Above the fruited plain...

I have our country on my mind a lot and America the Beautiful is one of my favorite patriotic songs. The words are so moving...spacious skies, shining sea, amber waves of grain, brotherhood. "Above the fruited plain" played through my head today.

I really like fruit but don't seem to write about it much. I just eat it. I love apples, melons, all kinds of berries, tropical fruits, summer fruits...you name 'em. I have a lot of memories that involve fruit, too: my one and only, self-made "fort"...a treehouse in an apple tree; learning to drive (the first time) winding my way through the hills of Pittsburgh to Soergel's Apple Farm; in Cleveland, with babies in tow, picking 30-40 pounds of all kinds of berries and freezing them for the winter; my dad's rhubarb over Friday Night ice cream; pineapples in Hawaii and the giggles over The Pineapple Princess; special outings with my grandparents to Wickham's Fruit Farm. And, you may have noticed, I can hardly cook a thing without adding lemon to it. But, honestly, fruit is mostly an "aside", something I think of after all the veggies.

A couple of interesting emails about fruit have popped into my mailbox. One, from the Divine Ms. M, about eating fruit on an empty stomach. That makes total sense. Fruit is a natural detoxifier and can't do its job sitting on top of a meal it is supposed to be helping detoxify. Better to eat it first and have the arsenal of detoxifiers ready and waiting. The article she sent me has some other tips about fruit and disease prevention, and so let me know if you would like the link and I will send it to you.

The other email was about the pectin in fruits and its ability to help burn fat and flatten tummies (I got this email after the Skinning Dipping post!). Now, that is cool, too, and the pectin in apples and berries especially work well to prevent your body from absorbing too much fat. This gives a new twist to the "apple a day". I am adding both these tidbits into my detox regimen.

Instead of desserts, palate cleansers, sideline snacks or whatever the second tier in my food world is, fruits need to hop right on up there front and center and this summer is a great time to do it. I still like them eaten simply, though...just sweet and juicy as is.

But given the detoxifying, fat-burning capacity of berries, I thought I should share this recipe with you. Why, it looks like it will practically digest itself, burning up fat along the way...hence, no worries! And, it makes a really pretty dessert for the Fourth. And, true to my word, I will put it front and center tomorrow instead of at the end of this long post!