When the farmer’s market is the farm you know the produce will be good. Just picked from the garden, the vegetables and fruit are fresh. This is the way to purchase corn on the cob. It is best when picked and eaten the same day. Our family is scattered all over the country. When we return home to the Shenandoah Valley, this local farm’s produce stand is something we always seek out.
Every now and then I’ll find a recipe that just absolutely “wows” the main ingredient. Such is the recipe, “Mrs. Elias’ Stuffed Yellow Squash.” Yellow squash is plentiful in the summertime; I’ve been looking at it in the grocery stores for a while now. It’s a good vegetable to include in meals while in season.
There are so many creative ways to cook yellow squash–beyond boiled. A local Lebanese diner serves stuffed baby yellow squash on their cafeteria-style menu every day. I’ve always been curious about how the squash dish was made. I found a similar recipe in a saved newspaper clipping and tried it; the recipe was delicious–one of the best I’ve made in a while.
I look forward to ripe vegetables and fruits in the summertime. They are juicy, aromatic and sweet; much more so that those out of season. One of my favorites is cantaloupe. It tastes like an entirely different fruit when it is truly ripe.
Basil is easy to grow in Louisiana in the summertime. In fact, my garden is full of the herb. One seed packet makes a huge crop. Basil makes a nice addition to salads and pasta. Pizza is a favorite dish and I experimented with using basil in a pizza tart recipe. The homemade pizza is surprisingly easy to make and has become a family favorite. 
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Homemade ice cream on the Fourth of July. Hot summer days and swimming. They go together. We made many flavors of homemade ice cream growing up using an old crank ice cream maker. The closest swimming pool was in the country fed with freezing spring water. Burr! One of my favorite ice cream varieties is cherry ice cream. It sounds like a patriotic dessert to serve on this holiday. This version is similar a gelato type of ice cream. Plus it is very easy to make.
beyondgumbo 