The nice weather has finally hit New England. Yay!
As soon as the sun’s warmth spawns new life, the grass greening, trees filling in with leaves, flowers blossoming, it triggers me to crave seafood, ice cream, and burgers on the grill.
What’s your favorite summertime food, beverage, or treat?
Bonus points if you include a recipe. 🙂
We lived in Florida for 30 years. Every day (except February 3rd) was summer, so I have a huge collection of salad recipes. Here’s one.
https://terryodell.com/whats-cooking-wednesday-black-bean-corn-salad/
Colorado must’ve been hard to adjust to after year-long summers. I can’t even imagine. Thanks for the recipe!
The only issue with adjusting was our house sits at 9100 feet. I missed NOTHING about Florida’s heat and humidity.
My aunt Gertrude used to say, “Everything that crawls lives in Florida.”
Back in February after about a week of 50-degree weather, my daughter’s weatherman said, “Come on, folks. We only have ten days of winter all year–you can do it!”
Lucky!
My all year long, go-to favorite is Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Carmel squares. I am eternally thankful for whomever was inspired to create chocolate. 😎
Haha. You and me both, Brenda!
Ghirardelli has a commercial now showing a s’more made with their caramel chocolates. It looks yummy, and I hate marshmallows.
That’s a great question, Sue. That said, I don’t have a particular summer (or any) seasonal favorite. Yours sounds terrific, however. HEY EVERYONE! TKZ PICNIC AT SUE’S!!! I’m kidding of course, but some people take me seriously.
Have a great weekend, Sue. I hope you get to fang down on at least some of the things on your list!
Thanks, SJ! Our favorite seafood joint just opened for the season, so we’ll be hitting it on Monday, after the weekend vacationers go home. 😉
Have a great weekend, Joe!
What a delicious question you posed this Friday, Sue 🙂
My favorite summertime fruit is fresh Hood and Albion strawberries, in season right now here in Oregon. My favorite treat would be my wife’s Rhubarb Pizza.So tasty.
https://www.aveggieventure.com/2008/07/rhubarb-pizza.html
Hope you have a favorite tasty treat this weekend.
Ooh, Rhubarb Pizza sound delightful, Dale. Thanks for the recipe!
Hope you enjoy a nice treat this weekend, too. 😀
Glad you’re getting some nice weather in New England, Sue
My favorite summertime food? My problem is I like everything, and my wife is a good cook. But, I’ll pick stadium brats cooked in sauerkraut, cold shrimp pasta salad, an icy-cold diet root beer, and chocolate ice cream for dessert.
Sorry, no recipes. But here’s a link for the shrimp salad: https://therecipecritic.com/shrimp-pasta-salad/ –
Summer doesn’t start until 6/21, but have a wonderful summer weekend!
Thanks for the recipe, Steve! Astronomically, summer starts with the Summer Solstice moon on June 13/14. 😉 Did you happen to catch it this year? What a stunner.
This is an example of a good writer going bad. That’s why you take notes while the steak is cooking.
Haha. So true!
On a hot day in LA nothing goes down quite like a classic gin and tonic. 1/4 London dry gin, 3/4 tonic poured over glass full of ice, topped with lime wedge. To be sipped while tending ribeyes on the outdoor grill.
Ooh, I love ribeyes. One time, I was grillin’ a couple beautiful ribeyes when I thought of a great twist for the WIP. By the time I returned they’d turned to dust. Literal black dust! I had no idea steaks could do that. Whoops. 😉
The fresh fruits are starting to show up. Last night included tomato/basil/mozzarella salad with balsamic vinegar.
Fresh watermelon.
Quality Ice Cream. That is a lie. I will eat good ice cream year round.
Haha. Ice cream is always in season, Alan. 😉
I love a fresh salad, too. They do taste better in the summer, don’t they?
I miss ‘only in season’ produce. I can buy tomatoes year round. I can buy good tomatoes from mid-May to September.
Me too, Alan. Especially fresh melons and squashes.
Anybody who is able to get their hands on fresh SOFT peaches, eat a few for me. Here in the southwest, regardless of time of year, they arrive, and stay, hard. UGH!
Happy to indulge for you, Brenda. 😀
A nice big beefsteak tomato or two fresh off the vine sliced, a bit of extra virgin olive oil and wine vinegar, some garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper does it for me. Don’t let the dressing go to waste. Your second course is some thinly sliced fresh mozzarella.
Yum! Yes, yes, yes!
My favorite is a chocolate milk shake — in any season.
I love a good milk shake, too, Kay — in any season. 😉
So this isn’t my favorite summer meal–not sure I have one–but it IS my signature BBQ dish. Enjoy!
Apple Pie Bacon Cheeseburgers
Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add 1/2 thinly sliced red onion, cook for 2 minutes. Stir in 2 thinly sliced Granny Smith apples. Cook 3-5 minutes or until apples are tender. Stir in 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1 and 1/2 Tbsp dark brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon. Cook 3 minutes and then set the entire mixture aside in a bowl.
