One of the summer’s greatest pleasures is the abundance of fruits and vegetables.
It is also fun to use seasonal sweets in the kitchen, adding even more flavor to delicious dishes.
Check out our favorite summer fruits, and see how we use them.
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Blueberries
Whether you grow your own, pick berries from a field, or buy from a roadside stand, nothing beats fresh blueberries packed with flavor.
They are delicious, cooked into a sweet sauce, and served alongside everything from ice cream to meringue cookies.
Every year they can be found in the Southeast and beginning in July in the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest. The fruit is not available in Southern California.
Cherries
Cherries are a summer treat, whether they are sweet or sour.
In addition to eating cherry pits on a dock and spitting the holes into the lake, we love breaking out our cherry pitter and making a single-fruit salad.
They can be found across the country from June to July, but they can be seen as early as April in California.
Strawberries
The difference between fresh-picked strawberries and fresh tomatoes is vast, and the ones you buy in season are far superior to the out-of-season stuff you find at the supermarket.
The taste of your strawberries can be worth the effort.
They are found in late spring to midsummer in the South, June, and July in the Northeast, May-August in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, and in California, nearly all year long.
Figs
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One of our favorite things about late summer is fresh figs, one of nature’s most elusive and delicious fruits.
We always pick the ripest bunch we can find, slice them up, drizzle them with honey, and invite some friends over. There is usually enough leftover to bake a rick fig crostata.
They are best seen during the summer months in the South, during July and August in the Pacific Northwest, August in the Midwest, and June in California.