Last Calls to the Grill!

July on Long Island proved to be a scorcher, second hottest on record they say. So far August has mellowed just a bit as summer prepares to make a graceful exit. Soon the kids are back in school, then before we know it the holiday mayhem presents. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, you cry, we still have a month of those lazy days of summer to go! So how are you going to spend those days of summer bliss? What are YOU going to be eating?

The farm stands are now at their peak for fresh produce, and the colorful fruits of summer beckon us to devour our fill now while we still can, before the oh-too-short lived season of peaches, cherries and berries gives way to apples, oranges and pears for eight months! Now that the days are less stifling, it's a perfect time to bake some summer fruit pies, tarts and crumbles. This week I'm making a luscious summer berry pie which includes blueberries, blackberries and raspberries in the filling. I recently saw a recipe in a cooking magazine for a peach ice cream pie in an amaretti crust, only need to fire up the oven long enough for the crust on that one. Tarts are simple and can be topped with a combination of fruits, such as sliced plums and nectarines. The least amount of prep time in your kitchen is the fruit crumble, another dessert that can be made with any combination of fruits that you like. Personally, when I'm spending a day at the beach or on a picnic, there's nothing like a big, ripe, juicy farm fresh peach. Simple, summer, sweet. Fruit salads are also refreshing ends to a meal, whether you mix as many varieties of berries as you can in one bowl, or combine various bright colors of peaches, strawberries, green grapes or kiwi, golden pineapple, plums and oranges it's all delicious. Make it special by whipping up some heavy cream with mascarpone cheese and a little sugar and vanilla to serve as a topping. Then there is always that favorite classic summer basic: the cool crispness of a moist and juicy watermelon. Try picking up melons of varying colors, such as red watermelon, green honeydew and orange cantaloupe. Attack all three with the melon baller and the finished product will be a trio of sorbet colored melon. Spike it up with a light drizzle of good vodka and allow to sit in the fridge until dessert.

Many of us are spending the final summer month huddled around the grill. Although barbecues can certainly be enjoyed into October, with drinks around the patio fireplace to keep warm, summer fare on the grill is one of those special pleasures unique to the season, like that of days spent on the beach. There are countless recipes for grilling these days. The beginning of the barbecue season has everybody craving those original classics like burgers. Spruce up your burgers, be creative with toppings. Anything goes. I love burgers topped with things like bacon, mushrooms, melted blue cheese - yes, all on one! While ribs are always a winner, few meats are shunned from the grill. Chicken, pork chops, pork tenderloin, steaks, fish and seafood, lamb, sausages, etc. In one week I made a cumin-rubbed pork tenderloin topped with peach salsa, tequila-lime chicken, and shrimp and scallop kebabs. There are enough recipes in books, magazines and online for homemade barbecue sauces, rubs and marinades for every day of the year never mind just the summer months. There is no excuse to buy bottled products that are over salted and over processed. There's a reason these products have long shelf lives, and you do not want to know those reasons. Let them live out their lives on the store shelf and instead whip up your own. You'll notice a difference right away when you taste it, believe me.

By now everybody is getting sick of the basic classic barbecue sides. How much cole slaw can you eat? A fair amount, actually, if you break out of the mayonnaise-based dressing mold. You can make a southwestern slaw by adding some cumin, scallions, jalapenos and a very basic southwestern vinaigrette. There are bags of precut vegetables for making an Asian slaw, I usually add to that peanuts, red peppers, scallions, bean sprouts and an Asian dressing and it's spectacular with any Asian grilled meats like pork chops with hoisin. The possibilities of what to add to a mound of shredded cabbage to make it exciting are endless. Likewise, potato salad doesn't have to always mean potatoes-eggs-onions-celery-mayo dressing. Change things up. Make an aioli for the dressing (a very garlicky mayonnaise to which I like to add a little saffron to as well) and toss some red potatoes with that and add some peas and chives. Easy, elegant and different. Make a vinaigrette to use instead of a mayonnaise-based dressing, then stir in some crumbled blue cheese and bacon with the potatoes. Or some green beans, red onion, yellow peppers and chopped tomatoes. Pasta salads can have more wow factor by using pesto instead of mayonnaise-based dressing and adding other Italian ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes and cubes of fresh mozzarella. Other nice salads for summer barbecues include layering some sliced heirloom tomatoes of different sizes and colors, drizzle with a vinaigrette and then sprinkling with blue cheese, chopped red onion and sliced celery. Thinly sliced fennel would be a fine change of pace from the blue cheese, onion and celery. Or instead of the vinaigrette for the heirloom tomatoes, make a homemade blue cheese dressing. I made a nice salad last weekend out of steamed-then-cooled green beans and yellow beans, halved grape tomatoes and a vinaigrette. You can roast a combination of summer produce, such as eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, peppers and garlic, then toss with a balsamic vinaigrette and chill.

