Grape vine leaves (fresh)are on my mind.
I'll be getting a bunch this weekend and I wonder if anyone has ideas on what fillings may be used, etc. Ideas, recipes, techniques all welcome!

Quick question for those of you doing a CSA (community supported agriculture) share. We decided to do a half veggie share and full fruit share this year and it will last for like 25 weeks, or so. We paid $325 for the half share of veg and $175 for the fruit. The quality of our veggies has been extremely good and in terms of taste we are happy. But I’m just curious, is it normal to get so darn many cabbage products? What have you all gotten as far as variety?

Fruit-wise, our farmer gets the fruit from Red Jacket. What is a normal-sized fruit share? One week we got six apples and a container of cherries. This week, it was a container of apricots (8 all very unripe, crunchy actually) and a small container of raspberries. Is that a normal-size share or does that seem sort of puny? I don’t know what normal fruit consumption is since I dig my fruit, but I can’t help but feel sort of gypped on the fruit share and would like to get a sense for other share sizes.

One last question – I’m curious if there have been any good apricot sightings/tastings? I bought a variety yesterday – all mediocre. And bad fruit is like bad sex.

omg leeds!!!
one of my fave bloggers Ximena (http://lobstersquad.blogspot.com/) just made the most wonderful roasted mushroom dish using fresh grape leaves
click over and search
and everyone else check out her blog b/c its, as my gran would say, beeee-yooooteful

ann, thanks so much! A simple & tasty way to cook them. love her blog, thanks for passing that along..

I was thinking about getting some cast iron cookware and I saw that Ikea has some in their Senior line. Does anybody know what the quality is like?

We have some beautiful pork chops from the grass-fed pork guy at the Petrosino Square Real Food market which we are planning to cook up for dinner tonight. Generally we would just grill them simply, but I also have some chanterelles I want to use, so I thought I'd have my husband cook 'em up in our cast iron skillet and then I'd make a pan sauce with the mushrooms. But then I thought maybe we could still grill the chops, but stuff them first with the chanterelles and some herbs. OR, I could incorporate the mushrooms into a side dish - sauteeing them with haricots verts or something like that.

Basically, I can't decide what to do. Thoughts?

Has anyone else cooked with avacado squash? I got mine at the UN Greenmarket yesterday. I sauted one in olive oil with a tomato last night. I thought it was okay . . . very sweet and a springy mouth feel. Are there any special recipes for this squash? I have 1 more to use up.

jenblossom
I don't know about the mushrooms, but Zuni has a wet brine for pork chops that is a bit of sugar, a bit of salt, bay leaf, and chiles, in water. You crush and warm the aromatics in a cup of water over the stove, and add to more water with the salt and sugar.
If you have an hour to let them sit, go for it. Zuni being Zuni, you can also brine them up to four days....

I have some on day two in the fridge, pushed out of the dinner line by beef from our Park Slope mini-blackout. We grilled skirt steak and burgers for a crowd on Tuesday, and T bones on Weds (Fiorentina, with sage, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper)

p.s.
I have concord grape vines in a diabolical growth cycle . . . are cooking grape leaves any young grape leaves?

p.p.s.
this hot weather fresh tomato sauce looks good
http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection/2003/07/orecchiete.html

Yes to the grape leaves. I use the tender ones from my muscat grape and they work and taste great. They work well as a wrap for fish apres grilling.

regards,
trillium

re tender leaves as a wrap - you cook them first? or use raw. I'm new to the grape leaf scene.
no-cook tomato sauce, yay!

desk,
Since I don't do a CSA, I don't know if your shares are "normal" or not. But I did wonder if your abundance of cabbage products and lack of good fruit shares have been the result of, well, the weather. It's been a cool, rainy spring/early summer. Fruit needs sunshine and heat to get ripe. And cabbage-y things grow really well in the cool and wet.

Maybe now that we've had some serious heat, the 'better' vegetables and fruit'll start coming in. Only this week have my tomatoes begun to blush!

BTW, I thrilled to your simile--bad fruit IS like bad sex. Very very disappointing.

the intense rains in the northeast have messed up alot of local veg - lots of rotted green stuff, bleech.

simple cabbage dish: sauteed
cut up a head of cabbage and a large onion, in strips
if you eat pig, start with a slice of bacon and a dab of neutral oil in a large frying pan, sweat the onions and add the cabbage. Throw in a small or large can of tomatoes (depending on how tomatoey you want the dish)
season with salt and lots of black pepper
chopped fresh parsley optional (but good)

my new veg of the week is
baby japanese turnips - the size of large gumballs, with very tender greens attached.
I'm going to sautee them sliced, in butter, with carrots.
salt and pepper, nada mas.
I don't even like turnips, but these were so lovely . . .

