Seasonal Sundays (Week 35) Summer's Not Over Yet

Let's not close the door on summer just yet, okay? This week, check out seven supper-friendly recipes that are hard to categorize except that they "fit" late summer (lots of veggies!) and my own summer won't feel complete without them. As the days shorten, will we be making the same recipes? Let's do!

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

~ PIN This ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

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News Flash! Sure. The kids may be back in school. Labor Day weekend is just ahead. But I'm hear to proclaim -- let's not quit summer, not yet!

In the Seasons According to Alanna, "summer" runs June through September.

So sit on any pumpkin-spice, winter-squash and apple-crisp temptations and don't even get me started about HomeGoods selling pumpkins and all-things-Halloween in July.

Food-wise, it's still summer! And not just summer but the very, very, very best of summer.

Think Corn. Tomatoes. Eggplant. Peppers. Okra. Peaches. Italian Plums.

Think maybe it's cool enough for morning muffins on the patio. Think maybe it cools off enough to cook outside again. Think maybe supper can be more than tomato sandwiches on the repeat.

So let's squeeeeeeeze the livin' daylights out of the last of Summer 2023, especially if like me, the first weeks are a total blur with Lotsa Livin' But Little Cookin'.

PS Curious about those culinary seasons of mine? Fall is fleeting, just October and November. Winter is December, January and February although some years, December needs its very own season, Holiday. Spring is March, April and May. Summer is June through September though if anyone wants to second the idea of writing off July and August as "Extreme Heat", I hear you.

To me, these are the food seasons, as much about what's available (not necessariy local) as well as a state of mind.

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: Our neighbors may not appreciate dinosaur-tall thistles but the birds and the butterflies sure do love 'em. That's a great spangled fritillary captured in a sunny meadow about an hour south of St. Louis in the upper Ozark Highlands.

In Praise Of ...

• ... a new-to-us spice mix called "furikake", a gift to me at a no-gifts-please birthday party for my husband (very tricky, Jan & Charlie!). I carried it, sandwich bread and some home-grown tomatoes to Texas, turning it all into "lunch" in a hotel room during a small family reunion/birthday party, just eight of us. At first, I wasn't certain about the stuff. It's salty, a little bit fishy, a little bit funky. I thought I'd just go back to my usual salt 'n' pepper tomato sandwiches. And I did, once. Since then? It's furikake every day since I've yet to have my personal fill of tomato sandwiches. Good news, I saw a container at Trader Joe's otherwise ...
• ... popsicles! Just call me the "popsicle lady" and oh, it's fun. It's been so hot, all the folks that come to clean the pool, deliver a package, etc. are dripping with sweat. Nobody but nobody refuses a popsicle! And we've had tons of Little Swimmers this summer, so fun and they were quick to learned the three house rules. Not a tippy toe in the water without a grownup. At the first sound of thunder, o-u-t OUT of the water. And if you want a popsicle? Just go get one ... The kids can't believe their good luck and the truth is, they're frozen fruit bars and even if three are fetched, maybe one is eaten. But I still get the rep and I l-o-v-e it ...

Made Me Think ...

• The New Old Age: What a new life stage can teach the rest of us about how to find meaning and purpose—before it’s too late. by David Brooks, one of my long-time favorite thinkers.

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SEASONAL INSPIRATION: What to Make When Summer's Not Over Yet

• THE RECIPE Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tomato-Caper Salsa Gorgeous make-ahead salad.
• ANOTHER TAKE Roasted Eggplant with Pomegranate & Buttermilk-Yogurt Sauce An unexpected explosion of flavors, a garlicky yogurt sauce, sour pomegranate, spices and fresh herbs.

• THE RECIPE Cauliflower Steaks with Warm Corn & Poblano Salsa Roasted until golden and topped with a warm salsa of summery vegetables.
• ANOTHER TAKE Loaded Iceberg Steaks with Homemade Thousand Island Dressing Fall back in love with iceberg lettuce, loaded with summer goodies.

• THE RECIPE Baked Chicken with Fresh Peaches Quick-seared chicken breasts amid summer-juicy peaches. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Grilled Steak with Tomato-Avocado Salad in a Warm Poblano-Bacon Vinaigrette A hearty salad supper, steak with a mess of lettuce, tomatoes, avocado in a poblano-bacon vinaigrette.

• THE RECIPE Ratatouille The classic French baked vegetables, simplified.
  
• ANOTHER TAKE Stacked Ratatouille A "tian" with a dramatic appearance and all the best late-summer vegetables.