You can also get your veggies in by grilling them. Just about any vegetable can be grilled, and the farm stands are exploding in gorgeous specimens of summer vegetables. Sliced eggplants, zucchini, yellow squash, and halved patty pan squash. Corn on the cob needs little prep work, just whip up a seasoned butter and you're all set. Skewered large cherry tomatoes simply brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper are a quick and easy side to throw together. Steak-fry- cut wedges of sweet potatoes are great accompaniment for steaks or pork chops. Best thing to do: visit your local farm stand or farmers' market and browse. When you see something that calls out to you, take advantage and then plan the meal with that.

Getting tired of the same old baked beans? Toss together a salad with beans as an alternative. Black bean salad with chopped tomatoes, jicama, corn and scallions with a chili vinaigrette is perfect for any Mexican fare. Southern cooking screams for a salad of black-eye pea and corn salad with chopped bell peppers. Go Mediterranean with a salad of couscous, chick peas, scallions, kalamata olives and a balsamic vinaigrette. Two American classics include succotash salad which consists of corn, lima beans and bell peppers and can be made with either a creamy dressing or a vinaigrette, and the three bean salad which contains green beans, chick peas and red kidney beans in the mix.

Remember, ladies, the grill isn't just man's territory anymore, girls can grill! Next time your man is due to arrive home later than you, show him up one by having him walk into the backyard where you pull a perfectly seared steak, brushed with your own barbecue sauce, right off the grill and into his awaiting plate. Then set the plate down on the table which is complete with an heirloom tomato salad platter and a three bean salad. He won't know what hit him. Then again, once you demonstrate your skill with the grill, this welcome home may be an expected regular occurrence! Maybe you'd better just stick to teamwork on grill nights. Either way, ladies and gentlemen, choose your spatulas (or tongs, or forks), grab your cold drinks and get fired up. You've got some time left to grill it up hot.

Let's All Scream for Ice Cream!

Fourth of July is upon us, kids are out of school, it's still daylight at 7:30, meaning more outdoor fun time after dinner. Summer is officially here at last. Summer evokes visions of backyard barbecues, lounging in a pool, days spent at the beach, gardening, and yes, ice cream. As the heat and humidity rises, the last thing we feel like doing is cranking up the oven to bake a dessert. We'll welcome that moment come fall when apples are picked and we yearn for those first warming cinnamon and apple pie scents to waft through the house. For now, we'll just settle for that summer dessert favorite loved by all worldwide: ice cream. The cooling smoothness that permeates the palate is refreshing and comforting on a blistering hot day.

We all remember those summer nights of our youth playing outdoors after dinner with our neighborhood friends. As soon as we heard the distant jingling of the ice cream truck, we would all flock home at warp speed to transform into instant little beggars, insisting to our parents that we just had to have ice cream, PLEASE can we have some money, oh hurry, hurry, quick, he's coming! And then we would all go tearing back down the street after the truck like a pack of starved dogs. It is amazing what immature palates are willing to devour. I tried one of these ice cream truck treats once as an adult and found it to be just a notch above inedible. While chasing down the ice cream truck is probably still a childhood delight, perhaps the only source of physical activity they get all summer these days apart from the thumb-flexing drills of the video game marathons, there are much more rewarding frosty desserts for grownups, and for the kids too.

Next Friday or Saturday night after dinner, before the taunting ice cream truck makes its rounds, announce to the family that you're going out for ice cream. No kid will turn that down, and if you find a high quality ice cream parlour in your area, the ice cream will be infinitely better. I'm not talking about the big corporate chains, I'm talking about the little individual shops which sell premium ice cream and usually offer a wider array of flavors, toppings, cones, etc. I have been to two excellent ice cream shops locally, one is called McNutty's in Miller Place and the other is Hollywood Sweets in Ridge. For anyone visiting the Mystic area of Connecticut, there is a wonderful shop called Drawbridge Ice Cream. Make these family ice-cream night outings on a once-weekly basis throughout the summer vacation. Invite one or two of your child's friends to tag along on some of these pilgrimages. Eating ice cream is one of the summertime highlights that everyone young and old looks forward to.

