1.  A long cool drink is in order.  You can make a killer raspberry iced tea, or something more exotic that pink with fruit in it – I always like a Planter’s Punch

2.   Set the table for fun – Decorate with colorful placemats and flowers or fruit, like a whole pineapple and some lemons and limes

3.  Cook and Eat outside – Nobody wants to heat up the kitchen. Make a great fresh green salad topped with TSG Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette.  Skewer some Caribbean Chicken Kebobs made with Island Ponzu Sauce.  Have piles of light fresh fruit for dessert

4.  Set the mood with steel drum music and candles (maybe Banana Leaf) flickering.

Enjoy your tropical getaway!

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Basil is one of my personal favorites.  I grow it year round.  Just smelling my hands after I have picked basil makes me feel the lightness of summer.  So what do you do with four basil bushes?  EAT!

5 Easy Ways to Use Fresh Basil

1. Add flavor to scrambled eggs – just cut up a couple of leaves and add.
2. Add flavor to tossed green salad – toss in a handful of leaves whole
3. Make basil sauce for chicken or fish – just throw some basil, olive oil and lemon juice in you blender or food processor and drizzle over the food while cooking
4. Fresh Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella salad (Caprese)-  use more than just your basil: Alternate slices of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, sprinkle with basil, olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette (proportions to your taste, but don’t use much because the fresh taste is best!)
5. Classic Pesto – The real reason we have four basil bushes.  Pesto is the family favorite. While this recipe is basic, feel free to adjust to what your family likes – we like extra garlic in ours. With garlic, parmesan and pine nuts it goes on everything from pasta to pizza, and it uses cups at a time!

Bon Appétit!

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At the beginning of the season, it’s not too hard to figure out what to do with the tomatoes as they come off – sliced on salads, sandwiches and hamburgers really are the best. But after a few weeks, you have more than you can eat for lunch! And you don’t want to refrigerate fresh tomatoes, it destroys the taste.  If you must refrigerate them to make them last, bring them out about 24 hours before use to let their natural flavor enzymes rev up.

Easy Weekend Tomato Recipes

So here are my weekend recipes: bruschetta (with tomatoes roasted or not), fresh salsa  – straight or for salads, and of course in our house – grilled!! 

Easy Salsa

Salsa and bruschetta are really first cousins. For simple fresh salsa, just dice the tomatoes, add diced onion and cilantro for the basics. Peppers, garlic, oregano  and fresh corn are up to you –even pineapple and mango are great additions! Beyond chips, salsa is a great topper for fish and hamburgers too!

Easy Bruschetta

Bruschetta you could really call salsa with olive oil! And maybe some extra flavors.  The bruschetta usually goes on toast as an appetizer. Here’s a simple recipe to use.  If you also happen to grow fresh basil, add that in for extra zing!

If you really want to go wild, have some great fresh cold tomato Gazpacho soup for a refresher!

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Easy Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

At the end of the season, I look forward to getting a crate of them to slow roast down to spaghetti sauce.  Just  pile in the quartered tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil and oregano and let it go in the oven all day on low heat (about 250 degrees)- when the water has been largely been cooked out and most things dissolve when stirred – then batch the mixture  in the food processor or put through a food  mill. Then freeze in the size that best suits your cooking. If you tire of spaghetti sauce, you can always add a little milk for creamy tomato basil soup. YUM!

Nothing like fresh tomato taste all year round!

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There are plenty of ways to use of fruit – TSG Summer Fruit Crisp with anything you heart desires, pies, fruit soups, and in our house grilled – but my favorite for breakfast, lunch or dessert is smoothies!

The basic concept of a smoothie is simple – approximately equal amounts of fruit and “liquid” (be it yogurt, milk, juice or ice) – and a blender, food processor or milk shake machine to mix it up until it is a frothy light confection. If it’s too watery, add fruit – too thick, add some juice – it’s how you like it that counts.  In fact, as soon as I finish this, my reward is a woodland fruit smoothie with strawberries, blueberries and a banana, with ice this time to keep the calories down and the refreshment up!

