Berry Season

One of my great joys is designing and making new berry bowls to use and enjoy during berry season. Right around March I start to get really excited because the sweetest strawberries start showing up in the grocery store. I don't know where they come from but it seems at that time of year is when they are really ripe and really sweet. I love strawberries, blueberries, raspberries. Blackberries- eh, not so much. It's not that I don't like them, they're just not that great to me and don't warrant the price that you usually have to pay for them.

One of my favorite things to do with strawberries is to sprinkle them with a little basalmic vinegar and sugar and let them macerate for a bit and then add a little mint (in my case, chocolate mint which I have  growing in my backyard).

I love to put it over vanilla ice cream or even cottage cheese and it's absolutely fabulous.

I also recently discovered the stuff called Brooklyn Cream in the grocery store in a little package near the mini cheeses and the butters. I'm on weight watchers and this is  a fantastic discovery because it adds just enough creaminess to my fresh berries to make me feel like I'm having whip cream without all the points. (In this case 1 WW point)

I had to make two turbo sized berry bowls to keep on my kitchen counter because my husband and I love to have fresh berries, grapes and cherry tomatoes readily available to pick at.





 Most of the ones that I make and sell are smaller and hold about a pint like these new ones that  I designed with flowers around the holes.

Handmade Berry Bowls $30

This years berry bowl designs

Here's another berry recipe from MyRecipes.com that sounds delicious and I really want to try...

Breakfast Polenta with Warm Berry Compote

Ingredients

COMPOTE:

1 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Dash of ground cinnamon

1 (12-ounce) bag assorted frozen berries

POLENTA:

3 cups 1% low-fat milk 

1/2 cup dry instant polenta

2 tablespoons sugar 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

PREPARATION

To prepare compote, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add honey, juice, cinnamon, and berries; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Keep warm.

To prepare polenta, bring milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. Slowly add polenta, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in sugar and salt, and cook 5 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Serve with compote.

Have a berry recipe you'd like to share? Please post in comments!