Your childhood is formed in your surroundings. You don't know what the big city lights hold when living in a rural area. Nor do you know the great independence county living holds when you grow up in the burbs of a large metropolis. Once in a while you get to experience a little of the other on family vacations. Those excursions are awesome! Lifetime memories. Then, you reach your teen years, gain some freedom and can determine which surrounding you desire. Great times are made with friends and family. Soon, you're ready to venture out on your own full time. City life suits you so you stay near your suburb home you grew up in. Maybe you are just sick of the small town feel and you have to experience the bright lights of a city that rarely sleeps. Of course, if you're like me, the big city is fun, but you want to escape to open spaces. You need room so you head for the hills and find the least populated city you can think of, even if it is the state you grew up. Some familiarity but away from it all. I get it, and I don't blame anyone for choosing your home surroundings once adulthood sets in. But, this post isn't about physical surroundings of growing up. Rather, it is what you grow up consuming for nourishment. No, it's not a normal food discussion either. So, buckle up for the adventure of the food you may love and how it just might become something you will soon become nauseous at the thought of consuming it.
I grew up in a small town north of Seattle. That town was famous for farms and strawberries. We celebrated the greatness of strawberries by eating them nearly year round. But the best ones were always fresh from the fields just south and north of town. It seemed all of my friends had a summer job picking strawberries once they graduated elementary school (5th grade there). Outside of not having a few extra bucks, I'm kinda thankful I never held that job. Not that I didn't like work, especially since I usually did random yard work for my moms boss. It's because I also had a job come up at home that seemed as if it lasted months. It was a job that I'm thankful for, where my brother and I learned a lot of life skills. However, it is safe to say that neither of us have the appreciation of the fruits of this particular job provided. And because of living in a town painted in strawberries, and learning the intricacies of all things apples, I have stories to tell and certain foods that cause trembling upon the thought of consuming.
Let's begin with the plantation I spent my high school days living on. Yes, just north of Seattle and in what was almost the exact middle of town, there was a plantation. It wasn't a big one, but there were a lot of apple trees. And a lot of pear trees. Crab apple trees were in the mix too. The first year we lived there we soon learned those trees produced...a lot. I don't know that the local Safeway store could keep up with our stock. We couldn't give enough of these delicious gems away. Bags upon bags of each lined our kitchen. That isn't including what was lost on the ground. What we couldn't give away, we used. Everything we ate consisted of pears or apples. Fried, raw, chopped, stirred in, smashed and more. Main dish, side dish or desert, breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. There was no wrong way or bad time to consume an apple or pear. My parents (mainly my dad) went as far as to go get an apple press to aid in making applesauce. We had pancakes with chopped apples topped with applesauce. There were fried and candied pears to top the ice cream. Apple crisp, applesauce on port chops and just about any combination you could think of. We even made applesauce to give to friends. If we weren't giving it to them, we had them over to help us consume the stuff. Even after I moved out of the house, I had to deal with apples (the house I moved to had just as many apples that I was dumb enough to take to my parents if I didn't sell them or give them away).
Fast forward to strawberries and the annual Strawberry Festival. An annual week long event that we attended parts of. Go Kart rides/races, a parade, carnival, bed races and more. The festival was punctuated by strawberry shortcake. Growing up I loved everything the festival held. Then I volunteered for a few years as an adult. It was great learning how to organize a small portion of the festival. I made great friends for that part of my life. I was able to share that time with family, and even saw my brother and father get involved. It was awesome! Then, in the middle of another dreary and drizzly Seattle day, I decided to help the Festival Strawberry Shortcake booth. I gladly accepted a free shortcake to help promote the food we were celebrating. Then I had another bowl of goodness...and another...and another...By the time 11am rolled around (about 3 hours after the 1st bowl of shortcake) I had consumed at least 6 bowls of fresh strawberry shortcake. That was Friday. I can't confirm I had more that afternoon. I don't remember much about Saturday (except the lightning, canceling the parade, and telling someone that standing under a metal water tower would not help protect them in a lightning storm), but I'm pretty sure I did have more shortcake.
What does all this nonsense mean? Why am I writing about it? Will it make a difference for you and your life? Outside of a few chuckles, it probably won't impact you much at all. This may be more therapeutic than anything. BUT, it's also to give you a little background into my life.
I know how to harvest apples (and "accidentally" miss the bag to hit your dad on the head). I've learned to eat what is available, even if it is just slightly different than the meal before. I know how to make different things from one simple fruit. Yes, a simple apple can teach you all that and more if you give it a chance. It can also teach you how to come together as a family, how to be generous, be a good host, and most importantly, how to make the most of every situation. Better stated - it gave me the ultimate knowledge that I have to choose my attitude. Yup, a simple apple taught me all that.
The strawberry gave me just as much knowledge. It taught me how to help friends and strangers. It gave me limited organizational skills (I'm still learning this). I learned how to make sure electric cords weren't strung through puddles, how to keep people safe at all times, notice the small things affecting my surroundings and to appreciate a free meal (or seven) even when it is the same as the last. I saw families be a family for one week a year. I saw how to run a festival and how to work with the masses to make something special. It provided great life lessons. Yes, a small red fruit gave me a lifetime of memories and lessons, just different enough to add to all I learned from an apple.
I may loathe applesauce now. I may shudder at the thought of eating strawberry shortcake. I may never volunteer to taste your beautiful looking and probably great apple or strawberry pie, but I will admire your work. Sure, a fresh apple is great, but I have to dip it in caramel sauce in order to get it down without choking it down. Yes, I'll have some strawberry shortcake, but it will only be once a year, twice if you're lucky. If I have to have toast with strawberry jam, rest assured I asked for something else first. I'll still eat apple crisp, but I hope there is some vanilla ice cream to top it with. I love these great fruits. I just have a hard time looking at them without bringing up some wonderful and sometimes dark memories.
As I discussed this very thing with my brother, these are some very dark roads for me. But, I can't be who I am without these roads in life. I am appreciative of what these two (three if you add the pears) fruits taught me. I kinda miss not having those apple trees to help my two children learn what I've learned. Okay, I really don't miss the trees or mass amounts of applesauce, but I do miss everything that went into the products of that small plantation I called home for many year.
