Sweet Corn and Red Pepper Fritter Burgers

A lot has changed since I last posted. We've sold our house, got a new job and moved to Texas and all the craziness that accompanies choices like that. We're loving being in the South again and realizing we probably should have done this along time ago. We left behind lots of good friends and memories but we're excited about everything ahead of us in this new adventure!

The move meant a few months of essentially no cooking as everything was packed up and then we had awhile in between houses with hotels and such so it feels good to be back in a nice kitchen again and cooking away.

Eggplant Caponata

It's so hard to come back from vacation. I hereby propose that we work for 4 weeks every year and vacation the rest of it! Wouldn't that be nice? I am excited for this summer though. The sun is finally shining, the grass is green and our garden is coming up. The last two years, our summers have been full of renovations and other projects but this year I am doing nothing! I'll do the garden and keep the yard nice but I have sworn off any major projects. I'm just going to enjoy the weekends and the trips we're planning over the next few months.

Mango and Peach Salsa Burgers

It's summer and for my birthday last month I treated myself to a new grill and smoker. I love smoking meat but I wasn't a huge fan of the electric smoker I purchased a few years ago so I didn't use it much except for a turkey at Thanksgiving. My new grill is a Traeger and it smokes as well as grills and I've been experimenting with it as much as I can. My favorite thing so far has been the huge pork butt I smoke a few weeks ago. We used it for over a week and had everything from sandwiches to tacos with the meat. My mouth waters even now when I think about it.

Lemon Coconut and Strawberry "Shortcake" Cupcakes

 We've redesigned our entire backyard this year and have been hard at work rearranging, creating new garden boxes and re-purposing our old patio. Part of all the movement included digging up hundreds of our old strawberry plants and replanting them in their new home. We've got a whole dedicated area for them now and hope they go crazy and produce tons of new berries. We figured with all the movement they wouldn't produce anything this year but after getting them back in the ground, they perked right up and are now in full blossom and ready to fruit! Our Minnesota winter puts us behind most of the country though so it will still be a few weeks before we get to pick the fruit.

Wild Rice and Hummus Burgers

I don't like the idea of veggie burgers more for the reason that people are typically trying to use them as a substitute for a real meat burger. And there is no substitute. Period. But if instead you just want to have a really good sandwich and it happens to not have any meat in it, I'm all for that. And honestly with these Wild Rice and Hummus "burgers" I'm OK with them not having any meat. I almost topped them with some bacon though. And that would have made them just that much better.

Hummus Stuffed Sweet Peppers

Renovation is still in full swing around here so we're doing many quick and easy meals, things in the crock pot and definitely grilling. Grilling means no mess in the kitchen and no stepping over wires and holes in the floor for the duration of the meal.

I love the creativity that the grill opens you up to as well. You don't have to just grill burgers on it. Throw on fruit, veggies or any number of other things and you're sure to come up with a fun meal. Last year I recreated these jalapeno peppers that we had experienced at the state fair. As I was thinking of new ways to use my Sabra hummus and the sweet peppers I had in the fridge, those state fair treats came right back to me.

Music and Movies in the Park with Duff Goldman

It couldn't have been a much better evening than last Thursday night. They had warned of thunderstorms for the evening but they never came about and it ended up being the perfect temperature to spend an evening in the park enjoying some great food and a movie with the family.

We don't get out much to any formal activities lately with all the construction going on, so it was nice to put this on the calendar and force ourselves to take an evening off and just enjoy some time together. I was invited by American Express to attend the recent cardmember event featuring Celebrity Chef Duff Goldman and sponsored by the Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express. There was going to be food trucks, desserts and book signing from Duff and then a movie in the park afterwards. How could we say no to that? This was part of the summer Music and Movies in the park series, which is a great opportunity to get out and see some great movies in some of the amazing parks throughout the city.

Dark Chocolate Cherries

Cherries are still in season people! If my pie and sorbetto haven't tempted you, these dark chocolate cherries are guaranteed to. They are incredibly easy to make and the hardest part is just waiting for them to be ready. I came across this recipe when Kate In The Kitchen posted about her adventures with cherries and I knew that I couldn't pass them up. Simple syrup is created by heating water and sugar together. Dark Chocolate is then melted into the syrup before being poured over cherries packed into a quart jar. They're then sealed for up to two weeks to create a beautiful dark chocolate treat!

Cherry-Lime Sorbetto

You remember those 8lbs of cherries from last week? Well that cherry pie was just one of the recipes created. Today I've got a refreshing dish that's perfect for summer. It's only got a few ingredients so it lets the sweet flavor of these beautiful cherries shine through.

Sourdough Sandwich Rolls

We just had a delivery of a beautiful baby girl on Monday morning so easy lunches are in order! These sourdough sandwich rolls are so easy to bake in advance and then freeze for later use. Just pull them out of the freezer on the morning you want to use them and you're ready to go!

Flank Steak with Pineapple Salsa

Hope everyone had a great Fathers Day! For us it was the weekend of steak. My wife and I went out to dinner Friday night, one of the last times we'll have without a newborn for awhile, and we had a great steak there. I had the leftovers from that Saturday for lunch and then I grilled this amazing flank steak for the family Saturday night.

Peach Pie Two Ways~ Vanilla Cardamom and Caramel

Well, my Emeril streak is over and it's time to move on to my regular schedule, which is certainly not three posts a week. It was a lot of fun but cooking, photographing and posting that much is just a little too much for me to keep up with.

I made these pies a few weeks ago, so I wanted to get this post out before it was impossible to get fresh peaches anymore this season. Although, truthfully I really actually prefer canned peaches when I make pies most of the time. Is that sacrilegious? They just hold up better when cooked and I just love fresh peaches, well, fresh.

Squash Blossoms

A month or so ago, a family friend came back from a trip to Rome and sent me an email about some of the amazing food she had experienced while there. One dish she described was a squash blossom that was stuffed with cheese and then fried. It sounded pretty good and I made a note to look into it some more. Then last week I was out in our garden and when I saw these beauties below, I was reminded of her message and knew I had to try it out.

Dinner In The Garden ~ A Summer Dinner Party

In true Minnesota summer fashion, it drizzled almost all day long. It was the day of our Dinner party and normally it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but this dinner party was planned to be outside, to celebrate summer, or what was supposed to be our summer. Then it broke. No more rain, a warm evening with just a light breeze. No bugs in sight and then the sun even broke out of the clouds and poured over our beautiful garden, providing the perfect evening to sit on the patio, surrounded by lush greenery and celebrate the fresh foods of the season.