Sitting in Center Court with Wendy yesterday afternoon, she confessed that she doesn’t get to the market to shop all that often. Living out in Mount Airy makes it hard, but she stops by when she can. Several weeks ago, she was passing through when she stumbled across baskets of ripe strawberries for $1 a basket. She picked up two, took them home and devoured them.  They were the first real summer fruit she had encountered this season and they made the hints of warm weather with which early May teased us feel real.

A few days later the strawberries were gone, but the tasty memory lingered (she admitted that even just talking about them made her mouth water). By then, she had forgotten where she had purchased the berries, and kept retracing her steps in her head, trying to remember where they had originated.  The next time she stopped into the market, it flooded back, and she raced over to the stall where she had found them.  Sadly, that day, there were no berries to be had (at least not for the low, low price of $1 a pint).  At least she’ll always have her memories.

This is prime time for strawberries, at Reading Terminal as well as the other produce markets around town.  It’s pretty easy to find excellent fruit right now that needs nothing more than a quick wash to be delicious.  However, if you find yourself running into fruit that is decidedly lackluster, you can toss those berries with some sugar and spices, wrap it all up in a crust and make yourself a tart.