Summer

blueberrypieA friend of mine from NYC called the other day to ask which pie bakery I preferred. He had guests from Norway stopping by that afternoon for coffee and wanted to offer them a slice of “American pie”.

When he told me a whole pie from a bakeshop would cost anywhere from $35-$65, I suggested he take a quick lesson in pie making and bake one himself. He had 3 hours before they arrived and I was convinced I could help him get a pie, prepped, baked, and on a cooling rack before they rang his buzzer.

I quickly emailed this recipe for Best Ever Blueberry pie and he raced to his local grocery store to pick up everything we needed, (including a pie plate). With the help of Skype, I coached him through the basic steps (he saved time with a ready-made pie crust) and the pie was in the oven in no time.

There's nothing better than the smell of a freshly baked pie and this one is certain to please any guest.

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blueberrycornicecreamI think I've hit the ice cream jackpot...I can't tell you how fantastic this is, as weird as it might sound. However, it never sounded weird to me. I mean there is nothing new about sweet corn ice cream, I just wanted blueberry in it. Have you ever had a sweet corn and blueberry salad? It's amazing, just as I knew this ice cream would be. First of all, the ice cream turns this beautiful lavender color and is flecked with pieces of frozen corn and sweet blueberries. It's almost savory-sweet but it's not. In fact it's the perfect amount of sweetness. I want you all to try it so badly.

I have to say, I started making this ice cream at 10PM (in my favorite ice cream maker), it seems to be the only time these days when I have cooking availability. For some crazy reason (oh yeah, it's summer), my boys were still awake. They asked what type of ice cream I was making, I purposefully told them "corn" ice cream, just to see their reaction. You should have seen the horror in their faces. Corn! They couldn't believe it. I love scaring them.

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zucchinisticks.jpgZucchini is the most versatile vegetable. On it’s own it is so-so. There is so much you can do with it. I like to pair it with grilled onions, roasted tomatoes, left over brown rice and some Parmesan cheese and bake it for an easy week night side dish.

It is great grilled; pour a little olive oil and balsamic on it with a little salt and pepper, grill it until it is slightly soft, serve it up with a yummy rib eye, mmmm. It is great in muffins and tea breads.

Yet, it is especially delicious breaded and baked. This is a great way to get the kids to eat some veggies. These are easy and delicious. No frying, they are baked and they are a perfect with almost anything.

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icecream.whitechocoWe are so glad it's summer. Beach camp, sleep away camp, art camp, baseball camp, days at all the Los Angeles museums, road trips, days spent in our p.j.’s, and lots and lots of long bike rides.

I love not being on a schedule. All four of us need these 78 days and they couldn’t have come soon enough. From September to the end of June, life is hectic, riddled with schedules, and not so flexible. Summer is the antithesis of this and summer is what we long for.

Using pantry staples, left over egg yolks and jar of homemade caramel sauce, Eli and I stirred and churned and came up with an ice cream inspired by David Lebovitz. Using his basic white chocolate ice cream recipe, we swirled in the caramel sauce and added some candied pecans.

Super rich but super good!

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tc_vacation_026.jpgFor one week, I had an apartment in south Minneapolis. It was listed on a site that offers vacation rentals by owner. Up to this point, I hadn't spent much time exploring south Minneapolis. It turned out I was in for a real treat. Although I had my bike along (my apartment was just 3 blocks from one of the wonderful Minneapolis trails), several dark, cloudy, soggy rainy days prevented me from spending any time on my pedal-powered two-wheeler. As it turned out, that wasn't such a bad thing. By car, I was available to explore neighborhoods I probably wouldn't have gotten to by bike.

My discovery highlights wound up taking on unexpected themes of bakeries and farmers markets. I had planned to take in the downtown St. Paul farmers market, the oldest in Minnesota. It never disappoints with all of the fresh flowers, herbs to take home to plant, fresh vegetables, honey, meats and this time, even fresh-picked strawberries. The next morning, a Sunday, I paid a visit to the Kingfield farmers market, a relatively new but charming small neighborhood market. I'd read that a person could find plenty for breakfast at this market and it was definitely true. A strawberry-rhubarb turnover from Sun Street Breads was devoured before I could even snap a picture. 

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