Summer was officially over Monday, but it lingers here in Arizona for quite some time to come!  This is a gorgeous and refreshing summer salad.  No need to heat the kitchen, just fire up the grill. I serve this with a cold and crisp Rosé wine and slices of warm crusty French Bread.  Oh darn, I just realized that you will need to turn on the oven to toast the hazelnuts, oops!  Well, the reason I forgot is that when I bring home a package of hazelnuts, I immediately toast the entire bag and then store them in the freezer and just pull out the prepped nuts when needed, you can do the same and you’ll be ready to go for the next recipe that calls for them too because hazelnuts are almost always used toasted and skinned.

To toast and skin the Hazelnuts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts (also known as filberts) in a single layer of a baking sheet. Toast in the middle of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly colored and the skins begin to blister.  Remove from the oven and immediately wrap the nuts in an old (but clean) kitchen town and allow to steam for 2 or 3 minutes. Rub the nuts in the towel for a minute or two creating a lot of friction between the nuts and the towel, to remove the loose skins.  All of the skins won’t come off, so don’t worry.  Carefully pick out the nuts and set them aside. Shake the towel outside or over a trashcan, be careful or those little skin bits will be all over the kitchen. You will want to use an old towel because the skins will stain the towel, so just wash it and use it the next time you are preparing hazelnuts. [Read more →]

One of the many great links I have on this site is for Zoe Bakes. She is an amazing baker and bread maker.  Her September 8 post was for a Wild Blueberry Crisp. Since there aren’t too many wild blueberries in Scottsdale, (OK more like none in Scottsdale!) I purchased mine at Costco, and not just any Costco, but a brand new Costco. They had their grand opening this weekend about 2 miles from my house, so nirvana has arrived! I intended to make a blueberry and peach cobbler but when I got home with my tasty blueberries, alas the peaches had gone south, you know – all moldy and watery in the produce drawer – dang it!  So I had to go back to the brand new super nice Costco and get myself a flat of nectarines! Once home with the fresh bounty, I decided instead on a Blueberry-Nectarine Crumble.  Darling Peggy hadn’t tried the chowder I made for her yet, so she came by for lunch and we had leftover Corn, Pepper, and Potato Chowder and this very yummy and warm crumble. We controlled ourselves though and had it sans ice cream. Oh, and we didn’t eat all that you see missing from the pan, the picture just looked better with more dished out of the pan…honestly!!!  Life is good!
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