SUMMER CHILLIN'

SUMMER CHILLIN' 

"What is wrong with you people?" said the voice on the other end of the phone conversation. You know when the chat starts out that way, it's not going to go anywhere good. "I've been trying to buy strawberries from you for two days!" 

  We share your frustration. Strawberry season started for us on Tuesday, June 4, and despite trying to spread information through our in-store signs, our monthly newsletter, Facebook and Twitter, we can't get the berry word out to everyone. We're now at the very end of the strawberry season, and supply is spotty and never certain. 

Customer's questions are eminently reasonable: What time do your berries arrive? (Can't say for sure.) Can you hold a flat for me? (No, very sorry!)  How many flats will you have? (We only know how many we ordered, not how many will actually be brought.) Will you have them tomorrow? (Ask us tomorrow.)

   It's a good thing that local strawberries are so darn sweet and beguiling, or it would be easy for us to be very cross with them. I think sometimes we forget that strawberries don't come out of a factory where the production lines run 24/7. Real people have to wake up early, go to the fields and pick those berries by hand. Some days it takes longer to fill our order because the field may be picked over; only a few pickers showed up;  rain may have damaged the berries (Thursday, June 20th, to be exact, and it can take several days for a field to recover from rain); or traffic could cause delivery delays. OR, the driver could decide to stop at Taco Time on his way down here for a leisurely combo meal (Saturday, July 29th, to be exact---grrr).

We will have local strawberries on an unpredictable, irregular basis for the next week or so, and if you're in the market and see them, snatch them up, and then move on to the other delights of summer, because summer is a-comin' in! 

STRAWBERRY HUMMINGBIRD SORBET

I made a fresh batch of hummingbird nectar last week (4 cups water, 1 cup sugar, simmered over medium heat, stirred until the sugar dissolved), and after filling the feeders, had some left over. At the same time I was blenderizing four pints of strawberries to freeze in hopes I would eat frozen berry puree in lieu of ice cream.   I poured about a cup of leftover nectar in the berries, added a cup of water, and froze the concoction. Turns out that I actually prefer Strawberry Hummingbird Sorbet to ice cream, and I can't wait to make my first batch of Raspberry Hummingbird Sorbet. It's raspberry season!

CHERRY BOUNCE

Grandma Camilla's heirloom recipe, enjoyed by the family for forever. She specified pie cherries, but since they're difficult to come by (although we have had one delivery of them this season), it's ok to substitute Bings, which will give a richer, sweeter flavor.

I've modified her original recipe, because liquor isn't sold in "fifths" anymore, and we don't usually weigh the sugar for our recipes these days.

1 1/2 pounds pie cherries

1 cup granulated sugar

1 750 ml. bottle Bourbon.

Rinse and stem cherries. Leave pits in. Place all ingredients in a large jar with a screw top lid and swirl vigorously once each day for 30 days. Strain cherries out, discard (or eat---they're potent!) and bottle your Bounce. Enjoy it iced in summer, "neat" in winter. It's good for what ails you.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!  BOTHELL PARADE STARTS AT NOON...and runs from the Post office to Pop Keeney Field. As of today, Monday July 1, people have already set out chairs along the parade route. Wave at Stuart and me; we're the Grand Marshals this year!

FRUITFULLY YOURS, Karin