H

oney, I’m hooooome! May was quite the month, with Work Stuff being bonkers, Saturdays being taken up by a course, and a nice trip away for my brother’s wedding, but now we’re back in business.

It’s a good month to be getting back proper food – I’m eating meals that take more than 10 minutes to make! – because we’re finally out of the cabbage months. I try to practice what I preach and eat British seasonal produce, which makes the winter months preeetty dull. I cave every now and then, but try to stick to “not if it’s flown further than I have”.

You might have noticed (who am I kidding?) that the shops, after St George’s Day, the traditional kick-off date for the British asparagus season, were full of Peruvian asparagus. It took a few weeks to catch up with the usual season thanks to the wrong weather this spring, and I spent longer than is normal trying to find a workaround, but I’ve not been to Peru. So I waited – and the home grown stuff tastes all the better for it.

But really, that’s not the exciting thing about June. The best bit is that we can once again walk through a market and be hit by waves of the scent of fresh strawberries.

What a welcome back.

Strawberries

• Balsamic strawberry galette with ricotta @ The Dinner Bell (I will forever link to this because it is good)
• Strawberry focaccia @ Little Sunny Kitchen
• Maple-tossed rhubarb, strawberry, and lentil salad @ Recipes from a Pantry
• Eton mess lollies @ Kavey Eats
• Peanut butter cupcakes with strawberry jam icing @ Veggie Desserts
• Rhubarb, strawberry & banana pie @ The Flexitarian

Find more strawberry recipes here!

PEAs

It sounds like something from an Enid Blyton novel, the way people describe eating homegrown peas in their gardens, an act so far removed from urban and suburban adulthood that it seems bizarre. But remember that snap as the pod opened?

• Spicy spring pasta with spinach and pea pesto @ The Dinner Bell
• Pea and mint ice cream @ Hemsley + Hemsley
• Garden pea falafel @ The Last Food Blog
• Creamy mushroom pasta with fresh peas and ricotta @ Foolproof Living
• Spring vegetable frittata with goat cheese and smoked salmon @ Michelle Arbus