Summer Fruits: From Salads to Shortcakes

When I eat a dead-ripe peach, it is usually over the sink with the juice dripping down my chin and hands.

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When I eat a beat - right peach , it is usually over the sink with the juice dripping down my Kuki and hands , with a slight slurping sound . It is a full - on sensory experience and I usually enjoy it most when no one else is around . When I am experience more civilized , I peel a mild , big ravisher over the sink and then slice it into thin slices onto a plate and then sit down at the mesa with the plate of peaches and a ramification and love every firearm . ( I used to peel and slice up peaches and nectarine for my kids all summer long until they were old enough to do it themselves – and then they still asked me to do it for them – it is inevitable that you will get sticky juice somewhere . )

I do this with most of the stonefruits of summertime – nectarines , apricot tree and plums , though I do n’t uncase plums . What would a plum be without the counterpoint of sour skin to seraphic risque meat that makes your perceptiveness buds hydrant dancing ? Just imagining this makes my mouth water . And of course cherries are just pop - in - your - rima oris ( my preferred road food ) no need to peel or slice . Unless I ’m pass water a yield salad , pie or deep-dish pie and then they need to be halve and pit , of track .

Strawberries are done for the time of year and snort are about to follow ; blueberries , blackberry and running blackberry are still to be had . Watermelon , cantaloupe and hondeydew rotate through the kitchen weekly – and any other alien melons that I discover at the farmers ’ market . I am hold back for my ‘ Moon and Stars ’ watermelon to mature in my garden . I cut melons into wedges or slices and keep them in the fridge for snacking throughout the day . I also do this with tropicals like mango , papaya and ananas . There is nothing like sweet , nutritious - rich , sassy yield for rehydrating a gardener during the dog Clarence Day of summertime .

I take any fruits that I have on hand and toss them together for fruit salad , which I especially savour for breakfast or any time I need a refresher during the day . Mostly , I use up it plain – if it is sour , I might tot a drizzle of maple sirup , agave or one of my herbal syrups . I like to macerate a fistful of herbs in with the yield ; just vanquish or tear the leaves in your hand and bury them under the fruit . My favourite herbs , both leaves and blooms , are the lemony - season ones like lemon basil , lemon balm , lemon verbena , lemon thyme – and the mints , peculiarly orange mint and Mentha spicata – Ananas comosus sage or peach - scented salvia ( sometimes call tutti - frutti ) , anise hyssop , and reddened - bloom bee balm are also fun flavors .

Once I have the fruit salad train , it can go many directions . It can be garnished with yoghourt or whipping emollient . It often goes into the blender with a piffling succus added for a smoothie or with a shot of your favored spirits and a handful of ice cubes , it make a delightful wintry intermixture . It can be a topping for ice cream or sorbet , poundcake or pancakes and waffles . However the very best option is on top of a biscuit made from scratch . And if it is a tart buttermilk cookie covered with right summer fruits and dolloped with wise vanilla whipped cream … well that is about as good as it generate .

Although there are infinite toothsome herb and yield combinations , my personal preferred fruit and herb pairing is a perfectly good peach with lemon tree sweet basil ( ‘ Mrs. Burns ’ Lemon Basil ’ is my number one pick – although all lemon basil are salutary ) . I must confess that I await this seasonal delicacy almost as much as much as I anticipate the first summertime ripe tomato with ‘ Genoa Green ’ St. Basil . It is sublime .

Meanwhile , enjoy the summer fruits everyday while they are in time of year – and make your own animate botanical - fruit combination . enjoin me what your favored herbaceous plant and yield coalition is !

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Homemade buttermilk biscuits adorned with fresh berries and peaches macerated with lemon basil and a trickle of maple syrup and dollops of vanilla-infused whipped cream–it’s the bomb! Click on other pix to enlarge and read captions.Photo/Illustration: susan belsinger

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