• THE RECIPE Tomato Gazpacho Worthy of an occasion, a summer meal in itself.
• ANOTHER TAKE Summer's Tomato Soup Ripe summer tomatoes only, please. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Summer's Best Corn Chowder As bright and colorful as crates of fresh vegetables lined up at the farmstand.
• ANOTHER TAKE Summer Seafood Chowder Shrimp and scallops in a milky broth, with barely cooked tomato, corn and my favorite vegetable this summer, okra.

• THE RECIPE Panzanella The classic Italian tomato and bread salad, worthy of an occasion. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Fattoush (Traditional Middle Eastern Salad) Summer veggies in a lemon-sumac dressing.

What's New?!

Wondering about a recipe from the last while? Check Recent Recipes from Kitchen Parade and Recent Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture.

• THE RECIPE Basil-Cream Cheese Spread (Boursin Substitute) A versatile creamy, garlicky and nutty spread, useful three meals a day plus snacks. (PIN This)

Fun Comments!

• A WHOLE NEW NAME! "My mom always called them “God Eye Eggs” and we added a slice of cheese on top." What do you call these eggs?! My dad's friends insisted they were "Kellogg Eggs"!
• THE RECIPE Gashouse Eggs The old-time comfort food, just an egg and bread fried together, with so many names.

Looking Ahead ...

• September 1 - 4 - Labor Day Weekend (Labour Day in Canada!)
• September 23 - Official First Day of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere
• October 1 - Alanna's Unofficial First Day of Fall

Looking Back ...

• Memorable Summer Sides (Week 30) (PIN This)
• Zucchini Season! (Week 29) (PIN This)
• Melon Season! (Week 28) (PIN This)
• Summer Potluck Favorites (Week 27) (PIN This)
• Summer Ice Cream (Week 26) (PIN This)
• Summer Sandwiches (Week 25) (PIN This)

Déjà Vu

Something useful ... or thoughtful ... or interesting ... or fun ... from Seasonal Sundays, this same week.

From 2022, Ideas for the Summer's Last Peaches

A Quick Peek Into a Real-Life Kitchen

Just so you know, everything's not all pretty pictures around here, in the background is a pile of dirty dishes. And just like many (all?) of us, come five o'clock, I too draw a blank about what to make for supper, despite so many recipes I so dearly love. Here's a quick peek from the last week, not including the hummingbird food, roasted beets and quick microwave sweet corn on repeat this time of year.

• THIS WEEK Our garden is finally producing tomatoes so it's happily all-day tomatoes us. This one's so easy, make it once and it'll become second nature. But it really does take good tomatoes so ... tik tok.
• THE RECIPE Mexican Scrambled Eggs (Huevos Revueltos a la Mexicana) From Diana Kennedy, the most famous eggs in Mexico.

• THIS WEEK I love this frittata's moist custard-like texture (aren't other frittatas just, you know, dry and tough?) and this week stuffed it with mini yellow tomatoes from the garden. Pretty AND good AND fed us for several days ...
• THE RECIPE Never-the-Same-Twice Vegetable Frittata Protein-packed with silky texture. (PIN This)

• THIS WEEK Ha! Apparently I've again been cooking breakfast after a long hiatus! If you can get your hands on home-grown green peppers, GO FOR IT. They're nothing like the store-bought ones. We looooooved this with peppers from the garden.
• THE RECIPE Green Pepper Frittata Perfect for late-summer breakfast.

• THIS MONTH When my seven-year old grandnephew visited from Texas, he asked for (and mostly got) pancakes and waffles for breakfast mornings. This recipe comes from his Nana, my sister.
• THE RECIPE Lifetime Pancakes Tiny, small, medium and large batches, whatever the size of the table. It took a medium batch to feed his tiny-body-but-fearsome appetite.

• THIS MONTH Our friend Margi gifted me a jar of her 30-something year-old sourdough starter. So far, so good, I haven't killed it. But I have been making killer bread, most recently loaves of My Easy Everyday Bread. I made a quadruple batch!
• THE RECIPE DIY Herb Blend for Homemade Herb Bread The twelve herbs I use for herb bread.