What csa did you go with, desk?

For wrapping things to grill in grape leaves I don't precook them first, just wrap and fix with bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water(same for banana and fig leaves. If they aren't tender enough to manipulate then you can always run them under hot water briefly. When grilling, we eat the inner layers but not the outer, which get too charred (banana and fig just lend fragrance, but aren't for eating). For other smaller things I blanch them first. You can also pack them in salt to store for later use, but I've never done that.

regards,
trillium

In terms of the CSA fruit share, that comes out to about $7 a week. Berries are so expensive! So you figure a container of raspberries is about $4 and 8 nectarines would probably cost more than $3 at the farmer's market, so you're doing alright.
Crunchy stone fruit like apricots, plums and peaches will ripen quicly if placed in a paper bag overnight. THere's nothing worse than fruit that looks juicy and delicious and turns out to be a flavorless mess. Peaches seem to be that way all to often.
Another great cabbage recipe (although admittedly too hearty for this weather) is galumpkes a traditional Polish/Russian dish. You blanch the cabbage leaves and then roll them around ground meat (I like a mixture of beef and pork) with onions, rice and paprika, place the little packages in a baking dish, cover the whole thing with tomato sauce and bake for 40 minutes or so.

What's on my mind is that I've just been hired at a 4-star restaurant where I've been doing a stage for a while. I'm excited, to say the least. And a little bit nervous, too.

For dessert tonight? Grilled bananas rolled in vanilla sugar and served with sweet cream ice cream. Yum.

Thanks all for your thoughts...

Yeah, I mean I can give some allowance for weather and certainly I can understand that cabbage is a good filler for the week. And I don't have any shortage of recipes for the cabbage -- it's just, is cabbage one of those things that consumers demand? Because I don't see a lot of supply of it at the Greenmarket.

And yeah, the fruit is about the same price if I walked to the greenmarket and bought it. The math works out and that was my reason for doing it. But, I can't say there was any arguable reason to do the fruit share since a) the savings are not that much and b) I don't get to choose the produce and c) I'm supporting Red Jacket not some small farmer. I'm just curious if others were getting more fruit at a different CSA that was NOT using Red Jacket as the supplier.

I made pasta with fresh fava beans, bacon and ricotta the other night. I based it on a Chez Panisse Cafe recipe, but messed with it some because of course I have to do that. Even when it's Chez freaking Panisse.

Grilled bananas sound fanastic. And I too don't even try to buy fresh peaches and apricots usually - they're so hit or miss. But I saw Lucy's recipe for apricot bombe marquise the other day and got a hankering for apricot sorbet.

And congratulations Drew! Gee, I recognize you from the OTR forums. Small world.

can somebody help me with the listing of greenmarket sources in the city.

do all the farmers market in the city sell organic produce.

a link will really help

proven
here you are (warning, it's a pdf)
http://www.cenyc.org/site/pages/summermarketlisting.pdf
in terms of organic, yes, there are organic farmers there
here's a link to the cenyc site http://www.cenyc.org/site/

and here's links to 2 articles you should read if you're interested in doing more Greenmarket shopping:
http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/17656/index.html
and
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/19/dining/19gree.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
if you have any more specific questions, ask away! there's some real Greenmarket veterans on this site (or at least i think we like to think of ourselves that way ;-)

www.nycvisit.com
search "greenmarkets"
scrollo down to the "greenmarkets in nyc" link

this will give total listings, days, etc

In answer to your CSA question, I think your fruit share sounds quite normal. Our share has been different from yours (it isn't Red Jacket) but sounds like the same size. Last week we had a pint of blueberries and 6 peaches that were tough when we got them, but were delicious the next day.

I really like the idea of various CSA sites keeping track of share size and variety. Many of them do it for internal tracking over seasons but it surprises me that those share logs aren't more public. I've thought about weighing and photographing my share each week, but when I get home, I just want to eat my fruit.

This past week was also the first week that we had enough variety and quanity to think, "this is a good deal!". Until now, the shares have been a little light and a little too greens heavy. The best of the season is still to come, I think.

Ann.. Thank You. I will be going to the union square right now.

the april 2006 issue on www.satymag.com throws some light on " what organic is " and how corporations are manipulating the word organic.

i guess it was last weekend's NYtimes mentioned some points which are very thoughtprovoking.

i am left to wonder ....how much worth is the price that i am paying to eat the real organic and how organic has become a "halo" word.

What's the role of vanilla in an ice cream that isn't vanilla flavored? If I made a peach ice cream or strawberry or blueberry, is vanilla still usually used?

