What’s Cooking in August

What’s cooking in August? Tomatoes! Also zucchini, peppers, basil and blueberries, but mostly tomatoes.

We have been eating tomatoes with pretty much every meal. Having such wonderful ripe, juicy tomatoes on hand sure makes lunch easy. Think of all the sandwich possibilities. Classic BLT, of course. Tomato, avocado and basil. Plain tomato with homemade mayonnaise. Open-faced [...]

When Your Garden Gives You Zucchini, Make Zucchini Slaw!

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Yes, it’s that time of year, when we start wondering what we’re going to do with all this zucchini (and why did we plant so much in the first place). Here’s a fresh idea I got from Sara Foster’s Fresh Every Day cookbook: zucchini slaw. The main component is zucchini, of course, but [...]

How to Make Fresh Fruit Popsicles

Popsicles are a great hot-weather treat, but the ones from the grocery store have a lot of sugar, artificial flavors and artificial colors. It’s just as easy to make your own from whatever seasonal fresh fruit you have on hand, and you control the sugar content. The whole family loves these.
I’ve found that pretty much [...]

Just in Time for the Farmers Market: Mixed Summer Salad

This bistro-inspired salad is designed to take advantage of all the lovely greens and herbs that are in season right now, at your local farmers market or possibly even in your garden, if the deer haven’t gotten to it first. I used a mixture of greens I bought and herbs and arugula from the garden. [...]

Fresh-from-the-Garden Minestrone

This minestrone recipe is designed to take advantage of whatever is growing fresh in your garden right now. While you may want to stick to the combination of root vegetable, squash, beans and greens, substitutions can and should be made depending on what’s available. What makes this soup really tasty is the “garnish” of bacon, [...]

What’s Cooking in September

Risotto with Corn and Tomatoes, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.

It’s hard to believe that Labor Day is already upon us, school has started and summer is winding down. Now is the time to be using up everything in the garden and getting our fill of fresh veggies because they won’t be around much longer. Here are [...]

What’s Cooking in August

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We are officially in the dog days of summer. I don’t know about you, but around here, it’s been 90+ degrees, hot, sticky, with thunderstorms in the afternoons. The other day when I was walking the dog, I detected the lovely deep summer scent of wet dish towel in the air. This is [...]

What’s in Season? Potatoes

Fingerling potatoes simmered with butter and herbs, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.
I’ve been seeing a lot of potatoes at the farmers market lately: red-skinned potatoes, teeny fingerlings, Yukon Golds, Peruvian purples, even baby russets (which would make excellent mini baked potatoes). Who doesn’t love potatoes? Well, I know a couple of people who don’t, but clearly [...]

Tortellini With Lemon & Herbs

Tortellini with fresh herbs, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.
Last week I posted a wintry pasta dish, so this week I am countering with a pasta that is all about summer. This sauce is light and tangy, perfect for a hot summer night, especially if you can use herbs right out of your own garden. It pairs [...]

Farmers Market Vegetable Soup

The problem with going to the farmers market is that it is all too easy to yield to temptation and grab up way too many fresh vegetables than you can possibly eat in a week. What better way to take advantage of all that bounty than to make a huge pot of soup? You can [...]