Another fun way to enjoy your ice cream fix is to invest in an ice cream machine. Most machines are electric and create ice cream in your home simply by agitating the ingredients in a frozen canister. Make a couple of batches each week and you'll have ice cream all summer. The most basic vanilla ice cream contains very few ingredients with which we are all familiar: milk, cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Moving up one notch would be the addition of a stir-in, such as nuts, chocolate chips, peanut butter, chopped candy bars, finely chopped berries or peaches, etc. A few tweaks and you can easily create any flavor you fancy. You can change from vanilla extract to mint extract and add some chocolate chips, for example. More elaborate flavors will involve steps such as slow cooking eggs, melting chocolate, making caramel, etc. You can even add flavorful liqueurs, such as Chambord or Creme de Menthe or Frangelico. I would recommend purchasing an ice cream recipe book at the time you acquire your ice cream machine, then you'll have plenty of ideas to keep you and even the kids busy all summer long. Mixing the ingredients usually does not take up much time, less than half an hour, and then the ingredients are typically poured into the ice cream machine and then processed while you walk away and catch up on folding some laundry or whatever task you've been putting off. In less than an hour, you have ice cream all ready to put into the freezer for future indulgence. You'll be able to revel in seasonal delights, such as pumpkin pie ice cream in the fall and peppermint stick and eggnog ice creams at Christmastime.

When having a barbecue or any social gathering where you don't feel like putting a lot of effort into dessert after creating a colossal meal, let your guests of all ages do the work. Set up an ice cream sundae bar. Have two or three flavors of ice cream to pick from, a chilled bowl of freshly whipped cream, a couple of sauces and a few bowls of various toppings. Everyone will feel right at home, each person creating their own idea of the perfect sundae. Adults will feel like kids again, kids will feel all grown-up as they put their creative culinary ideas in motion. This does get messy, so it's a great idea for outdoor fun and after-party clean-up will be a lot easier.

Ice cream sauces can really make the dessert. A simple bowl of premium quality vanilla ice cream or gelato can be very elegant when drizzled with fresh-brewed espresso. Another way to enjoy vanilla ice cream is to pour melted Nutella, a chocolate and hazelnut spread, over the top. I also prefer to make my own sauces rather than buy commercial jars filled with a lot of artificial ingredients. Chocolate, or hot fudge, sauce is so simple to make, and you'll feel better about it knowing that you can actually obtain, and pronounce, all of the necessary ingredients. I recently made a basic vanilla ice cream, with a stir-in of chopped Lindor white chocolate truffles. Then I made a triple raspberry sauce to pour over. It was divine, the flavors of white chocolate and raspberry are always a perfect marriage. The sauce took only four ingredients: sugar, raspberry preserves from the local farm stand, a pint of fresh raspberries, and Chambord (a raspberry liqueur).

In making something that most kids love, ice cream is a great way to get them involved in the kitchen. The reward will be them seeing how good food is really made, eating better quality treats and thus graduating them away from the lower quality artificial wares peddled by the ice cream truck. The reward for us grownups is pure indulgence after a barbecue or at the close of a day at the beach. While we need to savor healthful summer fruits like peaches, plums, melons, cherries, apricots and berries on a regular basis, a once a week treat of supreme quality is something we all deserve and should take the time to enjoy. In these hazy hot days we're having, ice cream definitely fits the bill. Make mine vanilla ... with chopped Bacci chocolates ... and chocolate-hazelnut sauce ... or raspberry sauce ... or, no, wait ... oh, better just make mine chocolate instead!

Fluid Therapy

As your temperature rises, you need to put yourself on fluid therapy in order to avoid dehydration. No, this is not a medical website, I am not promoting a do-it-yourself home clinic and, best of all, you do not need intravenous catheters poked into your veins for what we're talking about today. You can all relax now and instead of visions of IV fluid bags dancing in your heads, think drink. As summer comes into full swing with daytime temperatures rising into the nineties, it becomes crucial to hydrate yourself by drinking more liquids. As we sweat, our bodies can dehydrate and we lose electrolytes. Then we start to feel sluggish and succumb to those lazy, hot days.

Most importantly, we need to drink more water. Try to always keep a full pitcher of filtered water on hand in the refrigerator, as well as ice cubes on hand in the freezer. Another good thing to do at the beginning of the season is to stock up on full cases of small bottles of water. Whether you like the artisan spa waters such as Fiji or Evian, a fizzier version such as Perrier or San Pellegrino, or perhaps you are less finicky and are easily satiated with basic local bottles, buy a large quantity in bulk to take you through a whole season of on-the-go outdoor activities. When an afternoon hike, a trip to the beach, or a simple picnic in the park is on your social calendar, grab a couple of those water bottles for each person to take along. If room allows, store a case in the refrigerator; if not, then take out the bottles you will need the night before and place them in the refrigerator to chill overnight. While it may seem so easy to store the cases in the trunk of your car, thereby allowing you handy access wherever you go, this is not recommended since studies are being pursued to prove a link between high temperatures breaking down the plastic of the bottles and thus increasing chances for cancer.

