Scarlet strawberries - Best of British!

It's finally that time of year again, when we can pick up British strawberries and not the much less superior and tasteless foreign versions we get in the darker months. Sorry but it's true, the strawberries you get in the supermarkets in the winter are awful, but we still buy them, longing for a bit of red sparkle on our morning cornflakes all  year around! I too did this, until until very recently when I swapped foreign strawbs for blackberries and dried fruit and like a hibernating squirrel, I stocked up on nuts and seeds as breakfast toppings instead.

But now the time has come to laze in the park with a punnet of luscious strawberries, or lounge away an evening on the sofa dipping them into a tub of creme fraiche or more indulgently some clotted cream. Happy days. Long live the summer.

Roddas Clotted Cream, homemade chocolate brownie and
truly British strawberries - heaven!

Why not try picking your own? Or how about a pineberry? Or a spinach and strawberry salad?

Boozy summer dessert
Add two shot glasses of Pimms to a bowl of strawberries. Pop in some mint leaves and a tablespoon of sugar and give a gentle stir together. Leave to mull for a couple of hours at room temp before serving.

Serving suggestion: eat in the sunshine!

Classy Cherries at Harrods
During my recent work experience at delicious. magazine and Waitrose Kitchen magazine, I had a wide range of different tasks: from photocopying (no making tea though surprisingly!) to writing actual copy! 

One of the things that I will remember for a long time is that finding food for a magazine to cook and photograph is not always as simple as it sounds. Magazines are produced several months in advance so sometimes the food of choice is not in season. "How can this be a problem?"... I hear you cry, "In an age where food is imported and exported to all corners of the globe?"

Well cherries, peaches and apricots were nowhere to be in seen in London at the beginning of April. Trust me, my stylish yet affordable boots if they could, would tell you they feel like they've walked the entire length of London! Harrods at one point I hear were asking £350/kg! How ridiculous, that's about £9 per cherry! However, last year they were half the price and flew off the shelves and there were harsh words between the Knightsbridge store and Tesco.



A month later and Tesco are slashing their fruit prices



Now June is nearly upon us and all of the supermarkets have their hands on both cherries and strawberries. Although the British strawberries are the best, foreign cherries feel really forced. The latest ones I bought were Spanish and I found them very hit and miss. However, the competition is steep as no cherries will ever taste better to me than ones bought from a greengrocer in the sunshine and eaten on the side of the road straight from the bag, like I experienced last year in Turkey.

Nothing can top greengrocers on holiday!