Summer

I’d flown to New York for too short a time and then extended my stay because I had too many things to do and then flew home. Crowded/full flights both ways, a little delay, and by the time I reached L.A., I was flat on my back. Jet lag. No. Fever.

And for me a completely curious thing - since I think the cure for the stomach flu is a chili dog or a hamburger please with French fries - absolutely no appetite. None. I was nervous about that.

I didn’t eat anything for two days – don’t discuss my metabolism, two hours is a long time for me.

But by the third day, I still didn’t feel like I could eat anything.

Unaccustomed to any processed food, maybe blame it on the “cheese plate” if you can call it that that comes packaged on the plane if they put enough on and you can in fact purchase one, I felt only the freshest thing would do. Not even chicken soup. (I have a theory by the way that chicken soup is not a curative but quite the opposite, but that’s another story.)

All I wanted was some kind of broth, no, something slightly more substantial. Home-made vegetable soup. The easiest thing in the world.

What's this I see? Kids fighting over vegetables? Yes, it's true.

This past Saturday at the Little Italy Mercato in San Diego, two little boys were tussling over cucumbers. Well, not just any cucumbers, Armenian cucumbers, otherwise known as "snake cucumbers" and "snake melons."

"I wanted that one!" said the freckled blonde, stomping his right foot on the ground.

"Well, it's mine!" said the dark-haired one, fiercely, as he handed a curly, striped cucumber as tall as he was to his mother and asked: "Can I have this?"

I sighed. Ahhh! There is nothing so touching as seeing children fight over fresh farmers' market vegetables.

If you've seen an Armenian cucumber, then you understand why they're so alluring.  Though a variety of melon, an Armenian cucumber looks and tastes like a regular cucumber, but can grown up to three feet long!

Berries are fragile, which is why we love them so much off the bush or in a bowl But there are a couple of things to keep in mind once you decide to cook them, like in a pie.

First. Often they are less sweet than you imagine, even when they are perfectly ripe. Don’t confuse the full berry flavor with sweetness.

Second. Blueberries tend to need some acid to brighten the flavor and even blackberries can use some for balance.

Third. I believe in adding some starch to thicken fruit pies. I don’t want berry juice to run all over the plate. I want to get it into my mouth. That is the role of starch as a thickener.

I have no children, not even a dog or a cat. But I'm considering adopting. Adopting a peach tree that is. Near Fresno, farmer Mas Masumoto and his family grow lovely heirloom varieties of peaches including Sun Crest and Elberta. Their peaches are organic, fragile, absolutely delicious and only available by adoption.

Now I have to admit, I am totally and completely biased towards peaches. They are high in dietary fiber, Vitamin A, Niacin and Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin C but that's not why I love them so much. Soft, juicy, fuzzy, fragrant and ever so pretty to look at, peaches are the sexiest fruit around.

Because the Elberta variety is so delicate, Mas Masumoto sells his peaches in a most unusual way, he allows people to adopt a tree and harvest all the peaches for personal use. That means a commitment to go to the farm and pick peaches the moment they are ready.