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Break out the calendars, it's time to think about how to make the most of August, food-wise. It's an easy month to get overwhelmed. The kids are going back to school. The farmers markets and farm stands and backyard gardens are busting out with fresh vegetables and fruits. Yep, the only way to deal with it all? Set a few goals, get out of our ruts, try new stuff. Here's some ideas.
Paint Your Plates with Color Think beets and carrots, peaches and plums, green beans and yellow squash. Every meal, make sure to have a big splash of color. Take a picture and e-mail it to a friend! For inspiration, take cues from a cook who's also an artist, Karina from Gluten-Free Goddess, where you'll see color and shape in each and every recipe. Don't you just know it all tastes and smells good too?!
Julie & Julia Grab a friend to see what's already the summer's hit movie -- even though it won't open in theaters until August 7 -- Julie & Julia. But don't stop there! Aren't you ready to try your own hand at cooking something classically French? You don't even have to purchase Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, for the food blog Whisk has collected dozens (hundreds?) of recipes already online, see Blogging the Art of French Cooking.
Gorge on Summer Tomatoes How about a tomato tasting? Buy a hot-house tomato from the grocery store, then compare its taste to an heirloom tomato from the farmers market, cherry tomatoes from your garden, even a chunk of canned tomato. While the summer tomatoes are perfect, add tomatoes to every salad, every sandwich, every soup. If you haven't tried the Italian bread and tomato salad, try your first panzanella -- or if you have, meet its cousin, fattoush, here from Taste Food.
Three a Day - Vegetables This is another food challenge! Incorporate at least one vegetable into every single meal for a week, including breakfast. You can do it, I know! For extra credit, try a new vegetable -- or a vegetable cooked in a new way -- once each day. The food blog Yulinka Cooks has some fun ideas, she calls them summer non-recipes.
Three a Day - Fruit Yes, it's a challenge, learning to love fruit when they're at their most fragrant, most sweet, most lovely. In August, think stone fruits like apricots, peaches, cherries and plums. Think berries like blueberries and blackberries.
Grill Fruit We eat it raw, we bake with it, we roast it, why not grill it? Grilling fruit is a terrific way to keep the oven off during the summer, deepening the lusty fruit flavors. Baking Bites has great ideas about how to choose fruit for grilling.
Make a Cold Soup When it's too hot to cook, too hot to breathe even, soup comes to the rescue but in summer, make it a cold soup. I'm a big fan of the Gazpacho from Simply Recipes but also love the look of the Cold Cucumber Soup from Kayotic Cooking. Cold fruit soups are lovely too, think about Gooseberry Fruit Soup from Nami-Nami.
Back to School All too soon, summer vacations will be over and it'll be back to school and back to the school-year routine that frames so many families' lives. What about school lunches? Will you pack PB&J five days a week again this year? Now's the time to start exploring other ideas (and BlogHer is here to help, watch the school lunch ideas that will post all this month).
Preserve the Season When fresh produce is so plentiful and inexpensive, it's the perfect time to put some away for the winter. It doesn't have to be hard, really. Freeze some sweet corn. Make pesto and freeze it in an ice cube tray. For a little more adventure, learn how to make pickles or jam or sauerkraut.
Seasonal Neighborhood Potluck Invite the neighbors to an outdoor potluck. Ask everyone to bring a dish that's seasonal. Be prepared that not everyone will know mac 'n' cheese is delicious but for summer? it's just not special; that by August, all the strawberries and rhubarb are long done; that with so many fruits to bake with, chocolate can wait til winter.
And you?
And you, what's your favorite fun and healthy food activity this month? Leave an idea, a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!
More Ideas?