Then make 4 hamburger patties, adding salt and pepper to taste. Top the burgers, in this order, with 1 slice either cheddar or American cheese, some of the apple mixture, and then two strips of cooked, thick cut bacon.
Put the whole thing between a buttered, toasted brioche bun and savor the salty/sweet goodness!
*faints* You’re speaking my language, Gregg. I’m copying this recipe as we speak…. Thank you!
You guys ruined my weekend of concentrated writing–I’ll be too busy making the yummy recipes everyone shared. My rhubarb is going crazy so, Dale, your wife’s rhubarb pizza is first on the list.
It’s a great way to reduce excess rhubarb, Debbie 🙂
Enjoy!
It’s at the top of my list, too.
Grilled salmon!
Salmon fillets brushed lightly with Teriyaki sauce, grilled hot for about 15-20 minutes. That’s it . . . easy-peasy.
Serve with roasted carrots and broccoli.
(When the price of seafood comes down, we’ll be enjoying it again. Right now, where we are, ~18-20$/lb.) 🙁
Yeah, the prices are insane BUT we only get till Labor Day before the best seafood joints close for the season.
My husband loves salmon, Deb. Thanks for the recipe! Sounds nice and easy.
Ice cream. Always ice cream. Sadly, it’s now a once or twice treat for the summer because I gain five pounds and my blood sugar goes berserk.
Here’s a much healthier recipe. It’s pretty dang close to the sauce that is used on cooked hickory smoked pulled pork for Lexington NC BBQ so you may want to try that, too.
GRILLED CHICKEN MARINADE
2 cups apple cider vinegar
4 T cooking oil
2 1/2 T salt
4 T black pepper
1 T crushed red pepper.
Shake together in a glass jar. I let it sit for several hours at least, but you can use it immediately. Marinate raw chicken for at least 30 minutes but it’s better for several hours.
NOTE: I cut all the spices by half for myself because this is really spicy for a hot stuff weenie. The salt I cut down to a tablespoon.
Sounds delicious, Marilynn. I love BBQ, but like you, I can’t do hot & spicy. Jotting down the recipe with half the spices. Thank you!
Salted nuts if I’m sweating a lot, and dark chocolate (always, just refrigerated in the summer).
Salted nuts if you’re sweating? I’ve never heard of that, Priscilla. Do they reduce sweat?
Okey-doke, my recipe for strawberry long cake. Fast and simple, and, according to an ofttimes grumpy roomie of bygone days, the best dessert she’d ever had. Do not eat if allergic to strawberries. Duh.
Get a few fresh, medium size scones at a bakery. Buy a plastic basket of fresh, ripe strawberries, approx. 4″ x 4″ x 3″. Also buy a box or pouch of frozen strawberries in sugar syrup, approx. 4″ x 4″ x 2″, roughly the same volume as the basket. [READ THE LABEL! Vons sells a concoction of frozen strawberries with ersatz sweetener. Do not buy that hijjus stuff!]
Let the frozen strawberries thaw well. Prep the fresh berries, washing, removing the stems, and slicing the berries roughly 1/8″ thick. When ready, mix the fully thawed berries with the fresh until the mixture can be poured.
Slice the scones in half horizontally. Place on plates, cut side up, and pour berry mixture over each scone. Serve.
*faints* Strawberry shortcake is one of our favorites. Thanks for the recipe, J!
Last night’s dinner – blackened Cajun chicken breasts in a cast iron pan with smashed potatoes, blanched green beans, and a corn salsa with all kinds of junk in it. We make our own Cajun rub. Here’s the recipe I stole from an outfit called Memphis Blues:
1 cup dried parsley
1 cup white sugar
1 cup Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
3 tblsp ground black pepper
3 tblsp garlic powder
3 tblsp onion powder
3 tblsp dried oregano
3 tblsp sweet paprika
1 tblsp mustard powder
1 tblsp celery salt
5 pounds of dried Ghost Pepper or Carolina Grim Reaper powder
JK – just add as much cayenne as you like 🙂
I noticed that the habanera packets in the market say “Wear gloves when handling. Do not touch eyes or anything else you hold dear after handling.”
I’m not gonna eat anything that has to be handled with gloves. Nossir, no way.
Friend at work once sliced me a piece of habanera about as big as the end of a fork tine. I stuck it in my mouth and it felt like I’d just eaten a lit match.
Umm, that’d be zero cayenne for me, thanks. Ghost pepper? Forgetaboutit 😉 You tryin’ to kill me, buddy? The rest sounds delicious.
Happy summer, Sue!
Logline for my favorite summertime treat? Watermelon.
Easiest one I’ve ever had to write, though it doesn’t merit bonus points.
Confession — I even chew the seeds.
Happy summer, Louis!!! I have watermelon in my fridge. The hubby and I sneak bites when the chicks (guinea pigs) aren’t lookin’. If we get caught, the stink eye morphs into the evil eye, and neither of us can handle that. LOL The crows love it, too, so we’re basically screwed.
A Kiss melon is my favorite summertime treat and they are just now arriving in my area. They are the sweetest cantaloupe you’ll ever eat.
Oooh, sounds delicious!