Lola at the Coffee House, Cafe 101

Of course they do! Strawberry fields forever - at least when you head up to
L.A. from San Diego, and usually we stop and buy some from one of the many
stands along the road. They're the best: huge red juicy strawberries!

Well- it wouldn't be easy buying them from a stand unless you stopped now would it Cal?

Isn't everything in the US "HUGE"?

Yes, I've picked some up on my way back to the OC from the gallery in La Jolla. It's the OC which has abandoned even the small agriculture like strawberry fields. The land became so expensive and commercial complexes wiped them out. There's also the wholesale indoor plant greenhouse but I always go to the Santiago Greenhouses (the original) or Newport Greenhouses 'cause they're closer. I've been avoiding the orchid season there because they always have hundreds of them out and I know I can't resist.

The only good fruit around here is at Whole Foods, Wild Oats or Bristol Farms but it's expensive. I did get some giant California artichokes there last year which were $ 3.95 each. I cut them in half, steamed them, then grilled them, and served them with home-made smoky tomato dip.
Now I made myself hungry and my friends from Laguna are going to have me down for dinner, so that will include a trip to Facist Island Bristol Farms.

Oxnard, CA. advertises itself as the Strawberry Capital, but also a long drive. Strawberrie fields are alive and well, just not close enough to my house.
http://www.calstrawberry.com/commission/preleases.asp?pID=37&action=detail&keyword=abby

I read about power gossiping in an American publication once LW.

Was that a typical example?

No, I've been hearing a lot about "tiny penis"...

Ah, then you were in my town visiting galleries.
Yes, Whole Foods is definitely good, and so are our local farmer markets
where you get very tasty, fresh produce.
Smoky tomato dip sounds delicious; what's the recipe?

Spendius, unlike you poor Brits who suffer through spouts - or should I say:
months and months of rain, we Californians bask in utter sunshine and warm
weather all year around. So naturally, produce and fruits grow much larger,
taste better and are juicier than your average British strawberry that probably
needs food coloring to pass for one.

word

I don't understand why people buy/eat large strawberries. Even when the local ones are in season, I look for the tiniest, deepest red/black ones. The smaller and darker, the deeper and better the flavour.

The odd strawberry wouldn't be enough to get me into a climate like that. Blue sky for ever and ever is so samey. And one can't really talk about how big and juicy and tasty one's strawberries are for all that long. Not in polite company at least.

We like our rain and our turnips. They give us something to grumble about.

What do they grumble about in California?

Taxes!

That's even more boring, and thus impolite, than bloody strawberries. It's mild lower-middle-class gallows humour at best and at worst the sound of a human being caught in a trap from which it cannot disengage.

Taxes are wonderful, like rain and little, pink, slightly under-ripe and not all that juicy strawberries.

For spendi, everything up is down, and everything black is white. He has been behind the mirror for so long that being a curmudgeon is his desired state of being .

Beth, when I saw your new avatar, I thought that it was a bird on a branch. Not till I went in to see the pic on your profile did I see that it was a young lady ith some dollies. Very cute.

Best Website for artichoke recipes, but no smoky tomato dip. The Benedict is another favorite of mine. I could not find the tomato dip on the internet, some of them using Chipolte Peppers, which are, of course, Jalapenos that have been smoked. I will have to dig out my recipe and post it. That requires a stove-top smoker (which could be hard to find -- a smoker who will sit on top of a stove).

http://www.artichokes.org/recipes.html

As far as strawberries, I did pick up some local strawberries at Smart & Final which were just ripe, juicy and sweet. That's the problem with strawberries. The short time they are ripe and ready to eat. In one large package of small, medium or large, there are some perfectly ripe and some not ripe. It's a sorting problem but worth it, especially if one dips them in dark chocolate and serves them with a glass of Cristal. An expensive evening.

No, but you're an example of power trolling.

Oh that's okay, Lightwizard, if you don't have the recipe handy, I can do without
it. I'll check out your link and will try some of the recipes there. Perhaps I'll
get my kid to eat artichokes this way....

I am going shortly to our local farmers market and buy fresh strawberries there
and they're usually very good. I am ready for cherry season though - we've
eaten way too many strawberries already.

Spendius is just a tenacious provoker, but really harmless.

Hes just like a tick.

I printed it out and it's in my recipe book -- it's from The Daily Grill so I'm not sure I got it on line, but you might start there. They do share some of their recipes. The grilling makes them appetizing for the kids. I cut them in half with a cleaver.

Well, of course he's harmless -- he's thousands of miles away where he belongs. He would prefer provocateur.

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Oh, great, now he thinks he's Mata Hari.