Glutton Part 2

Ok I am a glutton for fresh blueberries. Yes I know I should be eating local fruit and not feeding into the military industrial complex to ship fresh fruit halfway across the county polluting the air and deepening our energy crisis with every mile but I cannot help myself. I should be finding a local blueberry farm and buying from them or picking my own but I haven't the time for that right now. And I know that is an excuse because if no one had the time we would be knee deep in an energy crisis, dependent on foreign oil and unable to free ourselves from the military industrial complex to which we have enslaved our appetites and food choices (wait, we may have already done that). Regardless today I have eaten two pints. One for lunch and one for dinner. I am serious. I'm an addict. I already have 4 pints frozen in the freezer for winter. Today was a busier than busy day at work and I came home to two children who had been home all day, one husband who had been home almost half a day and a kitchen that was messier than messy and my only delight today was popping blueberry after blueberry into my mouth.

It is my mother's fault really. First of all she did not teach me to pace myself with fresh fruit or to share every well (only in regards to fresh fruit). We would buy a pound of fresh cherries from the roadstand on the way home to our house in upper Michigan that my grandfather rented every summer for us and he would be so irritated that half the bag was gone by the time we got home. A few times he sent us out for more. That could be half my dad's fault too because he'd stop for fresh bread on the way home from work for dinner and by the time it got in the kitchen a huge bite/fistful would be taken out of it. He used to tell my mom he got a good deal on it because it was a defective loaf. I always laughed at that. I don't think my mom ever fell for it. The Cooks are not known for their power of delayed gratification when it comes to fruit and baked goods. Secondly, when my brothers went to soccer camp each summer my mom would buy a box of frosted flakes and multiple pints of blueberries as our special no-brothers-for-a-week-treat. She would wash the blueberries in our old yellow colander in the sink and we would eat most of them even before we had them on our sugary dreamy cereal. It was the only time I got sugar cereal growing up (don't cry for me Argentina about being deprived of sweets, my parents did own an ice cream store). And lastly my mom read me Blueberries for Sal (picture above) over and over when I was a kid. It is my favorite children's book. Sal was picking blueberries with his mom and would pick one, drop it in his bucket and then eat one or two or three. Sal fell behind following his mom and ended up following the mama bear and the baby bear ended up following Sal's mom. Unclear why losing your mom and following a bear is a delightful children's story. Maybe bears are delightful when they are popping blueberry after blueberry into their mouths.