I'm wondering if vanilla is the salt and pepper of the sweet side of things, or if skipping vanilla might allow other flavors to stand out more prominently, if they don't need that rich underline of vanilla?

If vanilla is a salt and pepper kind of thing, would a bean or a good extract usually be used?

Thanks for your suggestions . . . and this interesting thread. I almost joined the Prospect Heights (Brooklyn) CSA, but I couldn't find someone to split a share with me.

I've been to the Grand Army Plaza greenmarket most every Saturday and now I'm going to the UN Market on Wednesdays too.

Good luck Drew!

do you make anything with apple juice as an ingredient?

I got a big bottle for candying sour cherries, and I'm wondering if there's anything else imaginative to do with it.

proven et. al.
just stumbled on this article http://tinyurl.com/glbra by way of the ethicurean http://www.ethicurean.com/

its about two farmers upstate who go beyond the call of duty in how organic they are, but can't label any of their stuff organic b/c the cost to be certified is more than they can afford

conversely, they're also hesitant to use that label b/c they are seeing it coopted by huge corporate entities like wal-mart
thought ya'll might like something to read on this hazy lazy sunday morning

oh, and guido, the only thing i can think about to do with apple juice is to braise pork in it
mmm... pork

guido:
my suggestion for apple juice would be as part of a brown-butter glaze for pasta: reduce and mix in with brown butter and toss with greens and a light pasta, or with cubes of roasted butternut squash and some ravioli for a heavier meal.

guido, you could make an apple sorbet, maybe mix it with some black tea and cinnamon? or reduce it to syrup and put it on pancakes or oatmeal...

Hi out there in kitchen land...
Anyone have sage advice to consider in purchasing a food processor? I have never had one, and am thinking of getting a Cuisinart...I'm debating: do I really need it? What size? What features are important? I find myself sometimes wishing I'd gotten a processor instead of the heavy duty blender I bought a few years ago. I'm thinking with things like making pizza dough or chopping it might be helpful.

So, if anyone out there has serious regrets about something with theirs or knowledge to share, I'd appreciate it! Thanks!

Christine - I go through phases where I use my Cuisinart a lot (maybe every day), and then phases where I don't use it for months. My only regret is that I didn't get a bigger one, which would help in making pureed soups or smoothies (liquid tends to leak out the top when it gets too full). As far as chopping and slicing, it's just great.

Christine and Joan, after my blender disaster over the weekend (basil ice cream all over the floor becasue I didn't out my cheap blender together), I'm thinking of buying an immersion blender to deal with the wet stuff.

I love my Cuisinart. I too use it every day for a while and then I don't think about it for a while. It's gazpacho time, so I should pull it out of the pantry soon. It took some practice and experimentation to learn what it is good at (cake made with whole clementines, slaw) and what it is not good at (very liquidy stuff, chopping onions into small pieces). You might check out Khols site when you're shopping. They sometimes have discontinued or on their way out models at a pretty good price.

Christine and Joan, after my blender disaster over the weekend (basil ice cream all over the floor because I didn't out my cheap blender together), I'm thinking of buying an immersion blender to deal with the wet stuff.

I love my Cuisinart. I too use it every day for a while and then I don't think about it for a while. It's gazpacho time, so I should pull it out of the pantry soon. It took some practice and experimentation to learn what it is good at (cake made with whole clementines, slaw) and what it is not good at (very liquidy stuff, chopping onions into small pieces). You might check out Kohl's site when you're shopping. They sometimes have discontinued or on their way out models at a pretty good price.

chris, christine, joan, et.al.
immersion blenders are WONDERFUL for making pureed soups/liquidy stuff
they're also great if you get one with the cuisinart-style attachment
this is awesome for chopping small amounts of herbs, sauces, pestos, etc
i cannot recommend this style of choppy thing enough!
plus the hole in the bottom of cuisinarts peeves me to no end
i have ended up with more soupy messes all over my countertops b/c of that stupid hole than i care to remember
i now use my cuisinart only one time a year, when making cranberry relish for the family thanskgiving dinner

Hi Christine,

I have both a cuisinart and their immersion blender, both are wonderful kitchen tools. I use my cuisinart fairly often, but then I bake a lot and it comes in handy a lot of the time. I use it for other purposes but not as many. My recommendation is, if you bake, it is a great machine, if you don't bake you will probably find it collecting dust as other's have said. But having said that I love mine and recommend one for everyone.

