Summer Wish List

I have to admit I have been bitten by the summer love bug. No, no not bitten by nasty "squitas" as we call them in our household, but by the sweet taste of all things fresh and delicious summer love bug. You have never heard of this species of insect you say, well Summer 2010 is the perfect opportunity for your crash course. To be properly introduced into this course one must have a Summer Wish List. This is not something necessarily grand just intense that has to be taken serious in order to achieve a promotion to all other levels in all other courses(yes, there will be more).Consequently, there is homework as your first assignment. Intense, right? Create an extensive Summer Wish List of highly fresh, often local, mundane to extraordinary produce. This produce can be prepared or cooked, preserved or jarred, dried or marinated as long as there is consumption before graduating to the your next level. I will start by listing my greatest guilty pleasures of the summer.

So my Summer Wish List is as follows:

Majestic & Vivid Rainier or Queen Anne Cherries

Slightly Less Fuzzy than Their Cousins Doughnut Peaches

Pints and Pints of Huge, Frosty Blueberries

Almost Metallic in the Sun Silver Queen and Silver King Sweet Corn

Perfect for Any Sandwich, Vine Ripened, Thick Juicy Tomatoes

Any Leafy, Colorful, Frilly and Oh So Nutritious Salad Greens

Perfumy, Heady Herbs

Aromatic, Red to Their Core Intoxicating Strawberries

Sweet, Hydrating, Freckled Ruby-Red Watermelon

Long, Tender, Crisp Green Beans

Now that my list has been established, it should give one a fairly good idea on how to complete your assignment with ease. All items described on my list can be eaten newly picked as God intended or prepared with minimum cooking time to ensure all flavors and nutritional values are retained. Please allow me to express to me readers there is no greater pleasure than eating anything straight from its source, warmed and sweetened by the sun. If one can add this experience to their wish list and achieve this than you are certainly of a select, blessed few. Provided that most will not be able to visit a local farm to partake in such a glorious repast, a farmers' market or high-end grocery store will have to make do. Quality produce can be acquired from farmers' market vendors and stands all over this affluently harvested nation. But please remember to buy local and buy fresh.

Since I have all of my Summer Wish List on hand it is no time

like the present to commence my feast. I will begin by blanching my Green Beans, dicing my Tomatoes, and cobbing my Silver Sweet Corn to make my favorite Summer Salad. That is actually the name: Summer Salad because it contains garden fresh ingredients. Seasoned with simply with our chopped thyme and chiffonade basil, green onions, salt, pepper and a quality olive oil. Serve this salad atop those leafy greens, and any vegetarian would be in ethereal bliss. Five items down five to go. I then juice tangy lemons into Vanilla-Scented Lemonade with Frozen, Floating Rainier Cherries. A lovely, refreshing compliment to our simple, yet filling meal. Then there are those wonderful, amazing blueberries packed with life saving nourishment. These blue gems should be best devoured right out of hand to ensure optimal true essence of the Blueberries. Cube the Watermelon into bite size pieces along with slicing the Strawberries then coat with honey and drizzle with balsalmic vinegar.

Finally for the last fruits of my labor requires a bit more attention, the Doughnut Peaches should be macerated whole in brown sugar, vanilla and your choice of liqueur. Take these tiny treasures and grill until you have grill marks. Remove from grill to cool slightly, top with creamy, homemade vanilla ice cream and chopped pecans. Stop drooling if you are able. I'll admit it takes a great deal of will power to type this blog and not drool myself. I

really should go

so that I do not waste this satisfying meal all over my Mac.

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” George Bernard Shaw

New Beginnings

As I begin a welcomed, new journey in this life, I figure why not write about my greatest love, All Things Food. For me it doesn't matter what we are talking about as long as we are talking about food. No not necessarily haute cuisine or gourmet, I mean the best falafel vendor to the ultimate burger joint. Knowing the ideal purveyor of truffles or wild rice. Where to buy the best produce to where to purchase the best charcuterie.

Literally All Things Food.

This includes the moment I buy a new apron and the first time I don it. Dreaming about my first scrumptious meal of the day and praying each meal will be equally fulfilling. Enjoying the first, summer kissed strawberry in a bowl of cream. Cracking open the expensive, endless, glossy copies of cuisine magazines each month. Yes, I mean satisfying me every urge, desire, and need to be the gourmand, culinarian, chef, and foodie that is essential to my being. With all that being said let's travel to the depths of my existence and explore my humble beginnings.

My life as foodie began as a wee child tied to the apron strings of my Granmi. Granmi was the original, ultimate Domestic Diva. Well before the brand that became Martha Stewart, Granmi and a millions like her were doing exactly what Martha does, they just weren't being recognized for it. Granms sewed, made all meals from scratch, cleaned, gardened, mothered, and loved. She took joy in doing all of this, but especially preparing meals lovingly. The first meal of the day was truly the most important, rarely was there just eggs and toast. At every breakfast there was an array of meats, eggs cooked to your liking, fresh fruit, cereal, hot coffee, juice and usually some home fries. I could really use one of Granmi's breakfasts as I begin my day and think about all that needs to be done. These meals were meant to fuel and prepare you for all that life had to offer. If nothing else you would leave her table sated and full as a tick. For some this breakfast sounds like the buffet at the Ole Country Buffet, yet for me and my family this was the norm. And not just breakfast every meal had to be special with its own nuances. These nuances and particularity to detail is what molded me to be the foodie I am today.

Although I am a tad bit more than a foodie, I pride myself on being a well-rounded gastronome. By perpetually educating myself, following the trends, shopping for the finest available and always learning techniques whether they are classical or nouveau. Oh I forgot eating! Then eating some more, tasting, savoring, sometime engorging, then God willing eating some more!

My love of All Things Food brings me great joy and I hope you'll equally enjoy my explorations, failings, & discoveries of this banquet we call life.

"I don't like food that's too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting." Andy Rooney