I absolutely LOVE cherries. Artificial cherry flavour has a bad reputation, but it’s my absolute favourite fake flavour (lollipops, jello, popsicles). I love fresh cherries even more than fake ones and nothing says summer to me more than cherries. Growing up in Vancouver meant that summertimes were made for road-tripping it down to the Okanagan Valley to pick fruit at all the U-Pick orchards.
Sometimes my whole extended family would go on a camping trip together, but my favourite times were when it was just the four of us, me, my mom and dad, and Kevin. We’d pack a tent, bring some buckets and live the fruit picking life for a couple of weeks. No TV, no phones (smart phones didn’t exist back then!), just the stars, the barbecue and massive fruit orchards.
My dad would insist on driving around to all the orchards to find the best u-pick price. My mom would be more concerned about the quality of fruit and whether or not pesticides were used. Kevin and I would just be itching to get out of the van. Fruit picking is a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. Still, we were pretty quick about the whole thing – the ladder would come out, trees would be climbed, fruit would be picked. On our way home, our little van would be packed to the brim full of peaches, cherries and apricots. After the long and winding drive, we’d invite our family and friends over to help themselves to the free fruit stand we’d set up in our backyard. Those trips were always my favourite part of summer.
Sadly, I haven’t gone to pick cherries in a long time now. Happily though, my Whole Foods carries locally sourced BC cherries. I partnered up with them today to bring you this post and a giveaway! Whole Foods is giving away a $50 gift card to one lovely reader.
To enter: please leave a comment below with your favourite childhood summer food memory. Giveaway ends on July 22nd at 12AM PST. Open to US or Canadian residents only. Winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Good luck!
UPDATE: Yay! Cindy M, get ready to go shopping because you just won a $50 Whole Foods gift card! Congrats!
Easy Pistachio Cherry Tart Recipe
makes 9 tarts
- 1/2 sheet store bought puff pastry, thawed
- 1/4 cup ricotta
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons honey, or to taste
- 14 cherries, halved and pitted
- 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios
Cut the puff pastry into 9 equal pieces and poke all over with fork so they don’t puff too much in the oven. Bake according to the package. While the puff is baking, whip together the ricotta, cream cheese and honey until fluffy and smooth. Adjust to taste. When the puff is ready, cool and if needed, flatten slightly so the cherries have a nice level plane to sit on. When cool, spread with ricotta mix, top with cherry halves and chopped pistachios. Enjoy!
My family spent a summer in Bar Harbor Maine when I was young. I remember walking out of the cabin door and picking wild blueberries. It was a long time ago, but I still want to go back and visit Maine again….
I would always make shaken homemade vanilla ice cream in ziploc bags!! There was one time where the bags popped and i got vanilla ice cream ALL over me….
I used to love having cookouts with my cousins. We’d always play a huge game of wiffle ball too!
My favorite childhood summer food memory is the family reunions we’d have every summer just before school started back up. My whole extended family and loads of family friends (even my dentist!) would come to our house for swimming, fun and tons of great food. The party would often spill over into the neighbors’ houses and would last two or three days. My mom would make her famous baked beans (still one of my favorite recipes to make and eat), sweet corn on the cob and macaroni salad. And of course we’d have burgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill. So much wonderful food and so many wonderful memories.
My favourite childhood summer food memory- mango salad and BBQ that my parents prepared in our backyard party.
My favourite childhood summer food was all kinds of fresh fruits – in pie form! Peach pie, raspberry pie, strawberry pie, cherry pie. All direct from the Okanagan. Add a bit of whip cream, and summer was perfected.
watermelon! my birthday is in july and one time instead of cake, we cut the watermelon in half, stuck candles and made a watermelon cake for my birthday.
Picking raspberries from my grandparents backyard garden.
The thing I remember most about my summers growing up, were the incredible doughnuts we would have every morning while we were on vacation in Sunriver. We would ride our bikes into town from our cabin and try to beat the other early risers who needed their doughnut fix.
Pimento cheese sandwiches with my mom by the pool for sure!