Many of us associate summer warmth with classic beverages such as lemonade and iced tea. We all remember the advertisements that infiltrated the commercial breaks during our cartoon watching when we were kids: the one with the kids playing outdoors (do kids still do that??) and whining "I'm hot and thirsty, hey, Kool Aid!" and the lumbering smiley pitcher would burst on the scene like gang busters through the backyard fence to their rescue. It came in grape, it came in cherry, it even came in mountain berry punch. We all loved it, the unnaturally bright lip-staining colors and sickening sweetness were what every kid craved. Did your parents ever actually read the ingredient list on one of those packets? Mine did and my mother was so put off that I was only allowed the lemonade flavor because it didn't contain quite as many artificial ingredients - unless of course I spent the day at Grandma's, she would always buy me anything, because that's just what grandmothers do. Well, as a kid I thanked Grandma, and I still do for always trying to make my visits with her so enjoyable. As an adult, well, Mom was right. Darn it, aren't they always?!

Well for those of you who still desire a tall cold glass of lemonade on a hot day, you can do so without any of the guilt of filling your body with that chemical-laden mystery powder. All you need is an electric citrus juicer and making your own is so, so simple that you'll wonder why there were ever packets of powdered artificial ingredients to make such a simple summertime pleasure. Lemonade contains only three ingredients: lemons, sugar and water. Juice about one cup of lemon juice with the juicer, you'll probably need five to six lemons to yield a cup of juice. Add that to a pitcher and vigorously stir in about three-quarters of a cup of sugar until the sugar dissolves (if you buy superfine sugar, that works even better). Then stir in about three to four cups of water, taste it after three and add more if you need to. Finally, add some ice cubes and thin lemon slices to the pitcher and chill. For limeade, perform the same procedure, substituting limes for the lemons.

Making iced tea at home is also as easy as boiling water. Boil four cups of water. Then steep two tea bags of a good English tea, such as English breakfast. Make a simple syrup by stirring a cup of sugar into a cup of water over low heat, until the sugar dissolves. Remove the tea bags from the tea and discard, then stir in the simple syrup. Chill overnight and you'll have iced tea waiting for you the next day. Want to make something really special? Add equal parts of the iced tea recipe to the lemonade and combine, then stir in a few mint leaves.

For an even healthier alternative, try making an herbal iced tea by remembering the rule of 'four'. Boil four cups of water. Steep four bags each (that's eight bags total) of any two fruity herbal teas you like that would work well together. Once the tea has steeped for a half hour, remove the bags and discard. Then stir in four cups of a fruit juice that would work well with the selected tea flavors. The juice is what sweetens the tea. I have used lemon zinger and red zinger from Celestial Seasonings, with apple juice. I have also used the peach and cherry berry teas with cranberry juice. There are plenty of combinations you can come up with.

Now of course we all like our weekend cocktails as well. Keep in mind that these beverages are merely enhancements to your dining and social pleasure, alcohol does nothing to aid in dehydration. One of my favorite hot weather drinks hails from Mexico: the margarita. The classic margarita is actually not frozen, and it's easy to make. Simply combine equal parts lime juice, tequila, and orange liquor (I like Cointreau, but you can use triple sec as well). Rub a cut lime wedge along the rim of a glass, dip the rim into a plate of salt and allow to dry. Then add in your margarita and enjoy. These days there are a lot of margaritas out there with added fruit flavors. If you want to mix things up a bit, simply add another equal part of the juice you are looking for, such as pineapple for instance. Another refreshing hot weather cocktail is the Cuban mojito. This takes a bit of work, but it is so cooling and refreshing that the effort is well worth the enjoyment. First, in a pitcher muddle two cups of fresh mint leaves with about a third cup of sugar. Once the oils are released from the mint leaves, stir in a cup of light rum and a quarter cup of lime juice. Top it off with four cups of seltzer and stir. Pour into glasses with ice, garnish with a lime wedge and a sprig of mint. One last summer beverage hailing from New Orleans is the Hurricane. This would be a beginner's drink in the study of mixology: one quarter cup each of rum, orange juice and pineapple juice, plus one eighth cup of grenadine syrup. Stir to combine and serve over ice in a tall glass.

