I have always loved strawberries. I grew up during the time when Strawberry Shortcake became iconic. And so everything that resembled a strawberry was very enticing.

Sadly, this red, luscious fruit is not readily available where I am. We live in a very temperate area and thus strawberries could not thrive. But there are lots of strawberries in province of Benguet. The high altitude allows a very cool temperature and so strawberries are in abundance.

In Manila, it is easy to get hold of fresh strawberries, because it is just a land trip away from Benguet. Although it takes 8 hours from the uplands to the metro capital, at least, that is only a short trip. But distributing these fresh fruits to other provinces is not feasible.

But at my hometown, we just have to contend with eating strawberry flavored ice cream, sundae, or cake. My children know that I love it so that when we order, any one of them will say, “Strawberries for mom.” Hihi…