Styling: Summer Fruit Still Life

In the heat of mid-summer, delicate flowers are replaced with hearty blooms and an abundance of fresh produce.  Farmer's markets and fruit stands become loaded with lush fruits and vegetables locally grown and ripened in the valley sun.  Now shopping involves an early morning trip to the farm stand market for freshly baked ciabatta bread, biscotti, fruits, vegetables and nuts used for healthful and delicious meals.

Yesterday, I bought armfuls of local produce to add to the herbs and vegetables we grow at home, and began to think about how beautiful fruit can be when it is picked at its most ripe and colorful.  Then some favorite fruits and a few seasonal dahlias became the subject of today's still life photos.

Cherries are always a treat in the summer and are pretty placed in bowls for snacking...

The Bartlett pears will be made into Ginger Pear Muffins while the dahlias will find a home on our kitchen table where they add a pop of summer color!

This week both traditional yellow peaches and the long awaited Fay Elbertas are available.  The Fay Elbertas are a lighter, softer variety with a spicy scent and rich flavor.  Also, the first red grapes are coming off the vines and they are something special. These are Flame seedless grapes, a sweet and tasty local table variety.