Dining al Fresco

I love eating outdoors. This was a date night dinner, starting with cheese fondue and bread. We grilled a couple of steaks and spicy bacon-wrapped shrimp. I marinated the shrimp in a mixture of chili powders and paprika, olive oil, and a bit of apple cider vinegar.
Served it with a salad.
Great night.

Tomato Soup

A friend of mine stopped by with some small tomatoes from her garden. I peeled (by dropping into boiling water briefly), and seeded them. I put the pulp and some of the strained juice into a small saucepan with some butter and cooked it down. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and mixed herbs from my garden: oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley. After the liquid reduced, I added a very small pinch of baking soda, let the foam subside, then added heavy cream, let it come to a simmer, then turned off the heat. I finished it with a dollop of home made creme fraiche. Of course.

Rhubarb & Raspberries

This is an easy treat! Slice rhubarb, add some water, sugar (I used about 11/2 cup for about 4-5 cups fruit). Then simmer gently until rhubarb is tender. Turn off the heat and add the raspberries. I served it with home made crime fraiche: heavy cream with some buttermilk, let it sit out overnight.

I like the rhubarb to retain some texture, so didn't slice too thinly.

Add some water, sugar, simmer. It doesn't take long.

I added the raspberries at the end, turned off the heat.

I put some heavy cream (not ultra pasteurized) in a jar, almost to the top, then added buttermilk. I set it in a pan of warm water to start with, then just left it out on the counter overnight to thicken. It is yummy!