While my husband Brian could write pages and pages on the subject, I will spare you all the long version and give you the accelerated course. Guys, as the heat rises, so too does your craved consumption of brew. Then come the end of the season you complain about your proportionate increase in gut size. 'But I buy light beer!' you protest. You are drinking the wrong beer. Next time you buy beer for your weekend barbecue, go to a beverage store. For those on Long Island, there is Shore Line Beverage in Huntington, Selden Beverage in Selden, and Bellport Beer and Soda in Bellport. Veer away from the displays of Coors, Bud, Corona and Miller. Instead, peruse the aisles with the funky labels. You see, those are the real deal. A beer should have color, depth of flavor and substance. It should feel substantial when you drink it. When you drink a stout, it's a heavy beer. It's satisfying, it will fill you up and slow you down. When you drink a mass produced Miller Light, which is so light that it sports the same color going into your body as it does coming out, it really is like drinking water. You will not fill up on it. So you'll grab another one, and another, and before you know it you have consumed six beers in three hours. Lower calorie or not, it adds up and it will add up to more calories than one or two craft beers. We inadvertently did a little experiment one evening. We had a prospective guinea pig over one evening, a guy who is famous for imbibing an entire six pack of Bud or Miller over three hours. Brian served him a couple of craft beers. The guy is open-minded to food and drink and enjoys trying new things, so he was very curious and interested in trying something new. He clearly enjoyed the first as he did finish it and accepted an offer of a second. Brian expected to have to introduce him to a third beer, but the opportunity did not arise that night. Even this guy was slowed down. Again, alcohol is not going to rehydrate you, it is not going to quench your thirst. We drink it to enhance our social and dining experiences. Therefore, one or two should suffice and when you aim for quality and not quantity, you'll be satisfied and your waist size won't suffer. If you feel intimidated by all of the choices in the beverage store and your lack of experience is not helping to guide you into a selection, try visiting either a local brewery or a brewery restaurant where you can sample different brews that are produced on the premises. There are a number of such places on Long Island and it can be a good excuse for a fun night out. Once you start on your journey of craft beer exploration, you'll enjoy them more and more; and then those light beers will be almost undrinkable because when you go to sample one again for old times' sake, you'll notice right away that something is missing from them. I have to say, when a Corona Light came out, I had to ask myself 'How could Corona get any lighter?? Original Corona has almost no flavor, might as well drink water!' By the way, ladies, craft beer isn't exclusively a men's club you know. I love my wine, but I do also enjoy trying a new craft beer with Brian. And it's such a smug feeling to be in a brew pub, order a stout, watch the waiter try to hide his shock and watch the guy at the next table looks on in admiration. I can hold my own with dark beers better than a lot of guys I know!

Simpler summer drinking pleasures can be a glass of a chilled fine white or rose, or a refreshing limoncello straight up on ice. Whatever your pleasure, I raise my glass and toast with my readers, to the summer sun we say: bring it on, we're all hooked up with our fluids - bottoms up!

Pesto Presto!

Now that the herbs are planted in the kitchen garden, I can eagerly look forward to making batches upon batches of one of the most versatile classic condiments of Italian cooking: pesto. The vivacious bright green hue, the salty nuttiness of Parmesan and pignolis, the mildly sweet basil and fruity olive oil, and the fresh bite of garlic all come together in an ecstatic explosion of flavor that keeps my taste buds always craving more. Pesto is an uncooked sauce that originated in the Genoa region of Italy. Traditionally, it was made with fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, pignoli nuts and grated Parmesan cheese, all crushed and blended together with a mortar and pestle. The advent of the food processor has been a wonderful thing indeed, allowing one to bang out batch after batch and get virtually no work-out. Hmm. Oh well, exercise didn't used to my thing anyway, ask any of my old high school friends who shared physical education classes with me. Anyhow, in addition to this facilitation of the ease of producing pesto at home, as home cooks explore more and more ethnicities of epicurean delights, the traditional ingredients have been tweaked accordingly as well. I have seen pesto recipes calling for parsley and walnuts in place of the basil and pignoli nuts. I have even seen recipes calling for the use of cilantro or mint. Another traditional European rendition is called pistou, the French version, which is a very close cousin to the Italian pesto, using basil, olive oil and garlic.

Pesto can be savored in countless ways. The most popular presentation is when used as a pasta sauce. For a nice side dish simply toss the pesto with cooked pasta, preferably one with a lot of little nooks or twists to really hold the sauce, such as fusilli or gemelli. For a main dish, add some cooked shrimp and some halved cherry tomatoes and you have an elegant and summery entree. Pesto on its own has a thick paste-like consistency. To thin it out for tossing with more delicate ingredients, such as gnocchi, or for drizzling over ravioli, heat some heavy cream in a small saucepan on medium-low heat and stir in the pesto to combine. Want a super-quick weekend lunch in minutes? Toss this creamy pesto sauce with pasta, tuna, green peas and pearl onions. Prefer a meatless lunch? Omit the tuna and use cheese-filled tortellini for the pasta.

