Beautiful Berries.

This bowl of berry beauties was a delicious snack after spending a sunny afternoon outdoors.

Every week I've been stocking up on fresh, Summer-time fruits, from my local Farmers' Market. They are truly nature's candy. Fruit evolved to satisfy our palate, with the hope that if the sweet, fleshy fruit was eaten, then the inner seeds will be too, transporting the plant to some new location to grow and flourish.

After my market visit each week, I keep thinking that I have bought enough to freeze some for the winter or have enough on hand to bake some into a berry crisp or tart...but no.  Even though I've been buying between $20-30 worth of berries alone each week, they somehow end-up completely devoured without any adornment whatsoever.  Yep, plain and simple berries in a bowl; there's no treat like it.

Nutrition and esthetic-wise, berries are gems.  Their deep red/blue/purple pigments are full of antioxidants. Their peak season is Summer, which is perfect because we need more antioxidants in our diet during this bright season due to all the free-radical-producing sun rays we are exposed to daily.  Don't forget that you can apply sunscreen internally too by eating lots of antioxidant-rich berries post-sunshine.

Soak up the berry goodness while you still can: black berries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, red currants, and strawberries. They are all beautiful and bountiful right now.