Summer Food Cravings by T.R. McClure

In Deal of a Lifetime, the third in the Home to Bear Meadows series, Alex and Cyrus share fresh-baked raspberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I write a lot about food in my books. In Pennsylvania, food is front and center at almost every gathering. 🍪

Unstoppable, the 2010 movie about a runaway train, filmed in our area. Appearing on The Tonight Show, star Denzel Washington was asked by Jay Leno what he thought of the locals. With a big smile, Denzel replied, "They kept trying to give me food." ⭐

The locals define hospitality by giving food to guests. Tea, coffee, cookies, pie... If you show up at dinner time, we just set an extra plate.

Back to the raspberry pie. I know any kind of fruit can be found in grocery stores year round, but at one time bakers took advantage of the season. In central Pennsylvania, black raspberries ripen around the Fourth of July. For about a week, you go out early in the morning, before the sun heats the air and stirs up the insects in the tall grass. As a night person, I find rising early difficult. So I deal with a few insect bites in return for quarts of delicious berries.

Raspberries are just the beginning. By late July, tomatoes are ripe. Nothing compares to a thick slice of meaty tomato, still warm from the sun, on two slices of soft, white bread coated with mayonnaise. No turkey. No lettuce. No whole wheat. Just tomato. Yum.





By the middle of August the grassy scent of ripening sweet corn permeates the summer air. A bright yellow ear of corn minutes from the field added to a pot of boiling water, slathered with butter takes me back to childhood.


Zucchini is ripening...and ripening...and ripening. What to do with zucchini?
What can't be done with zucchini? Stuffed zucchini, fried zucchini, zucchini bread, zucchini pancakes. Even zucchini jelly. One year I asked coworkers what they did with zucchini. I got a different answer from everyone.

Ten years ago Ratatouille hit the theaters.


The star of the animated movie is a rat who loves to cook and dreams of working in a famous restaurant. That year I had a surplus of tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers. Following the recipe by combining everything but eggplant, I successfully prepared the delicious stewed vegetable dish which, incidentally, originated in Nice. Trying the recipe also gave me the opportunity to use the word in conversation, as in, "I made ratatouille with my extra tomatoes and zucchini."

Maybe that's why I looked up the recipe. Ratatouille is such a happy word. 😊

Food cravings. We all have our seasonal favorites.

I've led you on a summertime culinary adventure in PA. If I came to your town, what favorite seasonal delight would you share? 🗺

As always, enjoy the read!
T.R. www.trmcclure.com




Comments

  1. Now my mouth is watering for raspberries, T.R. If you visited Charlotte, NC, the first thing I'd offer you is sweet tea. It's a little too sweet for my taste, but you might like it. Congratulations on your September release!

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    1. I have an Alabama son in law who likes sweet tea. Too sweet for me, too! thank you!

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  2. Corn dogs, lion ears, and breaded tenderloins here in Indiana. Of course, we have them all years, but they feel summery.

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    1. We have corn dogs at local fairs but I'm not sure what a lion ear is.

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  3. When I start eating fresh raspberries, I know it's summer. (Kind of like apples right about now--nice bags of them from the local orchards.) Even my kids have good memories of picking berries and then a few weeks later, apples. I like food mentions in novels. Makes the characters real to me. Thanks!

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  4. Thank goodness those summer treats are still available, T.R., because my mouth was watering while reading your post! That tomato/mayo (yes, on squishy white bread!) took me right back. Though now I like to add a slice of cheese and lettuce leaf. All the best on your release, which I am currently enjoying, too, though all on its own!

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  5. Well, there's always me and my saskatoons. And yes, apples. Because Alberta can't grow peaches, it's always special to get the crop from milder British Columbia (province to the west) in August/September.

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  6. I think almost all fruits and veggies are brought in to our area of Arizona. I know people who grow tomatoes here in hanging baskets. I have really never liked to cook, but of course I love to eat. Ha ha! Feeding folks is very welcoming.

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  7. We just arrived in high country Arizona, and the tomatoes we planted in May are starting to produce. We also have squash, and lots of mint. So I'd either make you green chili squash casserole or my hubby's mint and feta lentil salad, which isn't local at all but it does use up some of that mint. If we were still in Alaska you'd get fresh carrots on the side, because they grow they best carrots and cabbage. And rhubarb pie. I'm going to have to try one of those tomato sandwiches.

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  8. I write about food a lot, too. In fact, I write about food I can no longer eat due to allergies, etc. But I know what I'm missing because I used to be able to eat it. So I fantasize through my writing. ;)

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  9. We grow some of the best berries in the world here in the Pacific Northwest - strawberries (our local varieties will bring tears to your eyes, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries (wild ones are best), marionberries. I'd definitely make you pie or cobbler!

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  10. Food in a novel is as necessary to the story and characters as it is it sustain our lives...I believe. And I LOVED the movie, Ratatouille! We've got zucchini the size of baseball bats. So, lots of zucchini bread going into the freezer for the holidays. YUM!

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  11. I love squash on the grill and berry pies :).

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