Pesto is also a good condiment to toss with vegetables. One evening in your attempt to cook healthier, you steam some cauliflower, broccoli flowerettes and cut up carrots. You turn the cooked vegetables out into a serving bowl. You stare at it in hungry disappointment, its dullness staring right back at you. Seems pretty boring, doesn't it? You can hardly blame the kids for not wanting to eat their vegetables. Toss the hot vegetables with a couple of spoonfuls of pesto and now you have added flavor and another visual dimension to the dish and still kept within the rules of healthy Mediterranean dining. If one evening you decide to grill some Italian-seasoned chicken, boil some halved baby potatoes, drain and then toss with the pesto. Add a few peas or some cut up green beans and allow to chill. A simple and healthy potato salad which will compliment your Italian grilled chicken perfectly.

Pesto is also a perfect topper for meats and fish on those late nights when you need dinner ready in a hurry. Preheat the oven to 450, slather some pesto over the top of a Chilean sea bass fillet and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. That's a rapturous favorite of mine, there is something about the marriage of Chilean sea bass and pesto that is simple, savored, pure enjoyment. The same can be done with salmon fillets as well as boneless chicken breasts and lamb chops.

Pizza also makes a perfect palette for pesto - go on, say it, say that five times fast! It can either be spread on its own over the crust before adding toppings, or stir some into ricotta cheese for a rich and flavorful delight. Top that with some roasted slices of eggplant, or some raw slices of peppers and plum tomatoes, then finish with some fresh mozzarella, and your taste buds will soon deprogram the local pizzeria's telephone number from your memory bank.

Lastly, on that first chilly evening in the fall when soup seems like a comforting dinner idea, stir a spoonful or two of pesto into the soup and let it dissolve into the broth. This brings a final hint of summer into the first of many winter dishes. Prepare a pot of chicken or vegetable stock, with some cut up fresh vegetables and some tortellini, add the pesto and then serve with a sprinkling of additional Parmesan cheese.

After reading this post, I hope that many of you who baulk at the idea of cooking for no other reason than your own lack of confidence in your culinary skills will realize that by using pesto in your dishes, you can create some very nice meals with very little effort. As for the pesto itself, the recipe for that does not get any easier. If you see bottled pesto in the supermarket, run! No, no, the other way! Now is the time for that workout, just run away from it and don't look back! The concept of bottled pesto completely defeats the notion of that fresh herb sensation. Make your own and use only the best ingredients. Bottled products do not use the best ingredients, they use the cheapest ingredients for economically efficient mass production, as well as other less-than-savory additions in order to preserve the product for months on the supermarket shelf. I don't care how culinarily deficient you think you might be, the only skills required are filling measuring cups and pressing a button; so simple you could bribe your ten-year old child to do this: take 2 cups of packed fresh basil leaves, 1 cup of packed fresh parsley leaves, 1 cup imported grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, 2/3 cup high quality extra-virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup pignoli nuts, 2 very large cloves of garlic and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and dump it all into a large food processor bowl. Place the lid on the processor and press the little button that says 'on'. Process the ingredients until everything is finely chopped and well mixed. That's all folks, that really wasn't so hard now, was it? This will make enough pesto for four main-dish servings, such as when covering meat or tossing with a main-dish pasta entree. If you only need to use only a few spoonfuls at a time, such as when making a pesto cream sauce or stirring into a soup, then it will carry you through a few meals. Whatever you don't plan to use within a week, put the remainder into a tightly sealed half-cup plastic food containers right away, top with a thin film of olive oil and then freeze for another time, thereby making a late weekday dinner even more of a snap. I always make extra batches of both pesto and of marinara sauce. They freeze well, and make the next few Italian dinner options easy to accomplish quickly when all I have to do is thaw the sauce that morning.

If you have not done so already, pick up the last of the basil and parsley plants from your local garden center and get them into the ground. Nothing says summer dining like flavors fresh from your garden, and herbs can really make that impact. Pesto is a healthy alternative to the rich, cheesy, cream sauces. It can be savored in so many dishes. The herbs are easy to grow, and the condiment easy to make. The color of the moment all over the media is, after all, green! So go green with your summer meals and discover even more ways to enjoy pesto.

How Does Your Herb Garden Grow?

Now that spring is well underway and the nighttime temperatures no longer plummet into frosty digits, gardeners start to get the itch, that urgent need to relegate themselves outdoors, to plunge that spade into the earth and dig in the dirt. Here in the northeast, planting season begins later than it does for our southern counterparts, as we must religiously watch the weather forecasts until no further threat of frost remains, which is typically not until mid-May. The garden centers, however, begin tantalizing us with brightly colored displays of flora in early April. It's tempting, very tempting. If you have managed to resist the pull so far, congratulations on your display of will power. By buying plants too early, you not only run the risk of frost zapping the life out of those young seedlings, but those heavy April showers that were once chanted to bring May flowers can in fact drown these developing plants, leading to root rot and turning your garden bed into a horticultural cemetery.

