An ongoing theme in my blog, and in my personal spiritual practices, is that we can be upset about certain circumstances in our lives and/or our country and still retain our bliss. One of my seasonal blissful moments occurred this weekend.

Readers from previous years know that I refuse to buy fresh strawberries anymore EXCEPT for our local organicish strawberries. Nonorganic strawberries, which the majority of grocery store strawberries are, are one of the produce that contain the most pesticides and unhealthy chemicals. Other than strawberry season wherever you are, they are usually shipped from countries half way around the word, giving them a HUGE carbon footprint.

But honestly, my number one reason for not buying anything other than local seasonal strawberries is this. Once you’ve eaten local organicish strawberries, the ones you get in the store taste like styrofoam coated in pink strawberry flavoring.

The return of strawberries to our local farmers markets is always a time of celebration for me. And here they are!

Just look at these first of the season strawberries:

Those are two different strawberries, but they were both pink and soft throughout. It’s early in the season, so they aren’t the sweetest. But they actually taste like strawberries. And so they bring me bliss.

We have been snacking on them all weekend. But to really celebrate their return, I wanted to make them the centerpiece of a meal.

What is more fun than having breakfast for dinner? It is especially enjoyable for me, because I rarely eat breakfast at all. So I decided to make Sirniki, which are Ukrainian Cottage Cheese Pancakes, covered with strawberries for a dinner this weekend.

In addition to our local organicish strawberries, the main ingredient is cottage cheese, bound together by flour and my farmers market eggs. I use this healthy cottage cheese:

There is minimal sugar or other flavorings in this pancake batter, so I upped the flavoring profile by pouring brown butter over them instead of regular butter.

I layered them with the strawberries, then drizzled a small amount of maple syrup that I got from the farmers market. The raw ingredients came from New York, but it was processed and aged locally.

It resulted in this lovely dish:

The pancakes are denser and more protein-rich than typical pancakes. It was not overly sweet with a simple drizzle of maple syrup. All in all, it was a satisfying vegetarian meal to celebrate the arrival of strawberry season in Triangle North Carolina.

Another evening this weekend, I had a Passover meal of salmon, potatoes, and mixed vegetables. So this weekend, I got to have two special seasonal meals.

I hope you had at least one celebratory meal this weekend. No matter what is going on, I encourage you to have a meal or two that uplifts you beyond just your physical needs for sustenance. Life is too short not to eat good food.