Summer

Blueberries are intense. Intense color that stains your mouth purple. Intense sweet and tangy juice so rich it almost tastes like wine. Unlike other fruit, such as apples, they don't even need vanilla or cinnamon to give them a boost. They are the boost. The intensity of blueberries make them a nice kind of accent to other dishes, like in a fruit salad or a salsa. They are also great as polka dots in pancakes and muffins but a little trickier in pie. Just too intense. That's why I love blueberry tarts.

When you pick a bucket full you end up with about four pounds, which is a lot of blueberries! I called my mom for a recipe for a blueberry tart. This particular one uses three cups of blueberries and combines them with a sour cream filling that bakes up like a custard. Plopping blueberries into a custardy base, a pastry cream or clafouti seems like the right way to handle them.

I am hopeless when it comes to pie crust. I just don't have the pie crust mojo. So I rely on recipes with graham cracker crusts, and press-in crusts. This recipe has a crust that is no fail. Really. I swear. I'm going to use it as my default pie crust from now on. My mom cut the recipe out of a newspaper over twenty years ago so I apologize for not being able to attribute it properly. I have simplified the instructions somewhat.

Does anyone remember the scene from the television show "Strangers With Candy" where the tremendously unpopular Geraldine Antonia Blank (otherwise known as Gerri), tries to woo her classmates into coming to her house for a party?

"Anyone coming to my party Friday night? We’re serving hot fruit!"

While the phrase sounds odd out of context and perhaps a bit unpleasant, here’s something that sounds good: grilled fruit.

Ribs and chicken aren’t the only things that should get grill time. There’s nothing quicker and easier than slicing a fruit or two, tossing it on the grill and dressing it with a glaze, syrup or a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon. It’s the perfect topping for a scoop of ice cream and quite a delicious and unusual way of serving summer’s stone fruit. The heat brings out the sweet sugary flavors and the grill lends a tiny bit of outdoor panache.

Lots of people think of pineapple as a summertime treat, however, fresh, sweet pineapple is available all year round with lots of healthy benefits.  Pineapples are good sources of vitamin C, B6, thiamine, manganese and fiber. They have zero fat and cholesterol as well.

I love using pineapples in meat marinades, they are an excellent tenderizer as they contain the enzyme bromelain that digests protein. This same enzyme is also found in kiwi and papaya and causes gelatin to break down. The canning process destroys this enzyme, which is why only canned pineapple is used in congealed desserts.

When bromelain is used as a natural supplement it is said to aid with digestion and ease inflammation.  With all the tenderizing effects of pineapple, don't soak seafood in it very long, the texture will turn mushy.

With our year-round temperate San Diego climate, we have picnicked in November, in March, and many months in between. But like chilled watermelon, slushy lemonade, and buttery ears of sweet corn, picnics taste best in the summer months.

That's why last weekend Jeff and I went on our first summertime picnic. I could tell you about the weather (grey skies) or the view (choppy ocean waters), but I think you'd be more interested in the food. I was. 

We brought a bottle of chilled pinot grigio, a salad of heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn kernels, basil, and olives, and eggplant, asparagus, and smoked mozzarella sandwich wraps with red pepper mayo. Dessert was simple: juicy, sweet fresh cherries from the farmers' market.  

When it comes to vegetarian sandwich wraps there's much more than just hummus, tomatoes, and sprouts. With creamy eggplant, crisp asparagus, and smoky mozzarella cheese, these healthy picnic wraps taste like warm rolled up pizzas but without all the fat and calories.