While many of the popular annual flowers and even most vegetables are best planted after mid-May, early May is a safe time to start on the kitchen garden, herbs in particular. Although I enjoy gardening on a small scale, I do tend to focus the hobby more on flowers to make our patio more enjoyable for outdoor dining and to make various locations around the property look inviting and colorful. When it comes to the vegetable garden, since I can in fact purchase fresh vegetables from the local farm stands, I plant limited produce. I usually will plant a variety of different tomatoes, eggplants and bell peppers. What I do plant in abundance are herbs, due to the extensive use of these flavor enhancers. Herbs are very easy to grow, require little care and can be enjoyed fresh from garden to plate from early may well into November. A variety of herbs go into the making of our Thanksgiving feast, and this is usually when the final trek into the herb garden yield the final herb harvest.

Begin planting most of your herbs now, starting with parsley, sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme and chives. Then plant your dill, mint, and hold off planting basil until mid-late May, as basil is more sensitive to cooler temperatures. If your property layout allows, I recommend planting at least those herbs which you use most often as close to your kitchen as possible if your kitchen has outside entry. I actually plant many of my herbs in those very long narrow pots that sit atop of the deck railing. All I have to do is step outside the kitchen door and snip what I need right there. Since I do plant large amounts basil, I typically plant this in the vegetable garden where there is more space, creating a border of it around the tomatoes. I like to buy two or three large rosemary bushes, which I'll plant strategically in the vegetable garden as well since they do add a decorative touch.

Herbs are so versatile in cooking. Most recipes call for at least one herb, and even when I see a dried herb listed in the ingredients, I usually substitute fresh herbs instead. In most cases, fresh herbs taste so much better, whatever measurement the recipe calls for in dried herbs, simply double the amount and use fresh. The addition of fresh herbs turns up the flavor factor in any dish. Be creative, even when not working off of a recipe. Next time you make polenta or mashed potatoes, stir in some chopped fresh rosemary. Add some chopped fresh oregano when sauteeing summer vegetables. Every good Italian out there knows that the best red pasta sauce has to have fresh basil. Herbs make wonderful seasonings for roasting meats. Nothing says spring more than lamb with rosemary and garlic, or salmon with lemon and dill. Sage is an flavorful and aromatic seasoning for poultry. Next time you serve cannellini beans, add some extra-virgin olive oil, sauteed minced garlic and finely minced sage. Herbs also create a nice visual finishing touch when serving up a dish. When presenting a serving bowl of potato salad or pasta, sprinkle the top with some freshly chopped parsley before you bring it to the table of eager diners. It wakes up the dish, the addition of fresh, bright green against the light background makes the dish pop. Add a sprig of fresh mint to a glass of lemonade or iced tea and you add a touch of freshness and flavor that enhances the refreshing factor of the beverage. It's also a wonderful thing to be able to make a batch of pesto or a pitcher of mojitos on a whim, knowing that the parsley and basil or the mint are all right there at your fingertips, allowing you to bypass a trek to the supermarket first.

For those of you who are fortunate enough to have a kitchen window with a nice big sill, or plenty of counter space near a sunny kitchen window, I highly recommend planting some herbs in decorative pots indoors. You'll be able to enjoy those benefits that herbs provide even throughout the winter months. When it comes to cooking ingredients, fresh is always best and there is nothing better than being able to harvest your own produce minutes before you need it. You also know what went into your gardening; if you like to use organic produce, easy enough to accomplish when you grow it yourself. So go ahead, it's safe, go visit your local garden centers and start planning and planting your kitchen garden, your family will enjoy the fresh flavors all summer long.

Spring's Coming: Finishing Touch

In what began as a four-part blog about freshening up the decor in your home to welcome spring as well as guests and family members alike, the series has now unfolded and blossomed into tips on transforming our homes into comfort havens. We began by utilizing bold and beautiful spring blooms to brighten our home visually. Then we gravitated to refreshening the air by bringing in some ideas for infusing comforting scents into our homes to try and squash out the staleness of winter. By now, many of you may have begun your spring-cleaning ritual: diving head-first into closets and desk drawers, attics and other hidden crevices to sort and toss with reckless abandon. Likewise, in our attempts to be productive, little distractions abound everywhere. You may be sorting through your attic and continually stumble across some long ago tucked away and since forgotten object which brings pause in your cleaning spree as you take a virtual stroll down memory lane. You may not realize it, but you could potentially have a whole treasure trove of items which could be brought back to life in your home. In this segment, we'll talk about using different things on display throughout the home to make every room invite a sense of comfort.

