The Raspberry Lady

I grew up in South Jersey, with many farms near by. We would often go to a market on the Ellisburg Circle that had "just picked" white corn, green beans and other farm fresh vegetables. But my fondest memories are of The Raspberry Lady, who would bring fresh fruit and vegetables door to door in a wooden crate that had a handle on it (probably home made). She would park her station wagon and walk up the path and I often answered the door (I'm thinking I was probably 7 or 8) and yell to my mom "the Raspberry Lady is here". Of all the things she would bring, raspberries were my favorite and were only available from her. Tart but sweet, a bit of texture - I just loved them. She also had corn, string beans, strawberries and other home grown food but we could often get them at the food stands. I'm sitting here typing eating raspberries on yogurt with a bit of granola. YUM - and the memories are there, in the back of my mind.

It's strange what we remember from childhood. A simple smell or taste can bring back a flood of memories. Thinking about food also reminds me of our back screened in porch. Just wide enough for a round card table with room for 4 chairs. As an only child, only three chairs were set out. We spent a lot of time on that back porch in the summer as we didn't have air conditioning when I was a child. Dinner would often be some meat (don't remember just what) and corn on the cob with either green beans, peas, or a salad of Jersey tomatoes. Those tomatoes were sooooo good! The tomatoes of today, even those from the farm, just don't taste like those large Beefsteak tomatoes that were red, juicy and didn't have that hard core in the middle. My mom would serve ice tea that she mixed with fruit juice. Any kind of juice she had - orange, apricot nectar, pineapple. This summer I'm again making that ice tea - a bit stronger than normal so that it still has a tea taste when I add the orange juice. Fresh mint (which I grow in containers on the deck) also taste great added to the tea. Thanks for the memories Raspberry Lady, thanks mom.