Jennifer Divello of Patty's Berries and Bunches in Mattituck, on Long Island, does a 'berry' good job handling the heat of the stir fry lightning round of questions. Okay, had to do that. It's been a 'berry' long day.
Birds pose the biggest challenge for blueberry growers. They have an uncanny way of picking the bush clean the morning you were planning to harvest the sweet little blue balls. But Divello didn't hestitate when asked the "best reason to appreciate hungry birds."
"We need the birds because they eat the pests," she said cheerfully.
I like her choice of dishwasher for the tool she swears by in the kitchen. However, I can say from experience that it's an expensive tool to replace when it breaks down. Better to swear by your two reliable hands and a pair of yellow rubber gloves.
I love the way she had to think about her favorite comfort food because she's dieting. Lucky her. When I diet, my favorite comfort food, cake, is always, obsessively, top of mind.
She was stumped by my question about her guilty pleasure food and ended up opting for pizza, which she had just mentioned seconds earlier. Ah, the pressure of the lightning round! Or does the unblinking gaze of the Studio 4 cat make people nervous? Afterward, she gave me a far better answer:
"Doritos© on a cream cheese bagel!"