Summer

The trouble with going to the farmers’ market is that everything looks so gorgeous I buy enough to feed everyone in my zip code. Then I go home and realize that I actually have to do something with all this bounty, as in, cook it, at which point I have been known to utter a mild curse.

Last weekend I visited the relatively new market at the Beverly Glen Circle. The produce and friendly purveyors were so seductive, I found myself leaving with armloads of bell peppers, eggplant, red onions and masses of heirloom tomatoes, herbs, stuffed flatbread, artichoke spread and even some truffle-scented sea salt, although I’m clueless as to its practical use. If you’d seen me schlepping all those bags to the car, you’d have mistaken me for someone who actually likes spending most of the day in the kitchen.

It makes me sad that I forget about pavlovas, they are SO good, SO pretty and SO easy to make. They are just little clouds of goodness and make the perfect ending to any dinner.

If you have never had them, they are basically meringues made into a little bowl, that happen to look like a cloud. Perfect for dessert after a big heavy meal. They are so light and airy.

Because I hoard berries over the summer and buy them when they are beautiful at Costco, I always have a freezer full waiting to be made into something delicious. This particular sauce I threw together with blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, but you can use any combination to make to your liking.

It doesn't matter how imperfect your cloud bowls are, the more rustic looking the better. I hope you give this a try, I promise you won't be disappointed.

This is a great summer pasta recipe and perfect for a Labor Day Cookout. It makes good use of leftover chicken, or use an already cooked rotisserie chicken from the store.) It has all the flavors of summer, with a southwestern flair – cilantro, red peppers, corn, black beans – and it’s quick to make.

It keeps nicely in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, just reserve a little of the dressing (which is the real secret to this dish) to perk up the pasta just before serving.

Blueberries just might be my favorite summer berry. When I was growing up, I enjoyed the blueberry pies my grandma made. I've never been able to recreate that delicious pie. And, for that reason, I come up with all sorts of ways, other than in pie, to enjoy the plump blueberries of summer.

I think it was four summers ago, at about this time, that I went on my first camping/canoe trip at Lake of the Woods. A friend, who was also on the trip, sent me a recipe for a blueberry relish sometime before we were scheduled to take off. I made the relish for her and brought it to Laketrails Base Camp on Oak Island in Lake of the Woods in the Northwest Angle of Minnesota, our starting point. Our fellow paddlers enjoyed the savory blueberry topping with goat cheese on toasted slices of baguette as a start to our meal the night before the big adventure trip under a full moon. There were times on our week-long adventure that we wished we would have had more of that snack.