I cannot believe it has been nearly a month since I last posted. But as you know from my previous post, I’m in a bit of a transition and taking a step back for re-evaluation. Thank you so much for your kind words of support and encouragement!!

However, I’ve missed you! I thought I would send you a note today to let you know what I’ve been up to.

The general rule of thumb is when the temperature reaches 100 degrees, it is officially summer here. Due to the long, cool and rainy Spring we had, the garden is so abundant!

My tomatoes are FABULOUS! Every day, I go and collect a basketful of various ones-from cherry to pear, to Early Girl and am still waiting for the beefsteaks to ripen.

The peaches this year were so good, we had to fight the birds for them.

A few years back we planted two apricot trees and finally have the best apricots ever! They are small but so flavorful.

The garden has been providing daily gifts of zucchini, spaghetti squash, grapes and fresh herbs.

If you are looking for the easiest salad EVER, please try this one. Simple ingredients consist of fresh tomatoes, apricots, mint, feta cheese, olive oil and salt and pepper. I did drizzle some thick aged balsamic on the top. I have been making and eating this salad every day. Click here for the recipe from Serious Eats.

On a personal note, my youngest daughter graduated from high school at the end of May. As a celebration gift, we took the whole family (plus friends) to St. Kitts for a vacation. St. Kitts is located in the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. One side of St. Kitts is on the Atlantic; the other on the Caribbean. It was after high season and before hurricane season so we had timed it perfectly!

One of the highlights of the trip was TURNING OFF MY PHONE FOR A WEEK. It was glorious. My whole family was together and I was able to be focused on them and not be distracted with technology. Truly fabulous.

When I returned, I spent one week painting everyday. I was able to finish “my girl” and started on 2 new paintings. I will continue to doodle until they feel “done”.

I am trying to master an easy cherry pie recipe this summer (as it is my husband’s favorite). I attempted one but failed miserably (don’t use Trader Joe’s frozen cherries). The crust was good though! Once I achieve it, I will definitely share!

Coming soon: My summer reading and movie list are taking shape and will share with you next time!

Happy Summer my friends!

As the 145th annual Kentucky Derby occurs this weekend, we are celebrating with mint juleps and Derby Pie.

This is my first Derby pie and it was easy to make. The recipe describes it as a thick, gooey chocolate chip cookie meets a warm buttery pie for a heavenly and decadent Southern dessert.

Using a pre-made pie crust (I always use Trader Joe’s brand as I find it to be the best), fill a 9″ pie dish.

Line the bottom of the crust with semi-sweet chocolate chips and toasted pecans or walnuts (I used a combination of both).

Pour a mixture of eggs, sugar, flour, butter, bourbon, vanilla and salt over the chocolate and nuts.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes until set.

Let pie cool to room temperature and add Bourbon Whipped Cream on top.

Click Here for the pie recipe!

While I was making the pie, my son was making Mint Juleps. With 4 simple ingredients~~simple syrup, mint, bourbon and ice, you can make this Derby Day drink. Click here for the recipe.

Here are some fun facts that you may not know about the Kentucky Derby. 

Nineteen past winners have had names beginning with the letter “S,” including Secretariat, the fastest horse in Kentucky Derby history, who completed the 1973 race in just under two minutes.

The amount of food consumed at the Derby is pretty astounding. On average, spectators will eat 142,000 hot dogs, 18,000 barbecue sandwiches, 13,800 pounds of beef, 32,400 jumbo shrimp, 9,000 scallops, 8,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 cookies and 300,000 strawberries.

The traditional drink of the Derby is the mint julep and over 120,000 are said to be consumed at the race each year.

The Kentucky Derby trophy only weighs 3½ lbs.

The Derby is also referred to as ‘The Run for the Roses’ because the winner is awarded a blanket sewn with over 400 roses post-race. This blanket weighs about 40 lbs.

Over $150 million in wagers have been placed over the last several Kentucky Derby races.

I don’t know anything about horse racing but I’ve always wanted to attend the Kentucky Derby to wear a big hat! May the best horse and rider win!

Summer = Strawberry Shortcake.

