What’s Going on Today: Hanging out in Cooperstown for the Fourth. Lots of fun in the sun, planning for an afternoon boat trip.
Naptime Goals: Lesson from Mom on how to make her awesome Gazpacho.
Tonight’s Menu: Gazpacho, Turkey Burgers, salad, ice-cream.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Don’t tease toddlers about fish eating their toes, unless you don’t want them in the water.

You know I always love a good hand-me-down recipe, so you can imagine how excited I was last weekend when my Mom showed me how to make her nearly famous Gazpacho. I say nearly famous because it hasn’t been printed anywhere yet, but, now that it has, I’m sure it’s destined for glory. The oppressive heat and humidity in Cooperstown gave us the perfect opportunity for a naptime gazpacho making lesson. We were all too happy to stay in the air conditioned kitchen during the heat of the afternoon, and even more pleased that we didn’t have to turn on heat inducing appliances to make dinner.

As you’ll see above, Mom’s recipe is based on an old How to Make Gazpacho tutorial she ripped out of McCall’s long before I was born. It outlines the basics of gazpacho and gives the reader freedom to make changes as needed. My mother has been working on her “changes as needed” for roughly 34 years and has managed to buff and polish her version to a near perfect shine.

It turns out that one of her main secrets for this recipe is spicy V8. She swears that it contains the perfect amount of spice and is easier to measure than Tabasco. If someone wants more heat, she says, place a bottle of Tabasco on the table and they can help themselves. She also swears that a squeeze of lime in each bowl immediately prior to serving is key to uniting the flavors of garlic and tomato. This is a tip she learned from her friend Geri.

Gazpacho, like most soups, is best after it’s been able to rest for a bit in the fridge. This allows the flavors to blend and mature. Though I didn’t tape dinner, rest assured that we gobbled it down in the blink of an eye. You can imagine how grateful we all were to be enjoying cold soup on such a hot day and how particularly happy I was to be in possession of such a fabulous recipe.

Mom’s Nearly Famous Gazpacho

3	medium plum tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped
1	large cucumber, peeled
2	green onions, washed
1	red pepper
2	cloves garlic
11 oz.	regular tomato juice
8 oz.	Spicy V8 Tomato juice
2 T.	olive oil
1/3 c.	red wine vinegar
1 t.	Kosher salt
1 t.	pepper
2	limes

1. In a food processor fitted with a blade attachment place 6 oz. of regular tomato juice, the red pepper, onions and garlic. Pulse 3-4 times. Add the cucumber and tomatoes. Pulse 3-4 times. Add the rest of the regular tomato juice, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Pulse 3-4 times. Finally, add in the spicy tomato juice and olive oil. Pulse 1-2 times.

2. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve. When serving, squeeze the juice of ½ lime over each bowl and stir in to each portion.

There are plenty of great recipes for gazpacho. If you’d like to sweeten it up a bit add some fruit like cantaloupe or honeydew. If you think you need more heat, swirl in a few splashes of Tabasco to give it a boost.

This recipe, from start to finish, takes about 15 minutes.

My daughter doesn’t love cold soup yet – she thought this was salsa – but was game for dipping a few chips in it. My husband, well, you can see me swatting his hand away from the Cuisinart above!

• Freezer-Friendly, Main Courses, Salads & Side Dishes, Soups
• Cucumber, Garlic, Onions, Red Pepper, Tomatoes

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What’s Going on Today: Fourth of July weekend fun! Friends over for cocktails, evening dinner al fresco.
Naptime Goals: Relax with a good book, whip up onion dip and help Mom with the tomatoes.
Tonight’s Cocktail Hour: Tomatoes stuffed with blue cheese or pesto, onion dip with vegetables, cheese plate, assorted nuts.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Sometimes it’s ok to let toddlers eat crackers, carrots and yogurt for dinner.

Over the holiday weekend we were up in Cooperstown with my parents. On Saturday night we invited our neighbors to come over with their teenage grandchildren for a fun cocktail hour. With such beautiful weather and the garden in full bloom it was the perfect occasion to sit on the porch and catch up. The event was to be completely casual, we all planned on wearing jeans, and the food was to be easy and unfussy.

