Summer Dinner

It’s warmed up here quite a bit so for dinners this week I planned lighter, more summery meals and we’ve eaten outside quite a bit.  I love eating outside.  It’s a little bit of work to haul everything out and back in but usually I think it’s worth it.  Plus, we’ve lacked a yard for so many years I think it’s about time we make up for it by using the one we have now all the time.

Tonight for dinner I made a California-fied version of a caprese sandwich.  I made a garlic basil mayo and spread it on lightly toasted whole wheat bread.  Inside the sandwich I included fresh mozzarella, vine ripened tomatoes, and, for a California kick, some diced avocado.  ODD and I ate ours like a regular sandwich while Peanut pulled hers apart and ate it in pieces.  Wingnut ate his in pieces, too, but I gave them to him that way.

Peaches and nectarines were on sale this week so I sliced some up and served them along with some homemade creme fraiche.  For drinks I’d thrown together some cucumber ice water that hit the spot.

It was all delicious and just right for a warm summer evening.  After the kids finished eating we let the down from the table and they ran around the yard while ODD and I talked.  We ate under the cherry tree in our yard and I think tomorrow we’ll try to pick some.  Birds attack the tree and go for the cherries so last year we didn’t get a single one.  This year we’re picking them a tiny bit early so they don’t all get pecked at before we get to them.  Even so there have already been some casualties.

Many of the branches are heavy with cherries but are so high we can’t reach them.  The tree was never really pruned for easy picking and we don’t exactly have access to a cherry picker.

Standing on a chair, though, I could reach some and dipped them in the creme fraiche, too.  Good, good stuff.