Peach Blueberry Crumble

I have a friend named Karen.  Karen is quite a gardener both in vegetable gardening and in flower gardening.  She works hard every summer to make her home a luxurious experience for the eye as well as the palette.  This year her hard work paid off again but it paid off big for her neighbors and friends and I count myself lucky.  You see, Karen is off to South Africa for 3 weeks and that just happens to coincide with peach season in her lovely backyard.  I was happy to receive the call from her just before she left town telling me I could come over in about a week's time and pick peaches. I will freeze a few, have canned a few jars of peach syrup, plan to bottle several jars of peach halves and today I made a peach crumble.  Actually I made one yesterday as well and I will most likely make another tomorrow.  You simply cannot get enough of peaches when they are in season.

I have several great crumble/crisp/cobbler recipes but this one is easy, petite and delicious.  If you are lucky enough to be the proud owner of 7 or 8 peaches preheat the oven and call your hubby and tell him to stop for a half gallon of vanilla ice cream.  You will be so glad you did!  Thanks Karen!

Cucumber Salad Dressing, . .

If you are looking around your abundant garden and wondering what you might do with those extra cucumbers, I have a great little recipe for you! This cucumber salad dressing is ridiculously fresh tasting and a wonderful little twist on the old stand by of "ranch". You will love it best on any lettuce other than iceberg, but hey, I love it on that as well. Get the lettuce and croutons out...lunch is served!

Lemon Blackberry Bars

As promised, here is the lemon blackberry bar recipe I referred to last week.  This recipe alone is  a great reason to grow blackberries!

A few notes about this recipe.  I like a thin crust on a lemon bar, so if you like a thicker one then go ahead and double the crust portion of the recipe.(I have been known to double the batch for the crust and refrigerate the other half so that I have a head start the next time I want to make this)   Secondly I like it to have a very strong lemon flavor because I am not crazy about that many eggs  in one place at the same time, so there is a lot of lemon zest in this recipe.  Many recipes for lemon bars tell you to put foil in the pan and “lift” it out when it is done.  I haven’t had any problems lifting my bars out, if you do—use foil to create a cradle for your bars.   Lastly, when I add the blackberry part of the filling (or raspberryJ) I like to drizzle it after the bars have been in the oven for about 10 minutes.  The filling starts to set and when it does then the heavy blackberry filling doesn’t sink all the way to the bottom, oh... and I don’t strain out the seeds.  Who cares if the seeds get to stay around for the main event?   It all sounds more intricate than it is.  Give it a try, the payoff for this recipe is more than worth it. Every time I make this dessert  someone will stop by the table and pick up one—then they head back with a small plate to pick up three more.  Some recipes are just like that.

Bruschetta Bouquet

The summer harvest has begun and with it comes a a time of sharing.   So gather up those extra tomatoes, a few sprigs of basil and bundle up a Bruschetta Bouquet for a good friend.  Fill a jar with tomatoes, put a few basil stems in a florist's water vial and wrap it up with a ribbon and a tag sporting a recipe for your favorite variation of bruschetta. For my bouquets I used a couple of Wek jars that I found at Williams-Sonoma.  I think they are adorable and versatile and will make  great gifts.

If you're interested in whipping up a batch from one of my favorite recipes, give this a go:

 This recipe is what makes the gift of a Bruschetta Bouquet one of the most delicious gifts of summer.  It beats the heck out of a zucchini!
 Variations:
Sometimes I smear the pre-toasted bread with a bit of cream cheese or a small chunk of fresh mozzarella, toast it and top it with your tomato mixture.