Sunshine Challenge #3

[pensnest]

Journaling prompt: What are your favorite summer-associated foods?

My grandma grew raspberries. She had a lovely square patch of canes, and I often helped pick them, which was a great way to sneak extra raspberries into my mouth instead of into the bowl. Delicious berries. And they remind me of my grandma, which is never bad.

FIL also grew raspberries. Back when he had two allotments (!!) and a respectable back garden, he used to make raspberry jam, which was *excellent*. However, he also used to freeze raspberries with so much added sugar that they tasted more like sugar than raspberries, which was a practically criminal waste.

I have my first serious raspberry harvest this year! Picked a good bowlful on Sunday morning, and my Boy came round for lunch and interview prep. We had a generous portion each (fresh raspberries! from my garden!) and there was still enough for me to enhance my breakfast for a couple of days afterwards.

There are more on the canes. \o/


Creative prompt: Draw art of or make graphics of summer foods, or post your favorite summer recipes.

Hmm. I spent two hours yesterday drawing people, in the final class. Copying a photo is so much easier than drawing from life! We spent half an hour on the photo (an elegant Black woman in profile), then drew one another for five-ten minutes using pencils, graphite sticks, charcoal and oil pastels, then one final 'portrait' in whatever medium we chose. It was actually easier to do the 5-minute ones, because there was no expectation that we'd do it well....

All this to say, I'm out of drawing today.

As far as summery food goes, I guess I eat more salad in the summer and more soup in the winter, but salad merely involves cutting/tearing and throwing into a bowl a selection from: lettuce and similar, from a head or a mixed bag or both, spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, spring onions, feta cheese, salted cashews, sprouting beans, mushrooms, anything else I have that seems reasonable.

I am, however, inspired to create a Summer Pudding. Nigella has a recipe here https://www.nigella.com/recipes/summer-pudding but all you really need to know is: pudding basin, slightly stale white bread, mixture of berries, sugar. Line the basin with the bread, fill the centre with lightly heated berries and sugar, saving some of the delicious juice to coat all the bread. Cover the top with more bread, and juice that, then put a weight on top and leave it in the fridge overnight. Serve slices with double cream.

Eton Mess is good, too, with the additional benefit of not mattering what it looks like.

Icon is Pedro Pascal because he is also delicious.

Comments

[muscle_wizard]

Lots of delicious things mentioned c:

I agree I tend to eat more salad in summer because the veg is much fresher when in season and I want to eat it all. Anything goes, feta, walnuts, and dried cranberries are some of my favorite add ins too.

Congrats on your berry harvest \o/

My lemon trees are producing fruit and I'm enjoying watching them ripen.

[pensnest]

I'm much more inclined to eat salad in summer, and have developed a good method of making it tasty. Have not thought of dried cranberries! I use those to make rather good flapjacks, so there are usually some in the house. Might give it a try.

[minoanmiss]

Yay raspberries!

I hope this amuses you: I learned to make Summer Pudding during my LOTR days because it seemed like something a hobbit would eat so I learned the recipe in order to write about it. Now that you've reminded me I should make one.

[pensnest]

It *does* seem like something a hobbit would eat, though I am at least equally certain that hobbits would be noshing steamed suet puddings when they could. Jam Roly Poly *has* to be a hobbit staple!

[minoanmiss]

hobbits absolutely make steamed puddings. And fruitcake. Lots of fruitcake.

[dine]

there's nothing better than sun-warmed raspberries, right off the cane! dad had a row of canes out by the garage, and we'd get a metal bowl and go pick them every day. mom would add just a bit of sugar and mash them a little - wonderful with ice cream or poundcake. she'd freeze some too, so we could have them in the winter. she'd also make jam, but I think she had to buy flats for that, as our canes wouldn't have provided enough to make as many pints as ended up in the larder

[pensnest]

I don't think I'll be making jam from my precious raspberries, partly because I don't think there's enough but mostly because I have no experience at jam, and don't want to waste the raspberries when I could just eat them straight from the cane instead. But buying them in the supermarket is ludicrously expensive. I could go to a pyo farm, I suppose.... Raspberries do seem to strike a chord for a lot of people.

[turps]

I need to go out and pick raspberries today. I only have two canes, but they've still got a nice bit of fruit on them. Which I need to get before the birds.

Your salad sounds amazing!

[pensnest]

The birds (and squirrels) have not been much of a nuisance on the fruit front this year. Though the insects did devour my kales and caulis.

My philosophy with salad is that every mouthful with lettuce needs to have something interesting in it as well.

[dr_zook]

Icon is Pedro Pascal because he is also delicious. - Maybe the best answer to the prompt! xD

[pensnest]

Absolutely!

[rikes]

Yay for a successful raspberry harvest!

[turlough]

I completely agree with you about raspberries, they're the BEST summer berries! So I'm terribly envious you can pick your own in such quantities. (Why don't I have a raspberry icon?!)

I've never had a British pudding so I've no idea what they taste like but that one certainly looks delicious in the picture.

[svgurl]

That's awesome about your first raspberry harvest! And those are lovely memories of your grandma. :)