Fresh fruits and veggie season

Now that we are officially one week into summer there are lots of fruits and veggies coming into Casa Grande. The local Farmers' Market opened on 6/18/11 and it's fun to meet up with friends and see what's finally in season.

This past weekend I found CHERRIES for the first time this year. I was never fond of cherries growing up - I think it was the over-sweetness of the marichino cherries we had at home. I've eaten most of this week's batch so far and never even had a chance to "make" something with them - maybe after I get more in 4 days! I was thinking cherry ice cream but what else could I make?

I forgot to get the year's first ZUCCHINI - so dissapointed in myself when I remembered on Sunday.

I did buy SCAPES tho - do you know what they are? It's essentially the curly flower stalk on a certain kind of garlic. Remove the stalk and more energy goes into the bulb. Hmm...shouldn't they pay me to take the scapes since it improves their garlic harvest? Anyway...last week I made grilled pizza with scapes that had been coated in olive oil and sea salt and grilled on my new grill wok, fresh mozza and left over doctored pasta sauce. I didn't care for the dough recipe I found so I'm open to suggestions. I've also cut them up onto a salad and pesto pasta. This week I hope to make pickled scapes and/or scape pesto.

Can you tell I like to collect old or handmade wooden spoons? This is just part of the collection in an old milk bottle basket. I can provide my address to anyone who needs me to adopt their wayward spoons !!!


I've got RHUBARB in the fridge waiting to be made into Rhubarb Crisp - can't wait.

The veggie garden is in full swing. It's time to put the TOMATO cages up and I need to put up a fence for the SNOW PEAS to grow on. I had planned to plant the GLAD bulbs on a "schedule" so the flowers would last longer into the season - can you guess how that's going?

And last but not least, Mom and I made STRAWBERRY freezer jam on Saturday. It's a staple in both houses. Last year I only made 4 jars for lack of freezer space and that only lasted 6 months. I made 8 jars this year and leased freezer space elsewhere! Jam is a particular process at our house(s) making for lots of dishes and timers but we've got it down to a science and the end result is soooooo worth it. Leftover strawberries are destined for sorbet.

What fresh fruit and veggies do you have?