Foodgasms!

To know me is to know a hedonist. To me this means not only seeking out pleasures of the senses, but taking a moment to enjoy those that others may pass by without granting full consideration. Consider the creation of dinner last night. Onions, purple cauliflower, zucchini and squash from the farmer's market, pea pods and peppers brought over by a friend, and amazingly large and plump wild caught Mexican prawns from Fitts Seafood. Is this not absolutely beautiful?

A quick stir fry, and then a quick steam in a sauce of curry, cardamom, fish sauce, red chilis, and Thai basil made by another friend... this was love in a skillet.

We picked up a flat of straw- and raspberries at the farmer's market, too. Some will become some lemon raspberry bars in a bit. The others... I'm going to try my hand at freezer jam.

Our somewhat disorderly garden has brought forth some wonderful pleasures. Our mix of strawberries show us the difference in texture, color and taste in different varieties (Hoods are early, but Totem taste better). Our blueberries actually have clusters of gorgeous berries on them. The cherry tree limbs are weighed down with what seems to be an endless crop of cherries, not even at full size/weight yet. I found a particularly ripe one; still tart but bursting with sweet summer flavor.

The best surprise, however, were the raspberries. Our three bushes were new this year, and we expected to see nothing from them at all. Surprised doesn't explain the feeling when I saw luscious fruit bigger than my thumb on them. And the flavor... unlike any ever seen in a store. The fruit was so fresh and bursting; you don't chew them so much as pop them in your mouth, push your tongue through the open top, causing the tiny lobes of the fruit to separate; they feel almost like caviar. Mash them against the roof of your mouth and it's a flood of raspberry flavor.

I love summer in Oregon.