The smell of Strawberries brings so many memories to the front of my mind. As all my childhood memories are mostly of food, this isn't such a surprise!
Growing up, we had two old ladies next two us, the Morris sisters, they never got married, just married to their garden! Every time I looked out my bedroom window upstairs all you could see was their bottoms - they stood to garden and bent over in their long dresses. They grew everything, from beans to sweet pea flowers and it was a full time activity for them. My parents were avid gardeners but paled in comparison. I really didn't appreciate any of this at the time.
My Dad took really good care of these two ladies and he was always sending me over with food or meals. To this day I cannot cook strawberries or make Jam without thinking about the delicious waft of Strawberry jam cooking that came out their front door! Making jams and jellies takes patience.
My other strong memory, which I just bored my kids to tears with today, is picking Strawberries in England to make money. I actually biked 2 villages over to Costessy, Norfolk, on my own, and picked strawberries all day to make pocket money ( I also ate a lot!). Often, it would rain and I would have to go home with no money. I am sure I had a fully tummy though!
After all the picking, you can still choose to buy some and bring them home. Lots of people just go picking fruits for themselves. The quintessential dish after this is Strawberries with Cream!
Strawberries and cream is really the perfectly complementary combination. An English summer is unimaginable without them. It is the popular choice at Wimbledon! Legend has it that Cardinal Wolsey was the first person to serve the two together, at his palace, Hampton Court.
If anyone wants to create my memory here is a link to find a job!
http://www.findextrawork.co.uk/strawberrypicking.php
I may have to blog about Scones and Afternoon Tea now!
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