I have fond childhood memories of picking strawberries at Malerba’s Farm in Norwich, Connecticut.  Unfortunately, this time of year, there are NO places to pick strawberries in Phoenix.  It is too hot.  However, the local grocery stores have California-grown berries that actually taste like strawberries. I researched a good recipe on the internet and found this one from Two Peas & Their Pod.

Preparing the strawberries is very easy.  Hull and slice or quarter the berries.

Sprinkle the berries with sugar and stir.  As the berries sit in the sugar, they will macerate and get juicy.

As you know, grocery stores offer those spongy individual cakes for this, but nothing beats a homemade biscuit. The prep time for this recipe is approximately 40 minutes…and well worth it.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and baking powder. I like to use unbleached all purpose King Arthur Flour.

In order to have flaky biscuits, it is critical to cut in the butter correctly.  You will want to mix it sparingly, allowing for chunks of butter.

Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix until just combined.

Lightly knead the dough together to incorporate all the crumbly dough pieces. Do not over mix.  Press the dough into the circle, about 1-inch thick and cut into rounds.

Place the biscuits on the baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.  The recipe calls for turbinado sugar (which I didn’t have), but I used coconut sugar instead. My guess is any sugar will do.

Bake the biscuits until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.  Let cool completely.

Cut the biscuits in half horizontally.  Spoon the strawberries over the bottom of the biscuit and add a dollop of whipped cream.

Fruit is nature’s candy.  Enjoy it all this summer!

Strawberry Shortcake recipe by Two Peas & Their Pod.

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I am writing this from the deck of our vacation destination in gorgeous Newport Beach, California. As I stare at the Pacific Ocean, I am feeling such gratitude for being here-out of the triple digit heat and high monsoon humidity of Phoenix.

The best part of being here is having this cherished time with my children. It’s funny how when they all get together they fall into childish ways~~teasing each other, and of course, teasing me more.

I know it is vacation time because I actually have fingernails. It’s the only time of the year that occurs. Even though I am washing dishes, doing laundry and all the normal household chores but in a different location, I must be less hard on my hands.

We’ve been coming to the same place every year, during the last two weeks in July.  This may be our last year all together since our son will soon be moving to Washington, D.C. to start his new after college job. Though I’ve already made reservations for next year, I’m not sure who will be joining us. Bittersweet.

The mornings here are overcast and cool~~referred to as June Gloom. But by late morning or mid-day, the sun is out and the skies are blue.

I love the landscaping here as it has a very Italian, Tuscan feel.  The buildings have terra cotta roofs and our room is called a villa.  .

There are many fountains and koi ponds.  I am quite amazed at how well-maintained this property is~~~it must take a cast of thousands to keep it so beautiful.

We are located directly on the Pacific Coast Highway with one of our favorite beaches across the street, Crystal Cove State Beach.  This stretch of coastline was filmed in the movies, Beaches. Whether is is cloudy or sunny, it’s the perfect place to be.

I have been doing a great deal of reading.  My daughter bought me a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I cannot believe how visible the page is in the sun.

And, of course, we have been eating lots of tasty food. One of our favorite restaurants is actually located right on the beach, the Beachcomber Cafe.  It makes the most delicious beignets.  While on vacation, one must indulge!

There is something about being near the ocean.  It’s the smell of the sea, the sound of the waves, the sand between my toes~~~I can feel the stress just melt away. Unfortunately, living near the water in California is cost prohibitive to most of us ~~unless you have several million dollars to spend on a very small home. So I am joyous to have our 2 weeks a year here.

I hope your summer is filled with relaxation time.  We all need it.  I’m not very good at taking time to chill out and when I finally do it, I wonder what has taken me so long. Ah, the lazy days of summer…

What is summer without a peach pie?  This year our tree didn’t produce enough peaches. My husband bought these beauties at Costco.  Unfortunately, they weren’t ripe and too hard.  I needed to make the pie the next day so I threw them into a paper bag, added a banana, and viola! In just one overnight, they were ripe-not too much so-but perfect for pie making!

I have made many peach pies before, but because they are SO juicy, the bottom crust often suffers from the wet and soggy syndrome. Since this pie was to be dessert at a friend’s house, I was determined to resolve that.

