for Lunch or a Light Supper: A fresh spinach or arugula salad tossed with sliced slightly sweet, sliced cherries and a light vinaigrette. Plus a side of freshly fried (but never greasy) corn fritter served straight out of the frying pan…
OR you could just make a reservation at someplace fab like Borgo. I recently had the pleasure of enjoying their seasonal early-summer menu, which featured an amazing Buffalo Mozzarella appetizer with smoked cherries ❣️ sprinkled in alongside toasted hazelnuts—paired perfectly with a pour from a massive magnum of German rosé (Spätburgunder) curated by Borgo’s brilliant resident wine legend, Lee Campbell. . . Yum! . . .
Guess I’ll just have to go back to see whether a hearth-fried corn — polenta perhaps — “frittella” . . .or a flame-kissed spinach dish might also make cameos on this summer's lineup, which creatively changes with satisfying frequency. No doubt their pantry contains all those ingredients and more 'on the regular'—plus, I know for sure they artfully fry and sauté savory stuffs, so... stay tuned! 😋
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Back to RITTERS: (visually & audibly) enjoy these corn & okra fritters i fried up inspired by a recipe in “The Gift of Southern Cooking: Recipes and Revelations from Two Great American Cooks”, co-authored by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock.
And For FRESH SPINACH Day !…
I just LOVE a deliciously prepared leafy green side (or main!) dish … and sauteed spinach is at the top of that love list…
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HOORAY for “CHERRY DAY”!
July 16th, 2025, is ALSO National Cherry Day - Yes an annual celebration dedicated to this versatile antioxidant small seed fruit… The food historian in me can’t help but wonder why certain foods get chosen for fun optimistic sayings like “life is a bowl of cherries!” and “pretty please— with a cherry on top?!”…. But i digress,..
Cosmically Cherry (with the “ch” pronounced like “sh”) is the childhood nickame of my amazing sister Aunt Cheryl Hopkins aka “Cha Hockey” (yes the Ch is like a Sh here too ;) … who left this world way too soon. I celebrate her TODAY and EVERY DAY!….
…And a few summers ago I learned that Cheryl has a shared birth date with the amazing Ida B. Wells! Almost to the exact year — one century apart! … I was not at all surprised to learn this fascinating fact and here's why:
Not unlike our collective and iconic elder Ida, Cheryl was a natural born activist and advocate for equality, equity, civill rights and justice. She was and continues to be a beacon for me having shed so much light and having shared so many books and resources on the truth of American History, essential African American history and intel, the wisdom of the ancient Africanic culture(s) from which we originate... I am forever grateful for her profound influence on me as a human being and on the nature of the very work i do…
On this special day every July 16th, I am comforted by the belief and evidence of sorts that her positive energy lives on in alignment with our ever-present Ancestors, with their timeless boundless leadership…
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