Summer

Backyard Farms is a 38-acre greenhouse located in a very small, central Maine town that raises the best tomatoes in New England! I have the good fortune to cater their important board meeting luncheons and dinners. They are all great eaters and a few are real epicureans. I love to dazzle them. My motive is always to show them all the possibilities of the fruit that they work so hard at making perfect. Every course is created around the tomato and sometimes it gets very challenging to top the last meal that I have created for them.

Last spring I wrote tomato tarts for dessert into the menu without having a clear idea how that would happen. I had 5 varieties to work with, all colors and shapes to inspire me. I ‘slept on how I would create this’ every night for two weeks until it was show time. The night before I slowly baked ½ thick slices of all five varieties of tomatoes on buttered parchment paper-250 degrees, slow enough to dehydrate them but not too long that they became leathery. It took 2 hours and I let them sit in a cool room overnight because refrigeration would make the texture change for the worse.

I gathered my French tin tart pans out of the back of my kitchen cabinet, buttered them and preceded to take this dessert from the drawing board of my mind to the dessert table. I imagined that every component of this dessert should be seamless, meaning - not any part would dominate the other. So, I made a pastry crust with homemade tomato paste, finely ground and toasted pine nuts and dried basil. Why, dry basil? It is dried already, stable, not over powering and perfect. I know, a bit too much thinking, but this dessert was going to rock!

For an excellent summer refresher, perfect for a picnic or party this upcoming Labor Day, how about trying this recipe for sangria? Using in-season stone fruit, this recipe is the perfect way to celebrate (or mourn) the end of summer. Feel free to use whichever fruit you choose, but it is especially nice with fresh, ripe stone fruit such as peaches, nectarines, and/or plums. Mangoes, pluots, or cherries would also make a nice addition. I happened to use a white peach, a white nectarine, and a white pluot.

For the spirit, a peach or plum brandy works especially well (try a plum Palinka from Hungary), but any other brandy works fine too. Many white wine sangria recipes call for the addition of sugar and soda, but there is no need if you use a sweet sparkling wine. Sweet sparkling wines such as Asti, semi-seco Cava, demi-sec Champagne, or Prosecco work the best.

The addition of peach nectar to the sangria is reminiscent of a Bellini, a cocktail of Prosecco and peach purée that was invented in the late 1930s at Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. So, if like me you were unable to take a trip this summer, grab a glass of sangria and let your mind wander.

It was kind of cold yesterday, clearly not a day for lemonade. But I was thirsty.  You know, that kind of thirst where you want something sweet, but not too sweet.  And something sour, but not too sour.  I felt like I could have drank a whole pitcher of this.  Must have been those Dill Pickle chips the night before. Whoops!

This was such a great recipe because the beautiful peaches I had bought the day before tasted like...well they tasted like nothing and they certainly weren't sweet.  So, you don't even need sweet peaches to make this awesome drink.  Sour tasting ones work just fine!

The biggest problem was having to share this with everyone at home. I wanted it all to myself but that didn't really happen.  Every time I make something like this, especially using fresh fruit, I wonder why I don't do it all the time!! It was that good. It will be a summer staple around here and a must try for you. 

This could easily become an adult beverage with a bit of white rum or bourbon. Yep it could.

Like cherries, apricot season is short, typically 4-5 weeks sometime during May-August. Skip a couple of weeks at the farmers' market, and poof! they're gone. So as soon as you spy some, buy some.

Here are some tips on how to select and store fresh apricots:

Look for firm, though not hard, fruits with soft, smooth skin. Choose richly colored fruits -- apricots range from pale yellow to darker orange-yellow, and some sport an attractive reddish blush. Avoid apricots that have a greenish hue as they will not ripen. Tiny brown freckles are OK, but skip fruit that has knicks or bruises. And don't forget to take a whiff. Fully ripened apricots will emit a delicate, floral scent.

Fresh apricots are highly perishable. They can be stored unwashed on the counter-top for one to two days. After that, they should be refrigerated. Apricots are too delicate to be placed in the fruit bin with other fruits; instead, store them separately in a covered bowl or plastic container. Allow fruit to come to room temperature before eating.