Fruit

Fruit is sweetness in it's most natural form. A piece of perfectly ripe, fragrant, seasonal fruit is one of the best pleasures of life.

One of my fondest childhood memories is about fruit. In the summer, I would often go visit my grandparents, who lived in Fresno, California. They had a large vegetable garden with a well-established peach tree. In the morning, my grandfather would take me out to the peach tree and lift me high into it's branches so I could pick my own peach. I would bring it in the house to my grandmother, who would remove the skin and slice it in a bowl for me. Of course, being four years old, I covered it with all the evaporated milk the bowl would hold and two or three teaspoons of sugar, but what I remember is the fragrance and flavor of those peaches right off the tree, which is so different from the fruit available in the supermarket.

My best recommendation is to look for fresh fruits at farmer's markets and fruit stands, or grow your own. Anyone can grow strawberries in containers, and if you have enough room to plant, you can grow other fruits as well.

When we lived in California, we had a whole row of raspberry canes that were given to us by a neighbor. Year after year, we had a prolific harvest of big, juicy raspberries. We would just go outside and eat them right off the canes. Of course, raspberries won't grow here in Florida, but our house came complete with orange, tangerine and grapefruit trees that produce more than we can eat, and even a little grove of banana trees that produce the most wonderful little bananas.

Start with the freshest, most flavorful fruits you can find for these recipes.