Generally, when displaying objets, the key is to keep it under control. I have been in homes where the person's knick-knack collection had multiplied beyond all reason and the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with pictures. The home felt suffocating and the visual experience was way too busy to be comforting. If you are going to collect something, stick to one theme per room. When you see something in a shop, think about it. Will it not only fit into the collection itself, but tie into the color of the room as well? Does it look like a well-crafted item, or does it look cheap and tacky? Be selective, quality over quantity.

To make our home inviting to us, it is the comfort of something familiar and of things we love that makes it so. Such things are varying for each one of us as unique individuals according to personal taste. Let's start with my favorite room in the house: the kitchen. By displaying some cooking or food related items you've collected, your kitchen beckons you, as these personal touches make the space your own. Do you have a favorite cookbook author whose books you have collected? Then you might consider buying any of his or her books which you may not yet own and a single wall shelf to install on a kitchen wall on which to display your cooking idol; his or her books will then inspire you to whip up something rewarding at any given time. If you have space between the tops of the upper kitchen cabinets and the ceiling, this is a perfect space for displaying collections, whether you fancy elegant teapots, whimsical cookie jars, soup tureens, baskets or decorative serving bowls. Moving on into the dining area, if you have the space for some shelves, this is also an appropriate palette for some culinary display. I have a whole wall of my dining room filled with bookcases where I keep all of my cookbooks. In spaces in between these books I have various serving bowls and platters. The display not only lets people know that they are in the dining room, it's all about the food in here; but it also welcomes me to sit at the table and peruse a cookbook for next weekend's dinner recipe ideas.

In other rooms, such as the bedroom, guest room and family room, take the opportunity to display things you love. Being a Long Islander, I love the ocean and everything associated with it. In response to that love, I decorated my guest room accordingly, with a seashell print bedding set, a framed lighthouse poster, and I even framed a poem I once wrote describing the beach in winter. Then I filled in around the room with some conch shells and starfish that I'd collected on our Carribean trips, as well as a few shells I picked up along the shores close to home. The room is now not only comforting to me whenever I need to go in there, but it gives a Long Island welcome to out-of-town guests. In our bedroom, I decorated in a French theme, because I am half French and I also just happen to love all things French. Blue toile linens on the bed and window, a single pillow boasting "I'd Rather Be In Paris", because, frankly, I would. Across the wall right over the bed I placed three black and white prints of Paris landmarks in black frames. Whenever displaying multiple pieces together, keep in mind that odd amounts tend to work best visually. In our library and computer room, I have a show-and-tell of something else I love: Brian's and my weekends together. I am currently working on putting together a collage frame for each season, with photos of us having fun together: some beach pictures from summer, hikes and pumpkin picking expeditions in autumn, etc. Whether your spouse, your children or your pets, by framing a few of the best photos you have of them and displaying in a personal room such as a family room or library, you will not be able to fight back the smile for long when you come across that picture as you enter the room. Again, moderation is key. Three to five large prints is enough to set the mood and make the statement. An entire wall completely covered is turning what should be a comforting space into a chaotic art gallery.

Thinking back as far as your memory will serve, what were some of the first things which brought you comfort as an infant? A blanket? A bath? Guess what? That hasn't necessarily changed! Fluffy new towels in a seasonal or pleasing color and a basket on display filled with bath salts and lotions are the way to make a bathroom feel welcoming. New towels and a soothing lavender scented bath oil will set an inviting and comforting mood when you enter the room after a long tough day; all you have to do is fill the tub, step in, lie back and the day's trials and tribulations melt away. The living room can also be a welcome haven to comfort by simply draping a favorite, attractive blanket over the arm of a cozy chair or sofa. The blanket invites you to get comfortable and lose yourself in your favorite movie or a new book, or even browsing through a memory-filled photo album that you keep on the coffee table.

One last tip for displaying collections to personalize your home: I am a big believer of mixing up old and new. If you just discovered an old pitcher in your attic that once belonged to a beloved grandmother, for example, bring it down. You have probably collected a couple of pitchers yourself over the years. Choose your two favorite ones, and display them right along with Grandma's. It's a tribute to a relative who once gave you comfort, thereby evoking comfort here and now, and links together your shared attraction to collecting pitchers. Using old things that once belonged to now departed family gives an even more personal touch to your decor, it pays homage to someone who was once an important part of your life and it likely has a few stories to tell, stories which may have been told to you over the years by that person and are now stories being opened up for you to tell. I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of things in your attic or closets that you are getting reacquainted with, whether things that have been passed on to you by family members or just things you once purchased, maybe even used for awhile, got tired of and relegated into storage for another day. That day could be today, so while sorting through things and going down the virtual memory lane, also pause and ask yourself if and how this object could be a welcome addition to your home, thereby making your home a welcoming and comforting haven to all who enter. First, better bake up a batch of those cookies Grandma used to make and bring them along, you're going to be up there in that attic for awhile!