When you have Rainier cherries to enjoy with a little Raschera DOP.
Rainiers, which were developed in Washington state near Mount Rainier, are very expensive where I live. You might end up paying $20 a bag at the beginning or end of the season. But it’s worth it. The flavor is complex, like a good red wine. You bite into the fruit and experience that burst of cherry-ness, but then it changes to spicy and earthy notes before fading off in a long, glorious finish…
I hate to see summer end, but August means sweet corn. This must be purchased from a roadside stand (never the grocery store), and preferably picked the same day. It’s boiled for three minutes and slathered with butter. One of life’s great joys. I like to remove mine from the cob, but the Long Suffering Husband likes his “typewriter style” (for those of you who remember typewriters, LOL).
Sammy smells butter!
Maize is a New World specialty. I wonder whether people in other parts of the globe get to enjoy it the way we do. It helps when you’re surrounded by cornfields… Now if only we had local cherries.
Linnet Moss 
Ahh, sweet, sweet corn. And cherries. And a prowling cat. Nice one. In season you can buy it fresh from a farmers market and sometimes from roadside stalls in the country but I doubt we experience it as ‘regularly fresh’ as you do, surrounded by those cornfields. As the teenagers say ‘I am jelly.’
I suppose that’s the one advantage to living amidst cornfields. Trying to make the most of it 🙂
Corn from a roadside stand always tastes better than that bought from a store!
Yes, the stuff from the store is hardly worth buying unless it’s local and very fresh.
Beautiful pictures, beautiful chrrries !
Many thanks! I wish the cherry season would last all year 🙂
Oooooh cherries! Picotas are my faves. And maize absolutely needs to be stolen from the farmer’s field to taste good 😉
I’ve not tried Picotas. I’ll have to look for them!
They are firm… and their stems come off during harvesting.
Those cherries would want to be bloody good for $20 a bag!
And indeed they are!
In Spain and Italy we eat the corn roasted, with salt on it, I just love it. 🙂 It reminds me of summer; in Spain when I was a kid (many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea 😀 ) I just loved to buy a hot “panocha” served on one of its leaves. That and the open air cinema playing classics meant summer to me. 🙂
Roasted, grilled, it’s all good. Sometimes I buy corn at other times of year, but it’s never the same. We have open air cinemas here, but they are not so good: a bunch of people watching from their cars!!
I planted two cherries last year to keep me supplied with fruit for eating and preserving. It wIll be a few seasons before they bear much fruit. I’ll be back in about five years to gloat about it.
I’ve never heard of anyone removing corn from the cob before eating it. I hate to sound judgemental but that is completely crazy and people who do that shouldn’t be allowed to have corn! I’m confiscating your cobs. From now on it’s tinned corn for you.
Ha, ha! Believe it or not Augie but it tastes just as good that way 🙂 Best of luck with the cherries!
Cherries and cheese looks so good, and the table spread as well! (Corn “typewriter” style – I love it!)
Once you’ve had fruit from a farm stand (or from a generous neighbor’s backyard or your own) store-bought fruit just seems empty, doesn’t it? Traveling north of Los Angeles (a few hours drive) through Oxnard there are many fruit stands outside the farms just off the highway and easy to get to. Strawberries in the summer, grapes, plums, peaches, and tomatoes that actually taste like the fruit they are and in every color (my favorites are purple Heirlooms) and the very best avocados.
Recently went a little further north again, and here’s some wine discoveries during my travels where I had you folks in mind, since I know you are fond of cool whites:
Rusack 2012 (or 2013) Chardonnay – about $24
By the way, if you are ever visiting California, Rusack is an excellent winery and picnic spot in the hills above Solvang.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-26698-2012-rusack-chardonnay-santa-barbara-county-usa
Fess Parker 2012 Chardonnay – $14 – $16
Beautiful winery, and nice picnic spot also. Lots of weddings here. Also just outside of Solvang.
http://www.webwine.com/items/detail?itemid=495378
Tobin James Champagne (Nice price, about $12-$14; not dry, but very light on the fruit – really wonderful with sharp cheese and sweet fruit)
In Paso Robles. Fun wine tasting room. Always a party.
http://www.webwine.com/items/detail?itemid=161030
Thanks for the tips! I love Fess Parker (and also Solvang–good memories of visiting there as a tot). You’re fortunate to live in the Eden of fruit that is California. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like a fresh, perfectly ripe avocado. And then there are the artichokes, but I’m getting off the subject of fruit…