For the Love of Fruit...

I should apologize here for not having a recipe to go along with this post. The problem is that while I've been wanting to make a fruity dessert, I find that we're devouring the fruit before I get the chance. When fruit is at its perfect ripeness, there really is nothing to do besides cut it open, grab a spoon (if necessary) and dig in!

It's one of the sure signs of Spring. There's the warmer weather, the sunshine or getting your first sunburn, but nothing feels more like Spring than coming home with some perfectly ripe berries or summer melons from a Parisian market, especially if you've gotten them for a steal.

Paul and I have been going on long walks lately (another sure sign of Spring) and we arrived at the Richard-Lenoir Market near Bastille yesterday (via Canal St. Martin) just as they were closing down. We managed to find a few fruit stands still going and walked away with a demi-kilo of cherries and 2 perfectly ripe small honeydew melons, which were 1.50 Euros for the 2. When we returned home a bit tired and sweaty, I was overjoyed to simply cut the melon in half, give one half to him, keep one half myself and down the thing in about a minute flat. I can honestly say that I was never a fan of honeydew and now I realize it was just because I'd never had a ripe one. Unripened cantelope is one thing, but unripened honeydew is just so tasteless and pale; pretty much inedible. This was something altogether different and wonderful. Soft, very sweet, so juicy and absolutely perfect. Fruit at its peak just blows me away, and there's no recipe needed.

Maybe I'm the only one in awe of fresh fruit, but when you end up with the perfect piece of ripe juicy fruit, it feels like a blessing. You can't really plan it. Most of the time when you need that ripe pear, you won't have it or can't find it. I mean, when it's hot outside and (oh, you don't have airconditioning) juicy chilled fruit satisfies like nothing else, just the same way a hot bowl of soup does in the winter. I suppose if we'd been going directly home, I'd have bought 4-5 melons and made a honeydew soup or something like that, but we really couldn't wait that long! Eat it with a smile and enjoy it while it lasts!

I did not add color to that berry! Have you ever seen something so perfect!?