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Depending on where you are in the country, it’s strawberry season! Out in California candy sweet strawberry season begins in April. Where I live in the northeast, it begins in late May. I love strawberries!

In my fourth year at The Culinary Institute of America, my class spent the spring traveling northern California visiting wineries, farms, and factories. We were welcomed by the warmest, most passionate farmers and foodies on hilltop pastures, in creameries, in nurseries, in fields of gorgeous veggies, and in orchards of fruit-bearing trees. Our job was to take it all in, and that’s just what we did: picking, tasting, and drinking our way through each adventure. I fell in love with California on that trip. There is a passion for food and the land there that is absolutely contagious. One of my favorite memories was visiting the strawberry farms, picking berries in the hot sun, and eating them warm, as the juices dribbled down my arms chin.

There are two main varieties of strawberries. Ever-bearing varieties (think Driscoll’s type available all year at your local market) and the higher quality June-bearing berries you’ll find more often at berry patches and farmers markets this time of year. Ripe June-bearing strawberries are usually smaller in size, but are dense, deep red berries, and are sweeter and more delicious than any candy. Get ‘em while they’re good and try out my Gluten-Free Strawberry Sour Cream Muffins.

Do you have a gluten restriction? Are you looking for a great gourmet summer getaway without the worry of what to eat without the wheat? Good Commons is hosting a Gourmet Getaway weekend retreat in Vermont that is Gluten-Free! Come check out the fun, including a cooking demo by me, Liv Gluten-Free!

Click here for more info on this GF Gourmet Getaway!