Fresh Bayfield Strawberries!
As June turns to July, one of our favorite times of year is here: it’s Bayfield Berry Season! We have featured Bayfield Berries extensively at the Landmark over the years in desserts, salads, entrees, soups, breakfast items, wedding tortes, homemade preserves, and anywhere else we can use them!
The first berries to ripen are Strawberries. We’ve been enjoying them for about two weeks now (they came just in time to make a delicious Strawberry Consomé for our Margarita Island Dinner!). One of our favorite dishes is a spinach salad with honey pecan dressing, sliced smoked duck, bleu cheese, and fresh Bayfield Strawberries.
Fresh Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Honey Pecan Dressing
Today (July1) the Bayfield raspberries started coming in. They are large, plump, sweet and juicy! We use them in much the same way as strawberries, and particularly love them in a white chocolate torte! Also, raspberry jam is our #2 selling jam, second only to our Apple Cider Marmalade.
As summer progresses we’ll see giant blueberries from our local orchards. They’ll definitely appear in our breakfast menu. We have a wild rice and blueberry pancake recipe that is out of this world!
Perhaps my favorite summer dish is fresh Bayfield blackberries with a splash of cream. Hard to beat that combination!
White Chocolate Torte with Bayfield Raspberries
We also have a great summer drink called the bramble: a short gin sour with a drizzle of crème de mûre served on crushed ice with a quick garnish of a lemon slice and two blackberries.
There are many other berries that cross our threshold in the summer: gooseberries, elderberries, juneberries, cherries and chokecherries.
In the fall we are blessed with Bayfield apples, pears and plums. Some growers are even showing up with apricots these days!
All in all, Bayfield is a wonderful place to live and work, even more so because of the delicious berries and fruit that grow so abundantly here!