Kristian  is a HUGE fruit eater.  She generally will eat fruit before she eats vegetables.  Mind you she will eat her veggies because she knows that if she doesn’t eat a balanced diet her digestive system goes haywire and we have MAJOR issues.  So Kristian will eat her veggies, with no complaints; but if you offer her fruit her eyes light up and a beautiful smile comes across her face. 

We live in Indiana.  The only fruit or veggie that we produce agriculturally is corn.  No fresh fruit to be found here.  This past weekend I bought fresh pears and strawberries.  The pears for Kristians lunch and the strawberries for the Sock-It-To-Me cake that I was making for dessert this week.  When I told Kristian what “delights” I had purchased over the weekend I got that beautiful smile and the light in her pretty brown eyes.  She asked for strawberries right away – a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast the next day, sliced strawberries along with pear slices for lunch, and more sliced strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast this morning.   One thing I know is that strawberry season is May and early June here in the U.S., but the package said product of USA, so where did they come from and still be fresh.  Which brings me to the point of this blog.  Today, four days after buying the strawberries, I had to throw away 1/4 of the pint away because they were “bad”.  As I was throwing them away, I began to wonder what has happened to our fruit?  I usually don’t buy fruit that is not in season, because I don’t expect them to have the correct flavor.  I gave in and bought the strawberries because I really wanted them with my cake.  The strawberries were sweet, no sugar required.  So how did this happen?  How am I getting sweet red strawberries in March?  I don’t know folks but maybe this was why I had to throw away so many of my strawberries.  Have you had a piece of fruit recently that you just knew was going to be awful but ended up tasting great?  Have you had an apple or pear – which is supposed to be in season – be totally unripe?