I have cukes in the garden right now but as in past years, they ain’t taking off like everything else. Need to figure it out.

I grew up at the literal edge of the suburbs, and my dad was of the school which chose landscaping for its food value – no ornamental trees when real cherry, apple or walnut trees would do. He nursed an English walnut from wrist-thickness to grown man can’t even reach the bottom branch to climb it. We got cherries from our trees by the bucketful every year, and a neighbor let us pick his raspberries. As kids, we’d get sent across the road to his place, water buckets in hand, and be told to come back by lunchtime with full buckets. We did – and we had jam, jelly, frozen, baked, you name it. It boggles my mind today when I see raspberries for $4 or $5 a pint – in season we’d have a two quart bowl full of them in the fridge macerating with a little sugar and lemon juice for spreading over anything appropriate – the milk in my cereal was always purple from them. Or my mom would make raspberry shrub, a sort of lemonade where the main component was crushed raspberries.

We always had a big garden, from which we’d get all sorts of lettuce, onions, beans, tomatoes, peppers, whatever, all summer. We rarely bought produce. How big was it? Well, one year my brother raised enough sweet corn to be one of the last Boy Scouts to get the old Corn Farming merit badge.

I went to a you pick em cherry place last week and got about twenty pounds of sour cherries and five or ten of bullhearts – enough to eat fresh and to freeze. He’s raised his prices – to a whole $1.50 a pound. Took me about an hour to pick them. I love being in an orchard – it’s one of the most peaceful places there is.

I’ll dry some of them – pit them and spread them on a cookie sheet, then place in an oven set as low as it will go and leave there overnight. Then, its into the freezer. Come snow season, I’ll toss a handful into my farina.

I’ll probably make a clafoutis, too. That’s just an egg custard with a little flour added to stiffen it, then poured over pitted cherries and baked – recipes are available on the net.

By the way. The true name for peaches is “Glory of August”.

Buy the best beefsteak tomatoes you can find. You want juicy juicy juicy. Slice them. Salt them with your favorite salt which is NOT iodine-laden. Put on a goodly amount of sour cream, up to 50% sour cream to 50% tomato. Stir until the juice of the tomatoes are well incorporated and the cream turns pink. Let stand maybe 15 minutes to let the flavors blend. Taste it to make sure you have properly seasoned it with enough salt. If you’re using coarse salt you want enough time for the salt to dissolve properly, so stir it again before serving. Little bowls are a good idea.

That’s it! TRY not to doctor it up with other things like freshly ground pepper UNTIL you have tasted how good something SO SIMPLE can be IF you use superb ingredients. My preference is that it be chilled. You can make it an hour or so in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. The tomatoes start breaking down and losing their texture after more than an hour or so. Try it with wonderful crusty bread (sourdough or rye) along with olives and fresh cucumbers. For those of you who live in hot places (I live in San Francisco–I was wearing a tweed sport coat this morning for warmth!) this is a perfect dish for outdoor dining. You can easily make it at the table.

I learned this from a wonderful Jewish mother of a friend. I don’t know if that makes it a Jewish recipe. Around here prime tomato season is September unless you want to pay $3.00 a pound at a farmer’s market. I can’t wait! It’s a treat which reminds you that there are still seasons for the best produce.

eyesonthestreet @ 87

We have a dilemma here in our household. Our neighbor has a cherry tree in his front yard that is bursting with sour cherries. Last year he allowed us to pick the cherries, we gave him a huge bag full and made great pies. But this year he is out of town. So we longingly gaze at all those cherries, waiting on their branches.

My husband thinks we should just go pick them, which would mean opening his gate and going into his front yard without his permission.

I think that if he allowed you to pick them last year, he wouldn’t mind if you picked them again this year. You can always save enough for him, and bake a few pies for him when he returns. (Or bake now and freeze if he’s going to be away for a while.)

Besides, as my mother used to say, usually before raiding the neighbor’s peach and apple trees, “It’s easier to apologize than ask permission.”

y family all agrees…and he is such a sweet guy(our neighbor) he would probably blush if we did apologize.

It’s at http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

add lemon juice to it, i also sometimes add tahini…….and don’t use the skins……..called baba ganoush (sp?)

one of my favorite things to eat, with pita bread triangles…….