I googled a recipe from Serious Eats, as I have had good luck with them in the past.

Using my very easy pie crust recipe (see recipe here), I made the dough using my food processor. While the dough was refrigerating, I prepared the peaches for peeling. I typically don’t peel my peaches so this was a first for me. Note: Peeling is optional.

Drop the fresh peaches into a large pot of boiling water.  Do not crowd the peaches.  Boil for 30-40 seconds.

Remove the peaches and immediately place in an ice bath. Cool for 1 minute.

The skins will easily separate from the fruit.

The recipe calls for each peach to be cut into 8 pieces, but these were exceptionally large peaches so I cut them into chunks.

Add the cornstarch, sugar and lime zest and mix.  I’ve not used lime zest before so I was interested to see how it would impact the flavor.

Fill bottom crust with peach filling.

I made an extra effort to keep the pie crust chilled as much as possible.  I cut the top crust into strips for a basket weave pattern.

Apply the strips one at a time.

Alternate lifting up and laying down each strip until you have successfully completed a basket weave pattern for the top crust.

Trim off the excess pie crust edges.

Using a fork, crimp the outer edge of the pie to seal in the filling.

Brush the crust with a beaten egg and salt.

Sprinkle with sugar and then chill the entire pie for at least 20 minutes.  I did 40 minutes.

Place in the preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then drop the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and the filling is bubbling over.

I added a pie crust shield to prevent the edges from browning too quickly. I wasn’t as wide as the pie dish but I believed it helped.

Here it is! The juices were bubbling and dripping out of the pie. Note to self: while pie is baking, put a pan beneath it or a piece of foil as the sweet drippings were stuck all over the bottom of my oven.

We brought the pie with some homemade vanilla ice cream to friend’s house so I do not have any pictures of a cut piece.

However, it was DELICIOUS!  Lots of peach pie juice, but the crust was NOT wet or soggy.  I believe keeping the crust chilled and then chilling the pie before baking was the key. Also, there wasn’t any noticeable lime zest flavoring~~I will assume it just enhanced the peaches.

Couple of points:

1. I used a 9″ deep dish pie dish.  The recipe calls for a 9″ pie pan.
2. I didn’t weigh my peaches so it’s highly possible I had over 4 lbs.
3. The recipe instructs you to turn the pie dish while baking.  I did do this and the pie appeared to brown evenly.
4. You can do any top crust you would like.
5. Usually I add pieces of butter to a peach pie but didn’t do so this time.  I didn’t impact the flavor at all.
6. The pie had quite a bit of juice.  However, the bottom crust was not soggy. Yippee!
7. The homemade ice cream was done in a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker.  It took 20 minutes to make and a few hours to freeze.  Was really worth it.

Classic Peach Pie Recipe from Serious Eats

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I first tasted these delicious lemon ricotta pancakes at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, California many years ago.  These pancakes are so light and lemony that I can literally still taste them in my memory. My desire to make them at home is impetus for purchasing the restaurant’s cookbook, The Summertime Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin.

With our hot summer weather, the last thing you want is a filling meal in a hot kitchen.  We search for light, tasty, and healthy recipes.  Not so sure how healthy these are but they do pass the light and tasty test.

This recipe is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  The batter can be made the day before and refrigerated~~allowing for preparation flexibility. Ingredients are pretty straight forward~cake or all purpose flour, butter, eggs, lemons and lemon extract or oil. Of course, I love using this microplane as a zester, making for quick and easy fresh lemon zest.

One key to making these light and fluffy is beating the egg whites and then carefully folding them into the batter.   Pour 1/2 cup of batter onto a griddle or pan.

Cook until bubbles begin to form on the tops of the pancakes and the bottoms are golden. Be careful flipping them, as they are delicate.

Continue cooking until the pancakes are golden on the other side and dry in the middle.

The recipe says to sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar~~oops, I forgot to do that.  However, they were still amazing when served with warm maple syrup and fresh berries.

The recipe states it makes 6 large pancakes, but we made 10 smaller ones with the batter.

I really hope you try this recipe~~it’s one of my favorites!

Lemon Ricotta Pancake Recipe from The Summertime Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin

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