Highlights: Hello, Summer!

Tomorrow is my last day of school until September.  And, since all my students have already taken their finals, it should be a pretty easy one.  Unlike most teachers, I’m not chomping at the bit for summer to start.  I had a really great year this year, my students were awesome and I’m finding it a little hard to believe that it really is late June.  Still, there are a lot of really wonderful things that come with summer.  I’m looking forward to a trip to the beach, taking my casual summer clothes out from storage, wearing flip-flops and sandals 90% of the time, fresh produce, farmer’s markets, and days with nothing to do.

There are a lot of ways to welcome summer into your kitchen, but according to most of the posts I saw this week, summer is all about cold drinks, grilling, and refreshing meals:

Cold Drinks

Is there a better summer drink than sangria?  Try these 4 sangria recipes for summer entertaining posted on Serious Eats.  I’ve never made sangria, but this may be the summer that it actually happens!

If fruity wine isn’t your thing, Huffington Post has the casual drinker’s guide to summer beers.

I don’t drink coffee anymore, but I’ve never made a bad recipe from The Pioneer Woman.  So, if you like coffee, it’s probably worth it to check out Ree Drummond’s perfect iced coffee.

If you really want to keep cool, this minty green tea granita from Mark Bittman sounds delicious (and yes, I realize it’s not really a drink, but I had to include it somewhere).  Granita is another one of those things I keep thinking about making and then putting off.  Add that to the “summer to do” list as well.

Over on Healthy Tipping Point, Caitlin posted her secret to making creamy smoothies.  I guess Brian already figured this out, because he makes really great smoothies.  I’m kind of scared of the blender exploding, so I just enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Grilling

One of the many things on our ever-growing “when we get a house…” list is the purchase of a grill.  One of my co-workers was legitimately shocked recently when he discovered that we don’t have a grill.  Unfortunately, there just isn’t a place for one in our current living situation. 

Salon Food has an interesting history of the hot dog.  Hot dogs, by the way, are only really good when grilled – or covered with too many condiments.

If you want some grilling tips and ideas and you have a Kindle, Mark Bittman’s Grilling Kindle Single is only $0.99 for the rest of the summer.

There are some people in the food blog world that are much more creative than I could ever aim to be.  Evan’s grilled eggs, cooked inside halved bell peppers, is just one example of that creativity.

Public Radio Kitchen suggests making your own barbecue sauce.  If we did more barbecued foods around here, I’d probably try it.  Brian and I are currently obsessed with Naturally Delicious Original Barbecue Sauce, however.  I’m so happy with it that I’m not inclined to try making my own.

Refreshing Meals

It was so uncomfortably hot last summer that I dedicated an entire highlights post to no-cook meals.  This summer, Food52 has already posted 23 No-Cook Recipes on Huffington Post.  Hopefully that’s enough oven-free ideas to get you through the heat.

Lisa’s yummy looking Summer Mediterranean Salad will probably make an appearance in my apartment this summer.  Olives and chick peas?  Yes, please. 

I’ve never made a bread salad because I can never decide whether they look awesome or gross.  However, Georgia Pellegrini’s recipe for tomato-bread salad on The Pioneer Woman Cooks is a bit different than ones I’ve seen before and I may just have to try it out.

Obviously, there are a lot more awesome summer foods out there.  What summer meal or ingredient are  you most looking forward to?  I’m putting my vote in for tomatoes.