It's about cherries. We can't grow them here in ...you know where. Growing up in ...you know where, cherries were a rare seasonal treat. They are still seasonal, but it must have been a great crop this year in the Pacific Northwest, because they've been abundant here in ... you know where.
At the beginning of the summer, when they first appeared, they were just under $6.00 per pound. Anything that costs that much per pound should have "mooed" prior to arriving at the grocery store. I waited.
In a few weeks, the price had dropped and has hovered in the $2.50 to $3.00/lb price zone. At that point, I started gobbling them down and they have been spectacular. I think we've had them in the house consistently since mid-June.
Soon summer will be over, and they will be gone.
Just in time I suppose.
My skin is taking on a deep red hue and my family is sick of me walking around singing that old fruit council jingle, "Summer, summer fruits...it wouldn't be summer with out them, Fresh from the vine...lalalala..."
What's your favorite seasonal fruit?
24 comments:
I've always favored nectarines when they are just right. Cantaloupe are good. Apples would give me headaches until someone pointed out that it is probably the Alar sprayed on the skin that causes them.
I have cherry trees growing in abundance in my woods . . . you know where. But if they fruit, it must be high up in the canopy, and the critters must get them all.
I did the same thing with the blueberries. THey are super expensive in the beginning of the season and I'll usually wait till the price comes down.
We had the most delicious white flesh peaches up in Georgia. I couldn't get over how good they tasted. The peaches down here seem to be lacking in flavor.
I really like a good chilled, sliced mango salad, mixed with other fruits.
Last year, Dinosaur Eggs were very good. Also known as Plutots, which is a plum/apricot mixed fruits. But this year, they seem to be watery and also lacking in flavor!
Shrimp, oh wait we can get them year round (it was the high $$/lb that threw me!). Ok Mussels, they're seasonal!
Hey fruits from the sea count too! Besides they're less prevelant up here than cherries are! ;-)
An interesting question. There are very few "fruity" fruits that I find palatable, and most of those that I like have much more to do with texture. Apples are great, at least certain apples. I love melons. I can manage pineapples. Peaches, most berries, pears, strawberries - basically make me feel sick to eat.
The problem appears to be that I can't smell. My mother and I laugh that it traces back to when I was a year old and fell off the ironing board. There's an itty bitty bone surrounding the hole that the olfactory bundle pushes through at the bridge of the nose and if pushed it can sever the olfactory nerves - snip snip, tuck tuck. Whether this is true or not, or whether it's a genetic thing, I don't know (my two sisters can smell just fine, as can my parents). It's one of those family frivolity things, but at any rate I can't smell.
That appears to make a huge difference in eating "fruity" fruits (I have no difficulty with the non-sweet botanical fruits). They just nauseate me.
So this probably wasn't the expected response, but that's the way it is!
I love most fruits. But my handsdown favorite would have to be watermellon. Followed by mangos, strawberries, apples, blueberries . . . I could go on.
My favorite fruit are cherries, but unlike your Bing variety, I lust after the giant pink and yellow Raineer cherries. Unfortunately, they only appear on the shelves you know where... for a few weeks out of the summer.
I love most fruits, but I think my favorite is a fresh-picked strawberry. This summer we've been having the most delicious watermelon and cantaloupes. The crows ate all of our cherries this year (and last), and we haven't bought any at the store. I think I'll have to get some today, you make them sound so very tasty.
yeah, "harley fund?" what's that all about?
My hub has a similar looking jar with the words "new boat fund" carved into it.
For some odd reason, I find it necessary to take money out of it as often as possible. ;)
Gotta be blueberries in thick cream. I had them once in a B&B in Quebec once. Every time I eat them now, they remind me of Quebec.
Or wait. Do boiled peanuts count as a fruit?
Strawberries. Dipped in white sugar.
I know, so bad for me, but don't lecture - it's not like I get to do it very often.
As for the cherry prices - I thought we had it bad! Our cherries start out about $3.50/lb, and then sometimes drop as low as $1.00 or $1.25/lb, which is when I choose to induldge. We have the Okanagan Valley just around the corner, though (if you don't count the big ferry trip) so maybe that's why the cheaper price.
Is onion a fruit. What I miss most of the year is Walla Walla sweet onions (sort of like Vidalia). They lack keeping power so they're only available for about 3 months.
Pablo,
I can't seem to ever get a nectarine that tastes as good as it looks so I've given up in frustration.
Laura,
I am a pluot fan too, but they also require a home equity loan to purchase. When they are good, they are verrrrry good. I grow my blueberries so I don't buy those until Late June when my two month harvest winds up.
