Do you eat a lot of fruit? It’s the best thing you can eat in summer or anytime, especially to keep trim. A friend of mama’s told her once that fruit can never add calories because it sort of goes in and out so fast….sorry about that, but it made sense!
Well, today on this lovely July morning, I was ruminating (whatever that is) about all the sweet fruit things this little burg has to offer, not the least of which are some of the best stone fruits in the region. In fact, this is the fruit basket of southern France and below you see the nectarines and whoopee cushion peaches (as papa calls them) that turn up every Wednesday and Sunday in our open market.
Did you know you really must look for the spottiest nectarines you can find and they will be the sweetest, because all those spots you see are sugar coming to the outside of the fruit. And make sure they are heavy, heavy before you buy any stone fruits as that will ensure a high sugar content. Not that I eat this stuff, but mama is a nut for stone fruits and so there are several baskets of them around the kitchen for the next few months. Oh, and the apricots! They are killer, almost like apricot jam when ripe, but with a great firm texture. That’s mama’s downfall–apricots. In Los Angeles she used to wait for the speckledy ones, the Blenheims, which are the primo apricots of all time. Ugly and exquisite at the same time. There are none here but there are the lovely apriots of the Rousillon, very famous. I play with the seeds.
See all those speckles on the ones on the right? That’s sugar, baby.
Whoopee! Peaches!
A fruit salad beginning with all the fruits around here….oranges from Spain included and kiwis that taste like lemonade!
Uh, oh, gotta run. Mama just threw a peach seed in my play area!
We don’t do fruit…because we’re cats. But the mom does. She loves this time of year because all the fruit is so plentiful.
It’s the best thing in the world to eat, those anthros say, and Mya, the doggy, eats cherry tomatoes!!!
WELL – Mama is once again drooling onto her keyboard at those beautiful fruits!! Moi? I’ll take chopped apple. But mama just said she wanted to make her nectarine salade, which she hasn’t done all summer – and the nectarines are beautiful – as well as the melons, all the red and blue berries, blood oranges, lemons – YUK! But that’s just the dawg in me – my humans LOVE that stuff and can see yours do too. Maybe mama will make an apple crumble – with kibbles! What is your dream dessert? YUMMMMMM!
Unfortunately, my dream dessert is chocolate pot de crème with chocolate sauce and chocolate cookies on the side!!! Never in my dreams will I get even a morsel of that! Maybe I’ll switch to apple. I do love cheese, so maybe a nice cheese soufflé….
Everything looks great. We just enjoyed the last of the strawberries from our garden.I made strawberry jam and ice cream too.
So freeze 2-3 cups fresh strawberries with 2/3 cup sugar, juice of 1/2 lemon, and dash of vanilla. When ready to make ice cream, whip a cup of chilled cream and add the frozen strawberries to the blender and process until thick. Serve.
Look at you being so cute!
Oh, thank you, I never know when cute will happen.
Do humans drool? I think Jan is as she eyes all that fruit.
Oh, YES, humans drool and drool and drool. They are constant droolers, just observe when food appears anywhere near them.
Did you realize that if, like me, you aren’t much of a typist, you can easily have “furit salad !” And I bet sometimes you do.
These look delicious, and I did not know that the spots and speckles are what you WANT when you choose !
Oh, yes, maman goes out of her way to find the speckledy fruit, both nectarines and peaches. Apricots, too, if they are Blenheims, which are speckled all over because of their sugar. They only come out two weeks in June in California and are DEELICIOUS! Well, not for me, but for those other types…
Our mom says the fruit looks divine. She loves summer fruit.
Yes, well, we are living in the fruit basket of France. Well, not actually IN the basket, haha.