In a place that has eight month winters, I'm certainly not surprised at how much people enjoy their fresh food during the warmer months.  Although the growing season is relatively short, Maine offers some amazing food during the spring and summer.  Forget the grocery store: in Maine, going down to the John Deere parking lot to buy food from the back of a stranger's rusty pick-up is not only not as shady as it may sound, but potentially the best place in town for frest produce or seafood.

Aroostook County is very a rural area, so naturally many people keep their own gardens.  But every year there seems to be one crop that grows like crazy, so these part-time gardeners end up with far more cucumbers or tomatoes or squash than they can possibly eat on their own.  Their entire existence becomes consumed with these out of control vegetables.  And just when it seems that the plant cannot possibly produce any more, the gardener will find 20 new cucumbers that appeared overnight.  So they'll start anonymously dropping off bags of the surplus vegetables on the doorsteps of their neighbors and relatives - who, of course, are also trying to get rid of their own unwanted vegetables.

No one gardens at my house though, so I just get to sit back and reap the benefits of all my relatives' excess vegetables.  During the summer months, I'm never without fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, raspberries, blueberries, and a myriad of other delicious produce.  Last week, my grandfather dropped off a bucket of fresh blueberries, and since then I've been eating blueberries like it's my job.

I've been eating them in pancakes, on cereal, and in handfuls.  Today, though, I thought, "Hey, what's the use of a beautiful and nutritious fruit if I can't drown it in sugar and starch?"  Inspired by my friend Action's new blog, I decided to try something new.  I was thinking pie at first, but decided that was a bit ambitious considering my novice pastry skills.  So I found a Blueberry Crumb Squares recipe instead.  I was initially concerned about the odd texture of my "dough," but it worked out very well.  In fact, they came out so well, that I'm thinking I may try the same recipe again with different fruit (whatever people are trying to get rid of, I suppose).