In case you didn’t know, cherries are incredibly healthy, and, in case you have a tendency to gout, as I do, they’re terrific gout attack preventatives. (So is pineapple.) And, in case you didn’t know, blackberries are packed with antioxidants. In fact, a story by syndicated health writer Megan Murphy that ran in the local paper this morning informs us that blackberries come at the top of a list of 1,900 foods and their antioxidant properties. So, whew, it’s a good thing that this weekend I bought some beautiful Rainier cherries at Costco and some plump, glistening blackberries at Whole Foods. Why do blackberries cost so freakin’ much, though? You’d think that each one sprang full-blown from the brow of Zeus.

And what better way to consume our essential antioxidants than with — ice cream! Organic ice cream, of course.

So, after dinner last night — there’ll be a post later; we had one of our favorite summer dishes, shrimp with cannellini beans, mint and watercress — and after cleaning up the kitchen, LL washed and pitted some of the cherries — and performed a little experiment in which she discovered that dogs do indeed like cherries very much, thank you — and I washed the blackberries and scooped the ice cream into some small bowls, and we devoured a delicious and sumptuous (and antioxidant providing!) dessert,
which, frankly, we don’t often do at home, I mean, have dessert.

And as we were eating the cherries and blackberries and ice cream, a notion struck me, and I reached into the refrigerator (first opening the door; I’m not a magician) and pulled out a small bottle of the Innocent Bystander Moscato 2009, from Australia’s Victoria region. A blend of 65 percent Muscat of Alexandria and 35 percent Muscat of Hamburg, the lightly effervescent wine embodies pure strawberry and rhubarb laced with a strain of the muscat grape’s natural earthy foxiness and a hint of roses; flavors tend more toward watermelon and Braeburn apples. Made in stainless steel and endowed with bountiful freshness, mild sweetness and vibrant acidity, the wine is completely delightful and bursting with personality. At only 5.5 percent alcohol, you could drink this stuff all day long! Very Good+. About $12 for a 375 ml half-bottle.

And it was wonderful with dessert, very fresh and certainly tasty and rather cleansing.