summer recipe
Sweet Bread and Butter Pickles
Husk Cherry Clafoutis
The first time you taste a husk cherry, your taste buds will buzz with pineapple, butterscotch, and mango. What looks like tiny cherry tomatoes encased in miniature paper lanterns is called a ground husk cherry, sometimes called a Cape Gooseberry, although no relation to cherries or gooseberries. They are related to tomatillo the tiny fruits […]
Heirloom Tomato Salad
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing | Serves 4 It’s no secret that lemon brings out the flavor in everything including this heirloom tomato salad, magically blending together the sweet with the tart. Nothing is simpler or more beautiful than thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes, layered and combined with basil leaves and mozzarella. You don’t really […]
Peach and Almond Cream Tart
If you have ever stood in a peach orchard at the peak of the season, inhaling the scent of ripeness, you’ll never buy a hard supermarket peach ever again. Tree ripened peaches have overtones of almond, which is not a coincidence considering they are both from the same genus of plants, the Rose family. The […]
Fresh Tomato Salsa with Maple Syrup
Fresh Tomato Salsa with Maple Syrup| Makes 6 cups or 3 pints In Vermont we add maple syrup to everything, including fresh tomatoes and herbs for a fresh, tangy salsa. The sweet syrup tames the acidity of tomatoes, add the small bite of hot peppers and it is an explosion of flavors. Don’t be daunted […]
Garden Party Kebabs
A recent Sunday night gathering with friends, I served the perfect no cook meal for a hot evening: garden party kebabs. Inspired by the last of the summer harvest: cherry tomatoes, young zucchini, sweet red peppers and a dozen small onions. Chopping a bounty of cucumbers into a minty yogurt dipping sauce, all served with a […]
Ginger Peach Chutney
Ginger peach chutney is a condiment made from fresh fruits and strong spices, it simmers on the stovetop for almost an hour until it reaches a glossy sheen; packed into jars and stored for several months to build up plenty of intense flavor. Making the first batch of the season is a little bit like […]
Elderberry Shrub
Elderberry Shrub and Cordial Recipes for shrubs vary greatly and date as far back as pre-Colonial times. They are simple to make by combining equal parts berries, vinegar, and sugar, then leaving alone to ferment. Generally, shrubs are poured over ice or served with a bit of sparkling water. By themselves, they are not alcoholic, […]
Pesto Bread
Basil is summer. Shredded fresh on tomatoes, added to salad, spooned over steamed vegetables or chopped into mayonnaise for burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Yet my favorite way to eat basil is to make pesto, fresh on pasta or in this Pesto Swirl bread. It’s easy! Make a batch of pesto, and spread it over […]
Rose Hip Jam
In August, when the rose hips were ripe and ready to harvest, I filled a basket with about two pounds of hips. The plan was to make my grandmother’s recipe for jelly. It was one that she learned to make from a friend and handed down to me and I remember making it with her […]
Strawberry Ice Cream
The fourth of July and strawberry ice cream make the perfect duo. It’s the day before my birthday, too, and for many years I celebrated in a remote house on Cape Cod. Surrounded by beach, the house was built in 1880 and has been in my family since the 1930s when my grandmother bought it. To get […]