Summertime Sensibility, Spreads and Strawberries

School's out!  In all honesty, I was feeling a little bit adrift last Friday, particularly when I turned in my school keys.  I will truly miss my team members and the rest of the middle school faculty.  The group of people I worked with were sensible and grounded.  There was none of the drama that is associated with many workplaces.  We worked well together and were a functional, well-oiled unit.  Our different personalities complemented each other fabulously, and it is a shame that the middle school is no longer in existence. 

With it being a somewhat emotional day, I came home and realized I had locked myself out of the house.  Note to self:  don't give the key to the house sitter a week before you actually leave town, you just never know when you need that hide-a-key.  So there I was, without a spare, at 5:30 in the evening, in a very short summer dress (I had just come from the retirement luncheon).  I did have a cell phone (surprisingly), and I called a couple people, hoping I had given at least someone a key in the past.  No luck.  But, a dear friend came over and helped me break in (not easy) without doing any permanent damage.   We then shared a couple beers watching the sun set over the hills.  So, be sensible, and make sure your neighbors have a copy of your house key!

In the garden, the garlic scapes are up.  I never really know what to do with scapes, but it would be very insensible to not use them in some way, shape or form.  It is possible to grill or saute them.  I also learned last year that you can make garlic pesto out of them as well.  I don't really follow recipes when making pesto-I just do a lot of tasting to figure out if the proportions are right.  So, basically, you would use garlic scapes (with the flower part cut off) instead of basil, and walnuts instead of pine nuts (walnuts are cheaper).  Throw some Parmesan cheese in there and of course olive oil and blend.  I freeze the pesto in ice cube trays then put in a plastic baggie in the freezer.  When you want a great snack spread, mix the pesto with the same amount of cream cheese.  Yum!

Another recipe which I made for my team party last week is as follows:

Spicy Chesapeake Chicken Spread
 2 packages (8 oz) softened cream cheese
1 TBS bottled steak sauce (I used BBQ sauce as that was what I had around)
1/4 tsp curry powder
red and black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups minced cooked chicken (I also threw some turkey in there as I had it around)
1/3 cup minced celery
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
crackers

1. Beat together cream cheese, steak sauce, curry powder and pepper.
2. Blend in cooked chicken and celery and 2 TBS parsley.  Refrigerate remaining parsley (or just don't pick it until later).
3. Shape mixture into log.  Wrap in plastic and chill for 4 hours or overnight.
4. Toss together remaining parsley and almonds and coat log with this mixture.
5. Serve with crackers (duh).

You may want to half the recipe as my darling husband and I were eating chicken spread sandwiches for three days, and that was after the people at the party had it!

Finally, let's be sensible about strawberries.  We love fresh strawberries and we use them throughout the year in smoothies, on french toast and waffles, or in sauces, spreads and dressings. I also make lots of strawberry preserves when I can find the time.  However, the season for finding relatively cheap strawberries is relatively short and I don't have time to make jam.  But I do buy them in bulk at the farmers market (I can buy a flat of 8 quarts for $30), rinse them, remove the tops, spread on cookie sheets and freeze.  When frozen, put in plastic baggies or containers.  Out of sight, out of mind (for the moment).

Enjoy the first "real" week of summer!