Want to know which lucky lady is the second of two winners in my Summer Style Contest. Then .
The second winner in the Summer Style Contest is
Haze, who launched a major overhaul of her garden and patio in her 1930s Cape Cod-style home in May. In what she calls the "patio reclamation" and "garden refreshment," her husband was "responsible for acquiring the eclectic mix of midcentury pieces that are featured in the space," and she took it upon herself to "refurbish, reclaim, reuse, and repurpose many of these items in order to create a warm and welcoming space with a unique personality." After installing seven pieces of her original modern, surrealist pop artwork, the space took on a gallery feel.
Major steal alert: The
CB2 Buena Park Chair has been massively marked down. Originally $169, this adorably modern version of a Luxembourg gardens chair is now only $39.95. I don't know how it can be this cheap, but I'm not about to start arguing about it.
When I saw this recipe for pancetta-wrapped peaches in the July issue of
Food and Wine magazine, I knew I had to make it. The recipe takes four simple ingredients — peaches, pancetta, basil, and balsamic vinegar — and turns them into one incredibly delicious, perfectly balanced dish. The peaches are sweet and juicy, the pancetta is crisp and salty, and the basil is fresh and fragrant.
Today at the
farmers market the okra looked so fresh that I had to buy some. Right now is the perfect time to purchase a seasonal ingredient like okra, which is only available through early fall. The folks at Padao Farms, the stand where I got my beloved okra, gave me a few tips for picking the pods.
Although jarred roasted red peppers are readily available in grocery stores, I find the flavor of fresh roasted peppers superior to their supermarket counterparts. During the Summer, take advantage of the grill and char them over the fire. The grill will impart a subtle smokiness that is hard to mimic in mass produced variations.
While it's available year-round, eggplant is best during its peak season, which begins in July and extends through October. I could shower you with
eggplant recipes, but decided it would be more fun to see what you can recall about this purple plant (which was once thought to possess transformative love properties). So you think you know the aubergine.
During a recent endeavor to make
peach rice pudding popsicles, I loved the rice pudding so much (a good amount of it wound up in my stomach instead of the freezer!) that I decided it was time to make a batch.
Enter this rice pudding recipe, which highlights all the freshest Summer fruits. It's comfort food to the max, with a glutinous bite and creamy, vanilla undertones. Make sure you keep the saucepan at arm's length and stir the rice continuously.
I'm not the only one obsessed with
Popsicles; so is
Krystia Castella, the author of the recently released
Pops. Icy Treats for Everyone. The book is full of frozen delights, but I was completely intrigued by her recipe for rice pudding Popsicles.
