The best Paczkis are made in Hamtramck

Well, they didn't last long

The strawberries, that is. At least here in southwest Michigan. All the local patches (including my strawberry patch that meanders around some of our raised beds) wrapped up the strawberry season over the weekend. The strawberries started early and left just as quickly as they arrived. We made the most of them and enjoyed fresh strawberries on cereal, pancakes, waffles and ice cream. I ate countless bowls of strawberry shortcake as well. In fact, with that in mind it is probably just as well that the season is over - at least as far as my waistline is concerned.

Here is what our local orchard, Corey Lake Orchards, had to say about the season -

Due to the early spring heat, everything is running about 10 days to 2 weeks early this year. It’s almost unheard of for strawberries to be over and to be in the middle of cherry season during the middle of June!

Sounds like we had better get our fill of cherries as quickly as possible - they might go just as fast as the strawberries.

Another great local market for asparagus, strawberries, and blueberries is Riverland Farm Market. They are supposed to have Michigan blueberries in starting this Friday, June 25th.

In honor of National Chocolate Chip Day

I didn't know there was a National Chocolate Chip Day, but I guess I'm not surprised. There are days dedicated to just about anything imaginable. Anyway, with today being National Chocolate Chip Day I figured we should honor the chocolate chip properly by putting them in cookies :). Doing some quick research it appears that there are actually two National Chocolate Chip Days. One was already celebrated on May 15 - who knew? I shared my Great Aunt Florence's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe a couple of years ago. It's a simple and delicious recipe that you have just got to try.

Also, I created a page dedicated to Creating the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie. It's well worth the visit :).

Enjoy your chocolate chips today nestled in some wonderful cookies!

Michigan sweet corn is here!

I've been hearing reports from people that the Michigan sweet corn crop is just starting. The weather has certainly held up the crop a bit this year and it looks like it might be rather staggered as well. In other words, if you see some for sale on the side of the road and think you'll just stop by later - you'll probably be out of luck. I've been told, "if you see it, buy it because odds are it will be sold out later." Remember, for best results cook your sweet corn the day you buy it. After being picked, the sugars in sweet corn break down into starches and greatly affect the flavor/quality of the sweet corn. If you can't cook it right away - put it in the refrigerator to at least slow down this process.

Went above our goal and picked nearly 50 pounds of blueberries this morning

After our previous trip to the blueberry patch resulted in over 20 pounds of blueberries my wife and I knew that we would need to shoot for a goal of 40 pounds in order to have enough blueberries to freeze and enjoy all year long. We went above and beyond that by picking over 47 pounds of blueberries at Locke's Fruitful Acres just north of Volinia, Michigan. The picking was easy and you just can't beat the fun of picking your own blueberries and chatting away while you work. We honestly didn't know that we had been there for three hours when we were all finished. I now sit here typing this with sore shoulders, aching back, burning calves and the satisfaction of knowing we have enough blueberries put up in the freezer to enjoy at least one pound each week. Fresh Michigan Blueberries in the summer taste great and are extremely enjoyable. Eating blueberries in the winter over hot cereal, in pancakes, or pies is a great way to remember and appreciate the work it took to have such a treat in the winter and it helps (in some small way) to get through those darkest and coldest of winter days.

There's still plenty of blueberry season left so be sure to get out and enjoy some fresh Michigan blueberries! :)