Monday, June 1, 2009

June Means Fruit Time!!!!

Spring harvesting has arrived. With the arrival of June come bounties of all sorts of good fruits. There are strawberries and gooseberries to peaches and rhubarb. This is the time to enjoy the fresh picked sweets whether from your garden or from the store.

Strawberries will be in abundance this month. Enjoy them. You can soak them in Asti or make preserves with them. They are also good sliced over pancakes and waffles and of course this is the season for strawberry shortcake . Many farms throughout the area will be offering strawberry picking. Take advantage of these. if you're in the UK it''s also gooseberry season. These are used in jams and in pies. The most famous dish is gooseberry fool . This is when the fruits are pureed with whipped cream and then served with more cream. It's popular in the English countryside.

Rhubarb is another big June harvest. This is where you pick the stalks (not the leaves that are highly poisonous) and then cook them into pie filling or jam. Sometime strawberries are combined with the rhubarb to give it a sweeter taste. Rhubarb pie is wonderful especially when it's home made and covered in real whipped cream. You can also make a compote with the rhubarb as well. Just make sure that the freshly picked stalks are thoroughly rinsed free of all dirt and bugs.


Now that June is here, it's time to enjoy the fruits of a late spring - early summer harvest. Relish these sweet and natural treats any way you like. Like a perfect June day , they're wonderful and memorable.