Sweet Summer Strawberries

Good morning! Or just Morning, if you're like me, where the phrase, "Good morning," is considered more of a challenge than a greeting. It's June in the Midwest, and where I am, that means the strawberries are ripe for the picking, which is where I am this morning. Bright and early (heaven help me!) and by this afternoon, I should have a freezer full o' Jam.

There's something about a ripe strawberry...biting into it, feeling the first resistance. Then the explosion of flavor, juice filling your mouth, little seeds providing interesting texture, but not enough of a nuisance as to get caught in your teeth. Strawberries just taste like summer to me. Like everything that makes summer good - from freedom from school when you were younger, to longer days and evenings and nights that you can enjoy on a blanket, looking up at the stars. Strawberries have this...sensuality to them that speaks to the primitive, id part of the brain, or maybe even bypasses it altogether.

But maybe strawberries don't do it for you. What other food reaches into you, bypasses higher thought, grabs you by the senses and won't let go? And yeah...I want recipes, too. Mr. Xandra's gone out of town for four days. It'd be nice to have something extra whipped up for a nice reunion.