I started writing this post in my head long before actually typing it. It takes a long time for a currant bush to mature and give a good crop. We don't know how old ours is, but it's the oldest bush on our property. In fact we saved it from the compost heap, and I like to think it's thanking us by giving us lots of berries. When our house was built the bulldozer went around back and forth, leveling everything. Our little (or then huge) bush was next and we demanded that it be saved. The landscaper cut it back to about a third of it's original size, but it's still healthy and happy.

When we were younger, we often spent summers in Europe traveling and visiting our maternal grandparents. My sister and I made friends with the other children living in the village and often were invited to play at their house. I remember one girl's grandmother preparing us an afternoon snack of bottles of coke with a straw and red currants sprinkled with sugar. I didn't care for the coke and always asked for a glass of cold water, something that vexed them terribly: You're American, how can you not like coke?? It's possible. To this very day I don't like coke and never drink it.

But the berries were a different story. Oh, how I loved them. First the taste of sweet sugar and then pop of tart berries. I looked forward to that snack every afternoon.

Back in the US, we never had currants and both the black and the red ones were something I always associated with Europe. In Summer I looked forward to drinking black currant juice and eating the red ones. I remember the first time I saw white currants in a store in Germany, several years after moving there. They bothered me. A currant should always have a color! I've gotten used to them, but still prefer the red ones.

So when picking our little red berries, I was having a hard time trying to decide what to do with them. Should I just eat them (which I did), or should I make jam (my husband would scream if I made one more jar of jam) or should I make a cake?

I started by making Nigel Slater's red currant crème brûlée out of Tender II and then I made Aran's red currant and poppy seed cake. I still had a lot left on the bush. After my bad fall down the stairs at the beginning of the week, I wanted to do something quick but tasty. So I decided a crostata would be just the thing. I picked some currants and tossed them and a nectarine, an apricot and some overripe mirabelles with some sugar and a bit of cornstarch. Easy and so good!