The Great Cherry Debacle

This week there will be no new crock pot recipe, nor will there be a fabulously quick and easy soup or skillet recipe.

You might ask, “Why?”

And, of course, that is the subject of this week’s entry.

Nothing is more hedonistic in the summer than diving into the bounty of local summer fruits. We have, in Washington State, on both sides of the mountains, orchards and fields full of gorgeous examples of glorious summer eating.

In the Puyallup Valley there are berry fields and cherry orchards (not to be confused with The Cherry Orchard, which is a play). I remember as a kid going to the u-pick farms in the valley to pick strawberries and to the Duris Farm to pick cherries.

Back then, we would, every once in a while, sneak a snack straight from the berry bushes. Not so much the cherry trees, because we were mostly picking sour pie cherries. I love tart, but that’s a bit much for me.

I remember taking a berry from the stem, wiping the dirt off with my hand and popping the sweet treasure in my mouth, the berry still warm from the sun. That’s a moment that, even as a kid, makes you close your eyes because you know it’s something divine and transcendent.

Did I ever get sick from doing that? Not once.

This week, however, I’ve been nursing my cranky tummy back to health after a big mistake the prior week. I ate bing cherries I got from the grocery store without rinsing them off first. (I know…I can hear you all now…I have learned my lesson…trust me.)

I really wasn’t sure what was causing my gastric distress. A virus maybe? Or a food allergy? I had been consuming more dairy and wheat on a regular basis. I’d had some high fat content ice cream recently…could be gallbladder. Or IBS. I’d eaten some raw scallion with the carnitas and hadn’t had raw onion in a long time.

The internet was no help in diagnosing my problem, but it did give me a lot to ponder while I burped and farted.

I spent about 5 or 6 days with the worst gas cramps imaginable. I was certain there was something seriously wrong. But I had a doctor’s visit scheduled for this past Wednesday, and I seemed to be gradually improving every day. So I decided to stick it out.

When I described my symptoms to my doctor, she looked at me and said, “Food poisoning, probably from unwashed fruit.” As I thought back to the previous week, I remembered having just a few of those cherries before I washed them.

I shook my head. What an idiot. I never do that! I always wash stuff I get from the grocery store before I eat it. What was I thinking??

Well, I was thinking about the summers when I was a kid getting berries from the small local farms where I picked the fruit myself. I wanted to be a kid again and live a little dangerously. But my over 40-year-old stomach wasn’t having any of that adventure.

So, the moral of the story? Wash your fruit. And you can’t go home again.

Look! Two morals for the price of one. :o)

At least it’s finally summer fruit season around here. The local strawberries are in. Which means I need to hit a farmers’ market and then make some jam!!

Next week, I’m hoping to make some Moroccan crock pot chicken. I think my tummy is up for the spices now.

Happy Independence Day to all! Enjoy your summer favorites this weekend. And remember, we continue to fight so that everyone in the US has the same freedoms!