Camille and I got up early this morning and made a trip to the Catania market. There are lots of small town markets near us that are closer and easier and held on certain days of the week, but Catania is my favorite. I love the pulsating energy of the market beating daily in the center of the city. I enjoy the jostling, the singing, the cajoling, and the vibrancy of it all. And ofcourse, I love the overflowing displays of seasonal offerings from the land and the sea.
Today's trip to the market prompted Camille to squeal with joy when she saw the stands with strawberries. She was especially eager to sample the fragolini di bosco...strawberries from the woods: wild strawberries (although I have to wonder if these berries were actually grown in local green houses or if our unusually sunny winter has prompted them to be ready "in the wild" a bit earlier than usual?). As you can see, they are tiny little treasures full of flavor and they can be found topping some of the beautiful pastries in local pasticcerias.
But no matter where we are in the world or the size of the berries, when strawberrry season hits, I aways start the season with good intentions of making fabulous strawberry creations. Like my on-going fantasy that I will finally make strawberry shortcake. Did I ever mention that my sister's wedding "cake" was actually individually made strawberry shortcakes? Made with freshly picked Louisiana Pontchatoula strawberries, it really was one of the best wedding cakes I have ever had (I also loved our chocolate hazelnut wedding cake, too. Nancy really is amazing. She made both of those memorable wedding confections). Anyway, back to fresh strawberries...they never stick around our house long enough to get made into anything! Perhaps that will change this season, but probably not. Camille and I have already gobbled down most of this morning's strawberries (a mix of tiny and big ones). Guess that means we'll be heading back to the market again very soon.
We had strawberry shortcake yesterday as strawberries finally returned to the super market after weeks of being off the shelf. However, I love Italian strawberries. So flavorful especially those little ones. Yummy! Jealous!
YUM!
This Karen seconds the first, YUM!
(for some reason I couldn't log in to blogger?! But it's me, Karen in DC!)
Strawberries?!? Yum, I would love a taste of June right now. xo
Delicosa! (How close is that to Italian?) Our strawberries also disappear too quickly to be made into anything. Not that we have strawberries yet. But I just got a little more impatient for spring! :)
We're having the same (delightful) problem here. Strawberries at my house never last more than an hour!
what stunning strawberries! and how wonderful that they come in January!
I miss fresh strawberries a lot. They are so great, and so many things to do with them! Have fun.
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