MMMMMMango!
ThunderD,
We use shrimp for bait.
Wayne,
I had a park service friend who due to a motorcycle accident had no sense of smell or taste. I always felt so sorry for him. He was pretty skinny too.
Debbie,
I grew a yellow watermelon once that was the sweetest I've ever eaten.
Hal,
You would not believe how rare and expensive those Ranier cherries are around here.
Robin,
I hope they are right about the health benefits of dark fruits because they are my favorites anyway.
roger,
thimble berries?
poor harley...a dream usurped by lovely children. I still toss change in it...just in case.
Laura,
I've had a few bikes in my past...can't quite let go...
Hey...my jar never seems to fill up either...is she...?
Rebel Pow,
I throw a heaping handful of blueberries on my cereal...almost half and half when my harvest is coming in.
If our green peanuts ever come in this year I will definitely post a how to boil peanuts tale.
Mrs. S,
Enjoy! My wife does the same and I confess I can't see the logic in dipping a sweet piece of fruit into sugar. I don't get it.
Hoss,
I know of Walla Wallas but here we do the local Vidalia. They are so good...great onion rings.
Watermelons! But those cherries do look good!
Any idea where the MacBeane Gene has gotten to? He hasn't posted since June!
I love cherries...I would eat them constantly if it weren't for the horrendous price. But there's nothing like sun-warmed blackberries whenever I find them in the wild...which isn't very often cause...well...you know why.
CHERRIES are my favorite fruit,
and I spread the seeds from coast to coast,
as I travel from
fruit stand
to fruit stand
across the land.
You've no doubt heard of Johnny Appleseed, well I'm Sandy Cherryseed.
A vacation for me has to include cherries...ask everyone in my family. Cherries are in my house from the moment I spot them in the stores. And the $6 a pound cherries don't quite have the good sweet taste as the next batch to arrive.
Every year I say I'm going to wait for the good tasting ones, but I can't help myself.
I actually love all fruit, but cherries are #l in the summer. My house looks like a fruit stand.
FC - there IS no logic. We're women and we like it that way and you men all love us so you just have to deal with our illogical selves ;)
Good red plums!! no one mentioned that so far. I do like cherries and strawberries alot but a good plum has a wonderful texture and taste. I like them just a tad sour too.
Blueberries. Love to go to the U-Pick-'Em fields and load up on whatever is in season: squash, strawberries, okra, zipper cream peas, greens...
We can't grow cherries around here, although right now there are black and choke cherries falling all over the path from the house to the cook shed. Too hard to harvest enough of them to make anything.
I guess my new favorite is blueberries. They are grown very locally, we have the perfect soil for them, and I'm hoping my little blueberry patch will take off here in a year or two.
Benning,
I don't know about Gene. Hope all is well with him.
Hurricane,
I think there's nothing fruitier than blackberry...even mango pales compared to the heady aroma of ripe blackberry.
Sandy,
Ditto to everything you said. Cherries go on vacation with us, out in the boat, and we too leave a trail of seeds...which will never sprout down here :(
Mrs. S,
I am sorry I mentioned women and logic in the same sentence.
Edifice,
Oh yes, plums are another reason for summer feeding :)
Likes2mtnbike,
It definitely is better fresh. I need to explore some of the local upick farms more. Blueberries ditto.
Deb,
The wonderful thing about blues is they seem to be incredibly easy and carefree to grow. I have a small patch and I'm thinking I should forget about growing vegetables and other deer staples and just focus on what works...blueberries. The deer seem to ignore them.
Hmm, cherry prices here in the boonies have NOT gone down.
I like a very sweet mulberry best of all, but they are extremely hard to find.
In general I like most fruits, but dislike anything with the name "berry" attached to the end of it. Except mulberries. :)
Favorite fruits...honeycrisp, northern spy, jonagold, ida red....we are in apple country up here with the best orchard in the world just a couple miles over the hill. Then fresh strawberries, blue berries, currants for jelly...oh heck, how can you pick a favorite (after the apples of course)? When my old horse was alive we had "apple rides" all over where he knew each tree. He would stop under them all while I picked one so he could have the core...after I tended to the rest.
Rurality,
Gosh...even out here the cherries dropped and you are closer to the yankee :) farmers!
ThreeCollie,
I love apples and they are my post summer staple. I eat them daily all fall and winter. We don't get the variety that you Yanks do, sadly we are below the decent apple growing line.
Pomegranate is my favorite fruit. My salivary glands are on. I should buy now some fruits because I feel a flood in my mouth. Yummy....
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