Experiment with what you have on hand.  My typical is with low fat plain yogurt and fresh fruit with a little ice.  The kids will think they’ve fooled you allowing them too much sweet – but you will know the truth.

Drink up!

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All around this weekend the barbeques were lighted and the scent of dogs and burgers filled the air – along with major squeals from happy family get-togethers.   We happened to be down the street from my brother and sister-in-law who had a healthy 26 for the weekend.  We expanded with the kids home to a happy foursome – six if you count the dogs.  And they should be counted for slider night.

As you well know, I love the kids coming home for all the usual reason, but also because they cook for us.  With several new food magazines for inspiration – they couldn’t decide how best to celebrate the holiday.  There were too many recipes for burgers to choose from, so they decided on a variety of sliders – you know –mini hamburgers so you can eat more than one without guilt!

Amazingly, a year ago, my daughter didn’t even eat hamburger (we’re talking age 20), but now she is in pursuit of the ultimate burger!  Who says they don’t grow up?  We all sat around discussing our favorite flavors and decided on four different varieties of burgers to try.

Burger Basics

Burgers are easy to customize with a little imagination.  Just take high quality ground meat, add seasonings cut finely to mix well, some sauce or egg for binder (so it doesn’t crumble on the grill) and voila!

The men decided bacon was a must to add, that combined with barbeque sauce was one for the grill.  Another version went Florentine with spinach, garlic and cheese.  There was also a Mexican version with chili powder, Jack cheese and a little salsa. Or you can try the Mango Peach Salsa Sassy Burgers. Finally, there was the mushroom and cheese burgers with chipotle mayo – as you can tell we are largely a cheeseburger kind of family. We each had four tiny samples, but all were delicious!

Burger Tips

When making burgers use the finest quality meat, add finely diced herbs or other ingredients, add a binder such as egg, sauce or breadcrumbs to keep it whole on the grill. Taste test!  Make a tiny burger of your favorite combination and grill first for flavor check – start light!  You can always add more, but it’s harder to take out or add more meat to compensate.

Burgers Don’t Have to Be Beef

For all those years my daughter didn’t eat ground beef, that didn’t mean she didn’t eat grilled patties in a bun.  Turkey burgers were a weekly staple in our house with mustard, onion and parsley  for flavor.  We also had our fair share of salmon burgers with mayo and dill.  If you still crave meat, but want something with a little less f at, you can always use bison with a heartier flavor which is increasingly available in grocery stores.

If you can grind it, mix it and grill it  – you have a burger for a holiday feast!

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Barbeque in America is big business! Everyone thinks the BBQ from their region is the best – Texas, Memphis, Kansas City, Carolina.  There are barbeque festivals in almost every state in the union – over 500 and counting! At the Memphis in May International Barbeque Festival people compete for over $100,000 in prizes. There are sites dedicated to ribs! And  party people who specialize in grilling, roasting and smoking!

Silly me, I just used to slather ribs with sauce and throw them on the grill for a nice char – boy was I mistaken.  To do really great ribs, they need to be slow roasted for several hours and just finished on the grill.

How to Make Great Ribs – Easy but NOT Fast

Again there’s a lot of regional lore about what’s best.  Some people recommend boiling them to cook them, but generally that leaches out the flavor.  In our house you rub the ribs lightly with oil. Sometimes we then pat on a dry rub of our favorite spices. Then you can put them in a crock pot smothered in your favorite  for several hours on low or wrap smother them in sauce and wrap them in foil in the oven for several hours.  The key is low slow cooking about 225 degrees, until the meat starts to separate easily from the bone. You can use either TSG Raspberry Grilling Sauce or try this recipe with Sisters Southern Sweet Barbeque Sauce – or a combination of both!  Here a link to the TSG recipe that’s a little faster.

Then onto the grill for that caramelized and crispy finish. 