When my daughter was taking her afternoon nap my husband and I helped my parents get things ready. My husband was in charge of setting up the bar with assorted liquor and garnishes for drinks, while Mom and I tackled the food. Since simple cocktail food shouldn’t take long to prepare, we relied on a few old favorites that could be assembled in a snap.

For the two main appetizers we choose to make tomatoes stuffed with pesto or blue cheese with the fresh tomatoes we’d picked up at the farmer’s market. Then, I cooked up my favorite onion dip to serve with carrots and fresh cucumbers, also from the farmer’s market. To balance out the vegetables, we set out a delicious container of goat cheese with strawberry compote and a nice round of runny Camembert with some buttery crackers. Finally, to include a little salt on the table, we poured two bowls of fancy nuts. All in all it was a simple and delicious menu for a party of eight, plus one toddler. I should mention that she munched on so many vegetables and crackers that all she actually ate for dinner was a container of yogurt. With all of us in summer mode I didn’t mind one bit. It was the perfect start to a relaxing weekend.

Casual Summer Cocktail Hour:
Stuffed Tomatoes: Halve and seed cherry tomatoes. Fill with a scoop of fresh pesto or blue cheese. Serve.
Ina Garten’s Pan-Friend Onion Dip with Cucumbers and Carrots
Goat Cheese with Strawberries
Camembert, runny
Fancy Nut Assortment
Lillet with Lemon over ice
Prosecco
Sparkling water and Cokes (for the teens)

What’s Going on Today: Daughter’s first day of camp! July Fourth decoration preparation underway…
Naptime Goals: Prepare Burgers for tonight’s grilling lesson.
Tonight’s Menu: Burgers with Chive Parsley Butter, Caesar Salad, Roasted Red Potatoes with Herbed Salt.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Rain helps us start over with a clean slate.

I love burgers in the summer and am always up for trying new recipes. Of course, one of my favorites is still Uncle Will’s Burger recipe, which will always be an onion-topped classic. When I was flipping through June’s Bon Appetit the other day I read a great article about a technique utilizing Meyer lemon butter in a burger. I loved it’s promises of moister meat and added flavor. I couldn’t wait to give technique a try and set straight to work.

Of course, unlike my friend Liz, I do not have Meyer lemons growing in my backyard. However, I do have regular access to fresh herbs. So, instead of using lemon butter I decided to make Chive-Parsley butter to give the meat a fresh herbaceous flavor. My neighborhood gourmet shop has a great butcher who grinds grass-fed meat and forms hamburger patties. I bought four of those to start with and made the butter at home. Preparing the butter and burgers during naptime was a snap. Then I was able to leave them covered in the fridge until dinner time. As you’ll see, unfortunately, my grilling dreams were thwarted by the rain, but I still managed to cook them on my stovetop grill pan.

The butter technique worked beautifully. The burgers were tender, juicy and more flavorful thanks to the green herbs. I also toasted the buns on the stovetop and gave them an extra swipe of Chive-Parsley butter for greater depth of flavor. Paired with a salad and potatoes they made for a tasty summer meal. I guess there is also next week for my grilling outdoors!

Hamburgers with Chive-Parsley Butter

4 6oz.	hamburger patties
5 T.	good quality unsalted butter
1 T.	chives, finely chopped
1 T.	parsley, finely chopped
4	Hamburger buns

1. In a food processor or mini-chopper, add the butter, chives and parsley. Pulse until well combined and slightly softened.
2. Take each hamburger patty and make a well in the center. Form a ½″ ball of herb butter with your hands and press it into the well. Gently fold over the outer edges of the burger to cover the butter completely and seal it in. Repeat with remaining 3 patties. *At this point uncooked burgers will last, tightly wrapped, in the fridge for up to 6 hours.
3. Set your grill or grill pan at medium heat. Place the hamburger patties on top and cook, turning occasionally, to desired doneness. While the burgers are cooking, place the buns either on the grill or in the toaster. After they have toasted swipe them with a thin layer of remaining herb butter and set aside.
4. Plate burgers on toasted buns and serve hot.

Go ahead and play with different herbs when making the butter. Strong flavors like basil or oregano would work well, too.

Making the herb butter takes 10 minutes. Pressing it into the hamburger patties takes about 5 minutes. If you like to form your own hamburger patties add on an additional 5 minutes.

We are a family of burger fans and the littlest one is forming her habit, too.

• Main Courses
• Beef, Chive, Parsley

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