In Wisconsin, and the rest of the Midwest, you also learn the phrase "too cold to snow." Now, this might seem a little strange, but there is a certain point where it becomes just too cold for clouds and snowflakes to form. This is when you see a crystal blue sky outside and you know your eyeballs will freeze if you set foot outside. I learned to layer everything, pants on top of pants, sweaters under more sweaters, two hats.
This Sunday was one of those "too cold to snow" kind of days in New York City. Boyfriend and I were in the city meeting his dad for dinner. We took the afternoon train to Penn station and set out to do some shopping. Even with wearing a heavy sweater, coat, hat, scarf and gloves, I was cold. Boyfriend said "It's so cold, my face hurts." To which I answered "I know! It's killing me too!" He didn't appreciate my sixth grade humor and needed the joke explained to him...
The only thing that my story has to do with this recipe is that I want it to be summer already. Unfortunately, we are months away from fresh picked fruits and vegetables. If you go to the grocery store and buy berries, it is very likely that they will be lacking flavor. Luckily there is a solution, canned berries!
I was completely unaware that you could get almost any berry in canned form, until I was contacted by Oregon Fruits. After seeing my post fot cherry coconut muffins, Oregon fruit contacted me about using my recipe on their website. I ventured over there to check out their product and noticed they sell all sorts of berries and fruits! They wound up sending me a sampling of some of their fruits, including blueberry, raspberry and gooseberry (if you know what to do with a gooseberry, let me know!). After the hectic holiday season, I finally had the time to break out the berries and give myself a taste of summer.