Easy Grilled Corn Too!

If you don’t want to cook inside, I recommend BBQ roasted corn for a perfect picnic.  Just take your corn in the husk – soak it in water for about an hour – then drop onto the grill.  The corn will cook inside in about 10-15 minutes.  Or if you like a little char and don’t have the hour, take off the husk,  brush with olive oil and drop directly on the gril.

Keep all the mess outside with almost no clean up after – that’s my idea of a summer vacation!  Even better, Tom  is coming for the weekend and he’s going to do the ribs!

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Kids Love Grilled Vegetables

For those of you who lament every getting your children to eat vegs – this has to be the answer.  Take just about any fresh veg you can find, slice it, spray or brush lightly with  it with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and it’s guaranteed to vanish!  My family generally moans when I ask what vegetable they want with dinner, but in the summer I have to grill three times what I think is the correct amount because it is stolen before it ever hits the table.

For a family, you can make it a fun day if you start at the farmer’s market in the morning where everyone can pick “their” vegetable to include.  Maybe you can make it a game to add one “new” variety each week. This way each child has a vested interest in trying their new vegetable!

Easy Grilled Vegetable Recipe and Variations

My  husband, – you know, Mr. BBQ  – and I have different opinions about the best, easiest, and tastiest methods for grilling vegetables but the result is the same.  I like to slice my vegs in pretty large pieces and put them straight on the grill for those nice markings you get in restaurants.  I like yellow squash (it seems to hold up better than zucchini) red peppers, onions, asparagus, eggplant (for me- just the little ones) , onions and mushrooms (they go fastest).  Really simple oil, salt and pepper is great, but you can add a little extra flavor by marinating with balsamic vinegar – and for a little extra flavor you can add fresh basil, rosemary or oregano – depending on your taste! If you are short of time you can use TSG Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette, Vermont Maple Dijon, or Island Ponzu Sauce.

By the way – those mushrooms and tomatoes seem to grill best on a skewer – they’re a lot easier to handle en masse!  For the onions and asparagus, it helps to have a smaller vegetable grill to put on the barbeque so they don’t fall in.  Here Rick and I differ – I think they should still be metal for texture in the barbeque – and not coated.  He likes some of the “basket” styles better, but I think they come out more steamed than grilled. And a little “spritzer” is handy to get the oil/marinade on the flip side when you turn them over.

Either way – when they are finished don’t put them in the oven to keep them warm – they get mushy.  Besides, if you leave them out on a nice platter – everyone who goes by steals some and they’re one of the healthiest snacks you can find!  Eat up!

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5 Steps to a Great Picnic

 Picnics should be easy and fun. In ours we always try to feature the bounty of summer as it ripens – so our menu changes some depending on the month and the temperature – but the good news is that fresh food is usually healthier too! First there are some rules:

1. Almost all food should be finger food. You never know how you will be surprised by your locale and you memory!

2. Have some favorites but try something new!

3. Don’t pack more than you can carry!

4. If you have a group, let everyone contribute – keep life easy!

5. Make anything you can disposable so there’s no clean up at the end.

Seafood Supper by the Sea

Tonight’s dinner is in a park by the ocean in North Carolina so we’ll be having dinner to celebrate the time and location. It will be about 3 hours so we’ll do three courses.

What’s fresh right now at the end of May? Those go on the list first and then I build around them. – Strawberries (we pick our own), Peaches the early crop from Georgia, asparagus and fresh local seafood.

1. I start with the main course, it sets the tone of the meal. In this case seafood. My favorite in the summer is ceviche – a seafood dish that actually cooks itself in lime juice so it’s cool and refreshing and doesn’t heat up the kitchen. Regardless of your recipe, I can pretty much use whatever is local and add the fresh herbs from your garden. If you want to try variations you can explore a world of ceviche varieties.  Here in the Carolina’s there will also be shrimp on the menu, in the ceviche, but probably also with appetizers to just dip in cocktail sauce and enjoy the sweetness. Since I like the ceviche more than Rick, there will probably be some salmon too topped with yogurt blended with Over the Edge Herbed Spinach. Then I’ll either roast some red potatoes or make a couscous salad for the side.

