home treats

It used to be that upon my visits back to the States, my first stop would be a fast food joint - Taco Bell - or the grocery store for Cheetos. This cuisine was what I missed the most.

But things are very different now. Yes, my first stop was the grocery store (So many aisles! So many products!). But instead I headed straight to the produce section for the local fruits and vegetables that I often deny myself. Or the vegetables that are not even on offer in the UK.

Bartlett pears - red-skinned and so sweet and juicy. I have not had pears for a few months in the UK - the comice pears of earlier this year are now shipped out of South Africa in droves, so I stay away.

Grapes - ditto. I literally have not had grapes in a year. But this morning, in a fruit salad with white nectarines, pears and some cranberry yogurt, the grapes were bright bursts of flavour.

And for dinner last night? We decided to stay home for dinner after the late night at the airport the night before. So I had some brainstorming to do. First on my mind - yellow squash. Quite similar to courgettes, these veggies are lovely but unavailable in the UK. (Well, I tell a lie - I once found one at Borough Market and immediately stuck it in my basket, carrying my prize to the cashier. Only when I found out that one squash (similar in size to the average courgette) would set me back £6 did I dutifully - and sadly - return it to its home.

But one ingredient does not - often - a full meal make. Ideas of a yellow squash soup flashed through my head (with corn perhaps?). But I settled upon yellow squash marinated in lemon juice grilled on the barbeque.

Add - a ripe tomato salad... roasted sweet potato chunks (finally local!)...ground sirloin burgers with parsley and Vidalia onions (a very local Georgia onion that has all of the flavour without the streaming eyes and the onion breath)... and a dollop of mayonnaise. Fantastic.