When it comes to the "eat to live" or "live to eat" continuum, I fall squarely in the latter category. This blog has been sadly lacking in the food category of late, so I am making up for lost time.

I bought a Madeleine pan with a Williams-Sonoma giftcard earlier this year. I had never made madeleines, but I have always loved their beautiful forms. In Heidi Swanson's cookbook "Near & Far," she has a recipe for brown butter madeleines and it became an instant favorite (heart-eyes-worthy: her vintage madeleine pans thrifted in France). I also tried a Martha Stewart recipe for lemon madeleines. It's been a while since I made some, so I have a feeling that they are coming up in the rotation again soon.

Above and below: salty and sweet obsessions. Above: The Protein Foundry's toast (avocado and salty roma; Melissa and I have a weakness and usually share the two kinds). It's good I don't live especially close to Murray or I'd find every excuse to go. Below: Waffle Love's liège waffle with lemon curd, raspberries, and whipped cream is what dreams are made of. I save this for special occasions, as I usually can't finish one on my own and they are better enjoyed in company.

Above and below: go-to recipes. Above: I rarely use a recipe for quiche, but this particular quiche I made using a Martha Stewart tart crust recipe with my usual method for the filling. My garden produced a bumper crop of over-wintered spinach earlier in the summer, so this unexpected surprise resulted in several such dinners! Below: my Grandma VanDerwerken's peanut butter cookies are always a hit. She uses shortening, but I always use butter and they turn out great without fail. Dip the fork in hot water between criss-crossing for a clean cut.

And last, but certainly not least, ice cream. Above: my friend James sent me some recipes for Carmela's home-scaled batches and the mint chip is to die for. Below: Rockwell Creamery is my weakness. The first week of July, I'll admit that I went there four times for the basil ice cream (sadly a special, but I'm hoping they'll make it a summer fixture). Admittedly I went with different (some visiting) friends each time, but four times nonetheless. Je ne regrette rien.

Not pictured, but an honorable mention: Yuki shave ice. Fresh flavors and perfectly crafted shave ice. Again, basil is a favorite (at least I'm consistent?).

ingredients:

• 3 large tomatoes, variety of your choice

• 4 cups cubed watermelon

• 1 large cucumber

• sea salt

• one half lime, juiced

• one handful cilantro leaves, picked from stems and rinsed

• tortilla chips for serving (I recommend scoops!)

directions:

1. Peel cucumber and cut in half lengthwise. Lay flat side down and dice.

2. Remove rind from watermelon and dice. If your cutting board fills with watermelon juice, pour it off into another bowl to use for something else (or to drink! It is called watermelon after all).

3. Remove cores from tomatoes and cut into quarters. I find a serrated knife is the most effective for tomatoes as it pierces the skin without crushing the tomato flesh. Slice inner section of each quarter from the outside and remove seeds and goo with your thumb (as all the ingredients comprising this pico are fairly waterlogged, excess liquid seemed unnecessary).

4. Dice remaining tomato and place with diced cucumber and watermelon in a serving bowl.

5. Finely chop cilantro and add to the mixture.

6. Stir to combine and salt to taste (I used between 1-2 teaspoons of salt).

7. Squeeze lime juice over salt to help dissolve the salt and dissipate its flavor throughout the pico. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

8. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then enjoy with tortilla chips.

At the farmer's market last Saturday, I bought produce for pico de gallo and I also picked up some lemon cucumbers (above)—they are so pretty and delicious! (I wanted to try them as we had some planted in our garden, but our garden is not doing too well and I am fairly certain this is one of our plants that died—sadness.) Perfectly crisp and with a slight citrus undertone, plus their lemon-like yellow orb-shape. We also saw "Armenian cucumbers" which I am interested to try next time.

I made this twist on pico for Adrienne's going-away party, because we share a love of watermelon and delicious off-kilter salsa (see also: Pomegranate Salsa, one of Age's classics that quickly became one of my favorites, too).

Hopefully it's no secret that I love food, the making and the eating of it.

Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Food" is one of my favorite cookbooks. It begins with her philosophies about food (here's a list of them) and contains beautiful illustrations throughout of ingredients in their natural (freshly picked) state with information about using those ingredients and recipes of all sorts for each.

One idea she writes about is that of allowing our ingredients determine what we make, rather than the other way around (i.e., picking a recipe then selecting ingredients based on what is called for in that recipe). I love this idea, especially when considering seasonality. I always have and always will love browsing through recipes and keeping tabs on those I want to try, but I've been trying to branch out with this more intuitive style of cooking, letting my ingredients and personal creativity combined determine what shows up on my plate.

I bought peas and cherries from a farm stand while running errands on my day off last week, with no specific plans for them. I got home and with my leisurely afternoon flipped through a couple cookbooks for ideas. Then one hit—pesto! I love pesto, and it has many common ingredients that I usually have stocked in my cupboards/windowsill herb garden—substitute the pine nuts with peas, et voilà! Alas I do not own a mortar and pestle as recommended, but I made do with an ice cream scoop and bowl—the lack of proper tools made the successful outcome even more satisfying.

It has been so hot lately, but I just keep reminding myself about all the great food that is coming with the hot weather... namely tomatoes, berries, watermelon, PEACHES, and lots of other delicious things. Here's to a summer of good food, and if you have any recent or favorite recipes or ingredients of note, please share!

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This quiche (or any quiche for that matter)....

with the gruyère pie crust for its crust!

I've been thinking about this idea ever since Melissa and I made that pie. And ate lots of the extra pieces of crust. Because the crust was by far the best part. I think I'm going to try it.

p.s. The above quiche is actually the same kind as this kind, but I made it over the summer when I grew basil and had lots of fresh Jersey tomatoes on my hands. (they're great.)