Hello, Hood River!

Well, we made it in one piece!  Only one thing broke-- something made out of glass-- and it smashed into so many smithereens, we still have no idea what it was.  Which is a good sign, I guess.  Here's a picture of Adam, enjoying our first meal in our new house.  Speaking of armchair foodies!  Lucky boy.  We had homemade pesto on pasta, with a kalamata olive tapenade for spreading on a farmer's market-bought artichoke bread.  (The tapenade is simple and amazing: throw a clove of garlic with a handful of olives into the blender.)  Add to that organic cherry tomatoes from our neighboring town, the Dalles.  YUM!  We sat on our new back porch and admired Mt. Adams while enjoying the yummy local tastes.

Last night I made a terrific summer meal, and want to share the recipes with you.  They are easy and shine the spotlight on two delicious gifts of summer: corn and nectarines.

Corn Pudding

4 or 5 cups of corn (4 or 5 ears, shucked and shaved)

2 c. milk

6 eggs

1 c. or so cheddar cheese

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

1/2 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 F and butter a 2-quart square baking dish.  

Separate one cup of corn and set aside.  Put the rest with one cup of milk into the blender and puree to a moderate chunkiness.  Pour it into a large bowl.  Whisk in the eggs, then stir in remaining corn, milk, cheese, basil, salt and pepper.  Pour into the baking dish.

Set the dish in another, larger baking dish, and pour hot water into the larger dish till it comes about halfway up the sides of the smaller one.  This is called a Bain-Marie, and it'll cook the food more evenly and prevent it from scorching.

Bake for about an hour, or until it's puffy and golden.  Let it cool for as long as you can stand it-- I waited about fifteen minutes.

And for Dessert, I'd like to thank Raina for her easy and very yummy fruit crisp recipe.  I hope she won't mind if I reproduce it here!

For the topping, mix:

5 Tbsp. butter

1/4 c. white sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

6 Tbsp. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Refrigerate for at least a half hour.  (This, I found out the hard way, is important.  Otherwise it'll all melt right away.)

For the fruit filling, mix:

6 pieces of fruit, peeled, cored, and sliced.  Apples, pears, peaches, and nectarines all work great (I used nectarines)

3 Tbsp. sugar (but this could be variable, depending on how sweet your fruit is)

Lemon zest, and lemon juice.

Mix and put into two pie dishes.  Add topping.  Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.  Then crank the heat to 400 for ten more minutes to brown the topping.

Variations on this dish are infinite.  A good idea, especially in the summer, is to use berries with your fruit.  Add one cup if you like, or sub out half your fruit for an equal amount of berries.  Also, I didn't have any lemons, but I had a grapefruit so I grated a little of the peel for my zest.  It was amazing!!  Lastly, as if I needed to mention it, this dish really should be served warm with ice cream.  (I hope I got the recipe right: Rain, if you're reading, please send along corrections and I'll fix it.  Wouldn't want to get your special dish wrong.)

We've still got a full month of summer left!  Eat it up.