June is almost over? It's amazing how time flies!

Here are some of this weekend's festival highlights.

This Friday is the Fête des Vins in Perpignan, France. The festival offers wine tasting by more than 50 local winegrowers from the Roussillon region. The wines include Côtes du Roussillon AOC, Maury AOC, Banyuls, Fitou AOC and Muscat de Rivesaltes and Collioure AOC.


Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Anne Clark


Telluride, Colorado is hosting the Telluride Wine Festival this weekend.

We invite you to four (4) wonderful days where indulgence is accepted and expected. Take delight in expanding your wine knowledge by attending winemaker luncheons and dinners, reserve tastings and special seminars. Complement the experience by attending one or more of our culinary demonstrations featuring the industry's most talented personalities.

The Taste of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, offers delicious food from over 65 local restaurants, wine tasting and spectacular concerts by Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and Joss Stone, to name a few.

Cedarburg, Wisconsin is home to many festivals throughout the year. This weekend they're celebrating the strawberry season at the 23rd Annual Strawberry Festival. Some of the sweet treats include Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Pie, Strawberry Crepes, Strawberry Slush, Strawberry Schaum Torte, Chocolate-Covered Strawberries, Strawberry Ice Cream and Cedar Creek Winery's Strawberry Blush Wine.

The 55th Annual Luling Watermelon Thump in Luling, Texas kicks off its four day festival tonight. Events include live music, rides and games, the World Champion Seed Spitting Contest and Melon Eating Contest.

Other events include:
The Purple Hull Pea Festival in Emerson, Arkansas
The Cleveland Wine Festival in Cleveland, Ohio
The Colorado Brewfest in Fort Collins, Colorado

One of the big concerns these days is about the rising cost of food (and fuel of course).
I hear it on the news and I hear it when I talk to my friends and family in America. I can empathize, as the prices in Europe have gone up too.

For years now we have relied on fresh, seasonal vegetables and pasta, rice and dried beans as our main source of sustenance for one main reason; the sinking Dollar vs. the strong Euro. We had to cut back to survive.

All in all, this hasn't been a bad thing. Meat is still enjoyed, although sparingly, and we still drink wonderful wine and eat local cheese. I've learned some amazing new recipes and had the chance to experiment with raw ingredients that I may not have bothered with before.
Such as dried beans.


© sara.atkins

Canned beans are easy, I know. You grab the can opener, open the can and you're done. But the texture of home cooked beans is so much better, not to mention how much cheaper it is to cook your own!
Also, home cooked beans can be frozen.

So my advice is to buy them in bulk (they have a shelf life of several years if kept free from moisture), cook them in bulk and freeze what you don't use. You'll be ready to go next time you decide to make chili or burritos or soup.

Here's an excellent guide from Whole Foods to familiarize yourself with the different varieties of beans and how to easily cook them.

I also like this guide to the different types of beans.

Zucchini, zucchini and more zucchini.

We're enjoying it in abundance this week after the delivery of our first very green and zucchini laden CSA basket.




This zesty, shredded zucchini salad is an exhilarating starter on a hot summer's day.
It is my submission to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging, the brilliant creation of Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen.
Our host this week is Joanna, who's blog, Joanna's Food, is full of healthy and tasty recipes. She'll have the entire Weekend Herb Blogging round-up posted on Monday.



It only takes about 10 minutes of shredding, squeezing and measuring to create my Grated Zucchini Salad. Make sure you make it just before serving - if not it can become too watery. This serves 4 people.

You'll need:
2 large zucchini
2 tablespoons (or more for more zing) freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon liquid honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Trim the ends and coarsely grate the zucchinis into a bowl.
Mix with the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, cumin and garlic.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately.

To get your own CSA basket subscription in America, check out Local Harvest.

Summer officially arrives this weekend with the summer solstice on June 21, the longest day of the year. There are a wealth of lip-smacking festivals to check out.

Sweet strawberries and blueberries are in season and being celebrated all over!

The folks in Burgaw, North Carolina are hosting their 5th annual Blueberry Festival this Friday and Saturday and down near the Gulf Coast in Brewton, Alabama, there's the Alabama Blueberry Festival all day Saturday.


Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Carly Hennigan


Glenwood Springs, Colorado is hosting Colorado's oldest civic festival, Strawberry Days.

The three day festival includes a juried artisan's fair, top notch family entertainment and, of course, free strawberries and ice cream.

A whopping 50,000 visitors attend the annual Long Grove Strawberry Festival in Long Grove, Illinois, now in its 26th year.

Pembrokeshire County, Wales, UK is celebrating the bounty of the sea all week long at the Pembrokshire Fish Week.

Choose from many seaside and outdoor activities - from boat wildlife expeditions to coastal explorer sessions, island walks, beach bushcraft lessons, and more. Tempt your tastebuds with a choice of more than 50 foodie events - from fresh crab lunches to fish and chip suppers, seafood extravaganzas and fish cookery demos with celebrity chefs.

A few other weekend events:
The Good Food and Wine Show in Sydney, Australia (not summer down under though...)
The 11th Annual Blues, Brews and BBQ Rib Fest in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Tater Daze in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

The lavender is in bloom!

Which means that it is time to cut some stalks and take advantage of their aromatic little flowers and leaves in my cooking.




I wrote last summer about Lavender Sorbet and gave a recipe for Lavender Tea Cake earlier this spring. My newest recipe using lavender is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Lavender Marinated Chèvre

1. Put several stalks of lavender, washed and dried, in the bottom of a shallow baking dish along with a couple of branches of washed and dried rosemary. Lay little disks or pats of fresh chèvre in a single layer over the lavender and rosemary. (Try to use a dish that will fit the chèvre fairly snugly.)

2. Sprinkle with some freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle olive oil over to cover the chèvre completely. Cover the dish with some plastic wrap and let marinate at room temperature overnight.

3. Spread on bread and enjoy!

Now, wasn't that easy?

Some good sources for fresh chèvre;
Belle Chèvre
Three Ring Farm
Bonnie Blue Farm
Westfield Farm
Fias Co Farm
North Valley Farms
These are just a start. There are many, many good goat's cheese producers out there!

Who needs a gym? All you really need is to visit a Farmer's Market once or twice a week to get a great work out.

All the walking, bending, lifting and carrying home a heavy, produce laden market basket that weighs about 30 pounds is enough exercise for just about anyone!




This morning's colorful (and very heavy) market bounty:

2 kilos ripe tomatoes, some onions, a basil plant and a couple of stalks of celery to make Cold Tomato Soup with Basil
2 kilos new potatoes
leeks
2 green peppers, 2 red peppers and some onions to make Poulet Basquaise
zucchini
parsley
1 cucumber
ripe peaches
a baguette
a pain au raisin and une chocolatine

My arms are sore!