Three day weekends are pretty great. Especially the Friday before they start. Always feels like an assembly day in high school. Things are different—a break from the routine. There is a nice energy in the air and the weekend feels like it will last forever. This particular holiday weekend is especially exciting because it marks the unofficial start of summer. People fire up their barbecues and spend time outdoors. I’m looking forward to an extra day off as much as anyone and am looking forwarding to some good food and friends. This strawberry pie was a good way to get started. It is like a fantasy of what we should all be eating on Memorial Day weekend.

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Uh oh. I found another contender for the official drink of summer. This one may look a mess but is really pretty lovely thanks in large part to the wonder that is Hendrick’s gin. And so it seems we have a competition on our hands. I think the only fair thing to do is to have my friend Katie decide. She is the one who usually declares the drink of summer and she has a discerning palate, she is also the person who introduced me to cucumber cocktails with a punch she made many summers ago that was spectacular. Katie and I will be together for the 4th of July which seems like a fitting time for a drink competition. I’ll let you know what happens. read more+++

Before the Miracle Fruit came dinner. My #1 rule for entertaining is that things need to be made in advance. I want to be able to enjoy my friends and spend time with them. I gravitate towards dishes that can be prepared in advance and assembled or cooked when guests arrive. Salad ingredients are washed and chopped, salad dressing is made, a pitcher of ice water is set out and the rest is ready to be popped in the oven and heated and I am ready to relax and enjoy my friends and our time together.

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I’m excited to have a guest post over at The Kitchn. They are very graciously inviting established bloggers to contribute to their site. The Kitchn has already been very supportive of Lottie + Doof and so I was happy to participate. I am also excited to see the cool guests they find and hopefully discover some new blogs. I decided to share my favorite recipe for Benne Wafers. Click HERE for the post and recipe, or continue reading for the full post… read more+++

You’ve undoubtedly heard of Miracle Fruit before. I first read about these magical little berries in the New York Times last summer and have been curious about them ever since. We used Bryan’s birthday as an excuse to have a couple of friends over for dinner and flavor trip. read more+++

This cake is so good I made it twice. Edna Lewis called this her Busy-Day Cake and we’ve had lots of busy days around here. Visits from friends and family, events to attend, and work all mean that I haven’t been in the kitchen as much as I like. I first made this cake at about 10pm on a Sunday, I was desperate. Before the cake even left the oven I knew I was happy I didn’t wait for a more appropriate time to bake. read more+++

Green City Market has returned to Lincoln Park in Chicago, marking the official beginning of farmers market season in the Midwest. It was good to see familiar faces on Wednesday morning as a very sleepy me made his way through the park. I start work at 9am (my other job) and so on Wednesday mornings during the summer I wake up early and get to the market around 8am. It isn’t easy, but I’m always glad I went. It is early in the season so there were lots of greens and asparagus to choose from. I found some scallions and chives to use in a very simple frittata.

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Pineapple was a favorite of mine as a kid. Identical yellow rings from a cold can. Perfect circles of exotic sweetness. I remember the first time I had a fresh pineapple I was surprised at how amazing they could be. I am still a fan of pineapple, but this recipe for roasted pineapple with pink peppercorns is about as far as you can get from those perfect canned slices.

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I have a real affinity for Southern cooking. It first captured my imagination as a child and continues to inspire me as a cook. The South has such a rich food history influenced by so many different cultures which make it both fascinating to explore and immensely satisfying. As a child raised on Midwestern suburban restaurant food and dinners at home that usually consisted of a piece of over-cooked meat, canned vegetables and a microwaved potato, these culinary traditions were enviable. I wanted my grandma to have a cake recipe that had been passed down for generations or a secret method for fried chicken. Although my family put a lot of care into holiday food, outside of those days what we ate was pretty soulless. I began to look outside of my life for inspiration. read more+++

I found this recipe for crumb cake on a cold Chicago day that made spring seem like a dream that would never come true. I thought about it every day. Strawberries, strawberries, strawberries. I tried other recipes that seemed more appropriate for my climate. Strawberries, Strawberries. I wanted delicious fresh spring berries that were freshly picked, deep red, and perfect. Strawberries. read more+++