• THIS WEEK When it's so hot, I often serve a cold supper, either soup or salad plus a piece of good bread or toast, topped with something delicious. A batch of ricotta was in order! FYI for the first time ever, I couldn't get curds to form while heating the milks (whole milk, buttermilk and cream) but it did thicken after simmering for a long while vs the usual 2 to 3 minutes. So with nothing to lose, I proceeded and ... whew, everything from there on was just per normal.
• THE RECIPE Homemade Ricotta Two ways to make fresh homemade ricotta. (PIN This)

• THIS WEEK This salad takes anything you throw at it, substitutions, additions and more. Funny story, one night, I left a plate on the counter for my husband, a big tuna salad sandwich and a serving of salad. The dang dawg somehow took the sandwich off the plate and ate all but the lettuce and ate all the salad but the beans. He's lived with us for six years and has never done this before!
• THE RECIPE Pinto Bean Salad 2020's salad of the summer, so fresh and flexible.

• THIS MONTH My husband's taken to coming into the kitchen well before dinner but hungry now. A little taste of a cold soup? Total win.
• THE RECIPE Chilled Carrot Soup with Honey Bright with spices and a small kick of cayenne.

• THIS WEEK When the tomatoes are wonderful, oh, oh, oh, this tomato sauce. On this night, we devoured the whole pot ...
• THE RECIPE Fresh Tomato Sauce For summer's best tomato-pasta feast or a creamy-tomato bed for eggs or sausage.

• THIS WEEK Ha! I added cabbage and forgot the eggplant but oh, this fed us for a few days. The first night, I browned some bites of sausage leftover from a cook out, done. The second night, I spooned a bunch into a casserole dish, sprinkled on some feta, layered on two filets of fish and baked for 20 minutes. Wow. Done.
• THE RECIPE Summer Vegetable Stew A rainbow of summer vegetables, full of different flavors and colors and textures. (PIN This)

• THIS MONTH "We got ice cream every single day," reported my seven-year old grand-nephew to his mom after visiting St. Louis from Texas for a week. His favorite? Peaches and ice cream at home.
• THE RECIPE Simple Sliced Peaches Just four ingredients, turns tables to silent. (PIN This)

• THIS MONTH One hot-hot afternoon, my seven-year old grand-nephew made cookies for him to take home for his brothers. He really grooved with using a scale to measure the ingredients, also to forming the cookie-dough balls. And these cookies keep so are good for travel. I suspect they didn't last long, once he was home.
• THE RECIPE Cinnamon Sugar Cookies (Snickerdoodles) Soft and chewy, bright with cinnamon.

• THIS WEEK I still don't know if this is a cake, a tart or a pie. What I do know is I need to make it more often! This week I reduced the peaches (since I was short on ripe peaches) and upped the blueberries to 2 cups. I wouldn't do that again, the proportions are right as written, the peaches almost "garnished" with a few blueberries, just for contrast. This dessert looks impressive but makes up in minutes, it's a press-in crust. It bakes a loooooong while but oh, oh, oh, it's so good. And if I may say so, a good birthday "cake"! Next up, I think, apples with plums and a few walnuts ...
• THE RECIPE Peach Blueberry Cake Country-rustic and delicious! (PIN This)

Just Updated!

• THE RECIPE Red Rice with Tomatoes A lovely rouge-tinted vegan summer side dish. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Green Rice with Spinach & Kale Hello, gateway greens. (PIN This)

• THE COLLECTION DIY Spice Blends & Homemade Seasonings Made to order, mixed to taste. (PIN This)
• AND ANOTHER Easy Egg Recipes A collection of thrifty egg recipes. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Skillet Pork Chops with Sweet Coffee Syrup Another Quick Supper, sautéed pork chops glazed with sweetened leftover coffee. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Juicy Pork Chops, a Quick Supper, for moisture and flavor, the chops are brined first, then grilled. (PIN This)

Something to Read

The Five-Star Weekend (affiliate link) by Elin Hilderbrand. This is a fast, fun read, I tore through it in just three days. It's a study in female friendships, there's even a food blogger angle!

Call the Canaries Home (affiliate link) by Laura Barrow, more sisters whose lives re-collide in adulthood, including a missing sister.

Small World (affiliate link) by Laura Zigman. Do I sense a theme? Here two sisters live together as adults. It's not easy. There's also a third sister ...

Mad Honey (affiliate link) by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan. This is a gripping story, definitely worth reading. I don't pretend to understand transgender issues (though stand up for their human rights) so this book was eye-opening.

We Had to Remove This Post (affiliate link) by Hanna Bervoets, a fascinating look into the teams who monitor social media posts for violence and more, ugh, what a world.

There are more ... saving them for next week!

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail (my current address is in the FAQs), dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, tuck a question into a plastic Easter egg, whatever.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. When you make my recipes, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below or better still, on the specific recipe's page.

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