Well, I still have rhubarb recipes gathering dust in my drafts file and I had hoped to post those before popping back here to simply announce that the next instalment of Kate’s Plate is live over at Ottawa Magazine (online and in print!), and yet here I am. Something about the best laid plans going awry…

I wasn’t super jazzed about strawberries when my editor first assigned this summer’s ingredient to me. I mean, people already know that strawberries are super versatile, and they’re delicious – I just didn’t feel like strawberries needed the spotlight.

It didn’t take much for me to get back on the berry-bandwagon. After chatting with Elizabeth Kilvert of The Unrefined Olive about pairing strawberries with balsamic vinegars and olive oils, and Briana Kim of Café My House about her funky ice cream flavours, I was fully committed to celebrating the fruit.

For me, strawberries will always make me think of my time in Huelva. Buying them by the kilo at the farmer’s market was a favourite activity with my roommate, and one we enjoyed from January until our Huelva-stint ended in June. Between Huelva and coming home to Ottawa, strawberries from roadside stands became my standard snack on the go. On my first morning in Warsaw, my friend was preparing a breakfast of strawberries, sour cream and sugar…only to have the sour cream topple out of the fridge into a mess on the floor. These are just some of the things that strawberries make me think of – summer, traveling, berry stained fingers and friends… and I think I’m bordering on twee now so I’ll stop and just send you over Ottawa Magazine’s way! There are three recipes to try, and I hope you enjoy them all.

Happy Start of Strawberry Season! Here’s to a less neglected blog space (hopefully).