2. Appetizers – grazing gone wild! Lot’s of crisp cut vegetables to dip or munch straight. Make a dip from your favorite seasoning using your favorite base, sour cream, yogurt, may or a combination. A little steamed asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. And a big bowl of the fresh strawberries with Snickerdoodle Sweet Cheeseball Mix blended in whipped topping as a dip.

3. Dessert – Here’s where my peaches (and a lot of other fresh fruit) go. Believe it or not, Rick will tackle these this afternoon. He will grill the peach halves and pineapple spears brushed with a little brown sugar melted with balsamic vinegar . Or you can eat them fresh with a little balsamic vinegar topping(the really good stuff) and some biscotti for texture. If my daughter were here, we’d flip it around and have chocolate dipped strawberries instead – but that will be next weekend.

Wear comfortable clothes, take a good book and a citronella candle and enjoy!

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Mexican food is now the most popular food in America (after pizza!)  Having a Margarita is the perfect way to cool off on a warm evening, or to bring the spirit of fiesta to your home. Bright colors and candles can top off the fiesta feel with little money and effort.  Add some salsa music to your playlist and you’re all set.

It’s as easy as one, two, three!  With the right fixins, a pitcher and a blender start the party by makeing a chilling frozen margarita . A classic margarita features tequila, Triple Sec and Lime Juice.

 Then grab some chips and salsa, TSG Black Bean and Corn Salsa or Mango Peach Salsa are great.  Add traditional guacamole (if you can’t get fresh avocados, then buy the frozen and jazz it up with some onions, garlic and tomatoes).

If you want a fun dinner inside that takes no time to prepare – have a taco buffet – the only part you really have to cook is the ground meat. Cook with any commercial packet of taco seasoning,  lay out lettuce, tomato, sour cream, salsa and shredded cheese. And you’re done.

Easy Recipes for a Great Margarita Party

Here are some easy recipes if you want a little more pizzazz!

1. Chorizo Quesadilla
2. Mango Peach Soft Tacos
3. Layered Black Bean and Corn Dip
4. Chicken and Mango Peach Quesadillas

Invite you friends and let us know how it went.

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We all know that you eat with your eyes as well as your mouth, so food styling for the catalog is very important.  There can be a lot of “bad press” about how food stylists “cheat” the dishes to make it appropriate for a magazine shoot.  Take for example ice cream, it’s impossible to get real ice cream not to melt under hot lights.  But the attitude of companies, savvy consumers and digital photography have changed the issues in shooting food and allowed all of our photography to be much more “natural”.

When we prepare food for the catalog, we actually create and test recipes (that’s a popular day in the office because they get to taste finished dishes, not just product).  At the shoot our fabulous stylist Catrine Kelty  prepares each of the dishes (with leftovers) and then works with our great photographer  Paul Saraceno to  bring it to you in the best possible light.

It’s true that we do help out our dishes a little – after all they do have to sit on the table for hours at a time and need to keep looking fresh.  We spritz the lettuce with water to make it glisten, hand arrange the leaves, stack berries just so, and melt our cheese with a gun that peels paint off  walls so it gets perfectly brown.

Tips to Make Your Table Look Great

Here are the top  tips that Katrine uses in preparing our food whether for photography or your family table.

1. Set the table beautifully – make sure you keep a nice centerpiece and candles ready to be lit every night.
2. Use fresh, high quality ingredients – there’s nothing more sad than wilted lettuce!
3. Light a candle!

Quick, Yummy Quesadilla Recipes

Like those quesadilla?  Well here are two of our great recipes using the Two Sisters Gourmet Black Bean and Corn Salsa, but you can really add your f avorite ingredients and make them your own:

1. Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas
2. Chorizo Quesadillas

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