I’m a sucker for appetizers. How can you not like appetizers? They’re an entire entree packed into a bite-size morsel. So, you can have, like, a dozen meals at a single party. And no one will think you’re crazy. Mini crab cakes. Bacon-wrapped scallops. Blue cheese stuffed olives. The world is your oyster, one bite at a time.
I do loves me some mac ‘n cheese. In my book, there’s just no better comfort food. But, I’m preaching to the choir, right? Because why else would you be reading this, except for seeing mac ‘n cheese in the title.
Much to my surprise and chagrin, Fall is fast approaching. I love Fall — everyone loves Fall: if you were to take a poll, each pollee’s face would scrunch with happiness, and they would hold their arms tight like they were wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, while using words like “football” and “pumpkins” and “jeans-and-hoodies” — but, see, I’m not finished with summer yet. Where did August go? Where did June go? My gardens are still busting out, and I’m sooo not done with tomato salads. Doesn’t seem to matter what I think.
Fall is fast approaching anyway, rudely shoving beloved Summer out of the way. And bringing with it winter vegetables. And soup. Hm. Well, now, that’s news I can bear. Soup. Mmmm. (Had you heard, I’m addicted to soup?)
One of my favorite ingredients is the lovely leek. A member of the onion family, leeks lend a sweet, delicious pungency to many types of soups, including the ubiquitous potato and leek.
Oh, those wacky curcurbits. How is it that you look your cucumber vines over at 8pm one evening, finding only little sprites of spikey cukes peeking out beneath the pretty yellow flowers, but the very next morning, as you’re hurrying to the car for work, you notice that the little sprites are now fully formed veggies. And by the time you get home, they’re almost beyond their perfect eating/pickling size? What’s up with that?
It took a while for Summer to decide to step up and do its thang. But finally, in August, it’s hot. The kind of heat that makes the peeps whither and whine, but makes the veggies sit up and take notice. At last. Heat.
As I’ve mentioned before, although probably not in these exact words, I’m a tomato-lovin’ freak. I love planning for them. I love hovering over their fragile seedlings in cold, dark March. I love digging their earthy homes in the Spring. I love the scent of the leaves and stems on my skin. I love seeing those shiny, plump little packages, in all colors of the rainbow, hanging in the greenery.
I’m a summer girl, through and through. Sun … gooood. Heat … gooood. Bare feet in soft, green grass … goooood.
Best of all, though, is the food. If I had access to summer fruits and vegetables all year long — local fruits and vegetables, or at least grown in the US — I could probably become a vegetarian. (Probably)
Tangy tomatoes, sweet sweet herbs, garlic with bite, peppers with heat. And the fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, watermelons, cantaloupe, peaches. And cherries. Everything in life should be as sweet and perfect.
I came late to the homemade ice cream scene. I hadn’t been keeping up on the technology, so when I heard “homemade ice cream,” I always had visions of those big bucket contraptions with that arm-killing crank. And rock salt. Crank crank crank. Churn churn churn. [Cramp] [cramp] [cramp]. Still soft. [Sigh.] Crank crank crank ….
No, thanks. Why would anyone do that, I thought, when there’s Ben & Jerry’s. Craaayyzzy.
Then, thanks to King Arthur Flour’s awesome blog (how fabulous does this flavor sound…), I got hip to the groove. Fresh homemade ice cream in under 30 minutes? With no cranking? Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout. And I’ve never looked back. Sorry, Ben & Jer, I’ll take it from here.
