One Last Bite of Summer

On Sunday, I went over to my friend Lorna's house to have dinner with her and her family. One last outdoors meal before it cools off for good.

Spinach and strawberry salad. (How did she know that's currently my favorite combo?)

The best garlic bread of my LIFE.

Steak with mushrooms, corn on the cob and deviled eggs.

And for dessert, peach and blueberry cobbler.

It could use a few tweaks. I'm still perfecting the recipe.

When I was a little kid, I was allergic to tomatoes, peanuts, chocolate (though we figured out it was the trace amounts of peanuts IN the chocolate) and citrus fruits. I know, I was one sad little child. Luckily, I grew out of them about the time I hit puberty.

During the summer, my mom always made this cold tomato soup called gazpacho. I was lucky enough to get some garden tomatoes from Lorna and I knew I would put them to good use.

Gazpacho

Ingredients:

3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cucumber, finely chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, (you guessed it) finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely minced

bunch of cilantro, finely minced

1/8 c. red wine vinegar

1/8 c. olive oil

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 cans (about 16 oz.) V-8 juice or regular tomato juice

1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, cover tightly and let sit in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to combine. This is one of those dishes that gets better over time. Some people like to put half of it in the blender for a runnier texture, but I like mine nice and chunky.

**Warning: incase you didn't notice, this has tons of garlic and vinegar and onion in it, so you might think twice before consuming it prior to a hot date! ;)

Have you/ do you have any allergies?

What dish will you miss from summer?