Frozen Fruit

For what must be the 54th time this week, the kettle is on.

We went out looking for birds this morning in 5F and were rewarded with a new one for our year: the red-breasted merganser. Mergansers are, undoubtably, my favorite waterfowl. They are stunning.

Stone Fruit Slump in
Rustic Fruit Desserts

Anyhow, as we prepare for company next weekend and I consider our menu plan, I am faced with a conundrum. For generations we country folk have been taught to prepare for winter and the season we are now entering into - the hungry gap - because you only eat what you grow and harvest and preserve to eat. Last summer, I put up peaches, blueberries, and rhubarb in the freezer and in jars. But, after having had such an indulgent holiday season, the thought of baking a cake, cobbler, or pie seems downright irresponsible! This is the time of year we should be surviving on well sugared preserved and turnip soup. But we aren't hungry. We aren't even skinny. In fact, we could both stand to go a little MORE hungry and be a little MORE thin than we are. But what about the fruit?

Before I know it, fresh rhubarb will be poking its pink head from the ground. Then I certainly won't be going to my freezer for last year's harvest. So I suppose we must entertain and by having people in the house {in-laws but also friends} bake away the carefully laid back fruit and thereby share and serve up a slice of summer for 450 calories a pop.