consolation prize

I missed photographing spruce tip season this year because I was too busy with my book launch. Which is a shame because I was wanting to pickle some this year. You can use them anywhere you’d use capers: garnish the top of grilled fish (especially nice on salmon); chop them into a tuna salad, egg salad, or potato salad; pop them on deviled eggs; chop them into green or bean salads; mince them into salad dressings; add a couple to a sandwich; or sprinkle a few on some crème fraîche to garnish a soup. These young spruce cones, although similar in their new-growth green color that I love so much, are my consolation prize. Alas, there will be another chance for spruce tips next spring.

white spruce cones (Picea glauca)