot too!
And since tomatoes are technically a fruit, they have a place in this post too! We *finally* started harvesting tomatoes a couple weeks ago, and boy...its about time. We have been anxiously awaiting them and are savoring every last one because they still aren't coming fast enough yet!
One more fruit of the summer that I am excited about...our pear tree! I had read that pear trees alternate years, with one year being a bumper crop harvest, and the next being much smaller. Our tree apparently didn't get the memo...it was loaded last year and its just as full this year! I didn't end up canning any of the pears last year, so I am hoping to do it this time. I think by next week they will be ready to harvest!
Before we know it, these fruits and berries will be just a sweet memory....at least until next summer!
We found organic cherries at our local farmers market, and threw them in this delicious fruit salad. I found the "recipe" here, although it does seem pretty silly to follow a recipe to make a fruit salad. But the addition of orange juice wasn't something I normally would have done and it did bring out the flavors in the fruit quite nicely!
A couple weeks ago Matthew and I took the kids and a big bowl for a walk to the green space that runs through our neighborhood. A guy we know that lives a few streets down had told us about the wild blackberries growing there, and that the homes association doesn't spray them because they know people like to pick them. We had to really get in and search for them (and had the scratches to prove it) but we came home with a big bowl of beautiful berries:
After some discussion on facebook as to what I should do with them, we decided to make a blackberry cobbler. We got the recipe here and it turned out pretty good, although I would have liked it a little sweeter. I am not a big fan of the tartness of blackberries!
Lulu has been getting in on the summer fruit lovin too! On those rare hot days I have tried to keep her as cool as possible...not easy since she lives in a fur coat. I put ice cubes in her water, and freeze damp hand towels flat in the freezer. When its frozen stiff as a board I take it out and set it in her hutch, and she hops over right away to lay down on it. It really seems to keep her cool. Big chunks of cool watermelon seem to help a lot too!
And since tomatoes are technically a fruit, they have a place in this post too! We *finally* started harvesting tomatoes a couple weeks ago, and boy...its about time. We have been anxiously awaiting them and are savoring every last one because they still aren't coming fast enough yet!
One more fruit of the summer that I am excited about...our pear tree! I had read that pear trees alternate years, with one year being a bumper crop harvest, and the next being much smaller. Our tree apparently didn't get the memo...it was loaded last year and its just as full this year! I didn't end up canning any of the pears last year, so I am hoping to do it this time. I think by next week they will be ready to harvest!
Before we know it, these fruits and berries will be just a sweet memory....at least until next summer!