Summer

I don’t know if I would really call this dish a “recipe”. No need for measuring cups, measuring spoons, tons of ingredients, or chopping. I cannot tell you how many times I have thrown some fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and some basil together to enhance a meal. A little good olive oil, some balsamic, fresh ground pepper, and coarse salt creates a fresh, tasty, savory, and sweet dish.

Sometimes I will make a bruschetta and add a piece of burrata cheese. My motto – you can’t go wrong with anything that includes burrata. Even without the burrata, there is something special about this combination.

When I read that this weeks dish for French Fridays with Dorie was a salad that included a fruit, I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed. Generally, I don’t really like fruit in my salad. I can’t get into watermelon with my lettuce and PLEASE, hold the mandarin oranges in my chinese chicken salad.

Better than punch, tea, and even lemonade, aguas frescas are drinks made of fresh fruit puree. In Mexico they are typically made with tropical fruits, melons, and even grains—which include the rice drink horchata. Street vendors popularized the drink but nowadays you can even find agua fresca made in top restaurants. The Mexican soft drink company Jarritos is based on traditional aguas frescas recipes, but replaces water with soda.

Make your own version of agua fresca at home using your favorite fruit. This recipe for uses ripe seasonal strawberries. The sweet-tart flavor of strawberries is very refreshing and palate-cleansing. It couldn't be easier to make this agua fresca. The combination is simply pureed fruit, water, and a little sugar. Make a pitcherful for this weekend's BBQ get-together and treat yourself and your family and friends to a cooling drink on a hot day.

It’s National Picnic Month and when you think about it, a picnic is really a mini vacation. Whether you’re spending a day at the beach, hiking in a canyon, boating on a lake, or just heading to your local city park, here are some great products designed to make your next picnic even more fabulous.

XL Blanket
Wet grass is a pain in the, well, you get the picture. This XL Blanket is water resistant so you and your picnic stay dry. It also folds into an easy carrying tote with an adjustable shoulder strap. Keep it in the trunk of your car and you’ll be ready at a moment’s notice. $35.99

BioLite
A stylish bbq is one way to seriously impress your friends and family!

The BioLite CampStove and and grill offer a super portable and compact way to grill your food using wood instead of charcoal or propane. The stove and grill together weigh less than 5 pounds. And the geeks at your picnic will be impressed that the surplus electricity from the stove can be used to charge a phone. Stove and grill combo, $224.85

I figure I’ve eaten about 20 pounds of watermelon this summer. Fortunately, it’s 92% water and 0% fat, so my clothes still fit fine.

Even as a kid, I ate a lot of watermelon. Everyone in my family did. I can remember my Dad, his face beet-red from the heat, coming through our back door beaming as he was carrying a colossal watermelon. He always did the same thing: set it down on the kitchen counter and proudly announced its weight – 19 and 1/2 pounds! 23 pounds! Like his lobsta, the bigger it was, the better he liked it.

My brother Chris was always the one to cut the watermelon (seeing as none of the rest of us had his patience). With skills of a surgeon, he extracted every last seed while keeping the melon’s flesh intact. Come to think of it, I don't remember ever seeing seedless watermelons when I was a kid. Did they exist back then?