One of the best things about summer is the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables. There is such a variety to choose from and it is generally delicious. Vegetables seem to be more reliably tasty than fruit. I can pretty much count on tomatoes, corn and cucumbers being flavorful. I would venture to say that watermelon, grapes and strawberries can be counted on to taste like a little bite of summer. But the peaches, plums, nectarines, honeydew and cantalope are a veritable crap shoot. Sure, I squeeze and sniff them but I am not confident in my selection ability. Sadly, I am often disappointed. When I do bite into that perfect piece of summer fruit, I feel like I hit the lottery. It is sweet, juicy, and absolutely delicious.

There is one fruit that seems particularly hard for me to find in a succulent state – yes, I am always on the lookout for that elusive perfect peach. My husband swears that peaches are better if you buy them at a fruit stand where they are locally grown. I have not always found this to be the case or I’m just not going to the right place. Testing his theory, I strode into a fruit stand on the Eastern shore on the way home from our family vacation.

“I’m looking for a delicious peach,” I announced.

The nice lady took the time and humored me while carefully examining several peaches, even allowing me try one. I have to admit – it was better than most I’d tried during the summer.

My husband and I discussed the difficult pursuit of good fruit, after delighting in a delicious honeydew one evening.

“I would eat fruit all the time if it tasted like this,” he said. “Candy and cookies, on the other hand, always taste good – that’s the problem. They’re so reliable. Fruit, not so much. Yep, you never bite into a mushy Oreo.” Such wisdom my husband possesses. He’s the Dalai Lama of junk food.

An eternal optimist, I will keep looking for nature’s tasty treats while making do with reliable junk food. Sounds peachy keen to me.