Immersion blenders are my favorite thing to use for pureeing soups and making smoothies etc, so easy and so easy to clean:)

Thanks for the tips. I used to have an immersion blender (cheap-o one given to me) and I liked it a lot, especially for soup. I don't have it anymore but because my kitchen aid blender takes up space in my cabinet, I can't bring myself to buy another kind of blender! I think I'll hold off a little and shop around...and think about whether it's something I'll use a lot. After the "pressure cooker mistake of 2005," (have only used it 3 times so far) I think I need to be more cautious in my kitchen gadget spending!

My immersion blender is the most used gadget in my kitchen, second only to the toaster oven, which doesn't really count since that's mostly toast.
I finally gave away the regular blender.

I use a Cuisinart at my mom's house
the downside for me is the cleaning required when
I mostly do small things. So I use a knife to chop.

But I lust for a stand mixer . . .
someone talk me out of it!

and thx for the apple juice thoughts
I made pork this weekend
(o the Zuni brine! excellent, with dried chipoltes and star anise) and
I wished using the juice there had occured to me . . .

guido, were the Japanese turnips good? I'm curious; I don't like reg. turnips, unless they're with other ingredients, like in a soup.

I made a stir-fry with sugar snaps (delish! can't believe I never had them before), mushrooms and tofu chunks which I marinated in soya sauce, a bit of maple syrup and rice vinegar. Throw in minced garlic & chopped ginger towards the end-easy and good.

Geez, and I gave away my immersion blender (a gift from someone else) after I just never used it. I hesitate to add anything else that takes up space in my kitchen, but my son is taking my really old (from a tag sale, mostly plastic) blender to college, so maybe I can reconsider.

Christine-I use Cuisinart for baking, making salad dressings, chopping, pesto, hummus, incredible creamy refried beans and blending soups in batches. I use it a lot. I use it a lot more now that I have a dishwasher -- handwashing is sort of a pain. I think it is my most used appliance but I will admit it took me a while to really convert myself to using it.

Oh...small kitchen appliance talk!

Christine -- I have the smallest Cuisinart available. The capacity is quite small (not more than 2-3 cups) and it serves my two-person household just fine. Just the basics: 1 blade, 2 buttons. Cleanup is always a bit of a pain, but it's great.

Christine again -- Thanks for the tip on the pressure cooker! I was just starting to flirt with the idea of buying one. But I'm still tempted to do some low-acid canning!

Guido -- I'll attempt to talk you out of a stand mixer. How much counter space or storage space do you have? My friends got one for their wedding (they did register for it) and it is like a giant albatross sitting on their kitchen counter, largely unused. Their cupboards are too full to store it out of sight. Do you need a constant reminder of money ill-spent?

Michelle and Desk--thanks for the continuing cuisinart tips. I'm still debating whether I need/want one. I don't have a stand mixer either...can this stand in for it for cookies, etc? I use a hand mixer, which is a bit rough for large batches. I'm thinking maybe I could find a used one, at least at first instead of sinking a lot into a new one.

Michelle--I got the pressure cooker for a gift (my suggestion). It's not THAT bad of a purchase, but I certainly don't use it enough to make it worth its price or the space it takes up (only fits on top of my fridge). Not sure about the canning, but I used it for a stew (the whole debacle was started after I saw Jacques Pepin's "Fast food my way" on the public tv station making a lamb stew with one) and then for boiling potatoes. That's it. I'm sure I can make other things, so I'm starting to explore recipes. I'm also planning on quick-cooking dried beans with it. The other okay thing is that I can also use it as a stock pot--it's large and came with a second lid. So, it's kind of a so-so kitchen purchase! I'm certain it's better than, say, a tortilla warmer or something, but not as useful as a food processory.

I have a stand mixer too (I'm not a gadget freak, promise). I think you could use it for cookies -- depending on the cookie, and if you are willing to hand-stir or mix-in large ingredients, like nuts. The problem using it for cookies, at least I think so, is that you can't control the speed on the Cuisi and you really want to control the speed when you are creaming butter and sugar. I think you would probably find that using the hand mixer is more natural than the Cuisinart for cookies...but that's just my 2 cents and the only baking expertise I have is what I learned from grandma the cookie lady.

guido, the stand mixer would be the first thing to go in my kitchen. I bake a lot, but mostly breads, pies and tarts and don't use the KA for them since I've killed two already with bread dough. The only things I use it for are cakes and cookies and I make them only once a month.

DC Christine, risotti in 10 minutes! Here is a basic recipe

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion
1 1/2 cups carnaroli rice (or arborio)
3 1/2 to 4 cups chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste, depends on how salty your stock is and how much cheese you plan on adding)

Heat the oil in the cooker. Cook the onions over medium heat, stirring, until translucent and soft. Pour in the rice, stir it to coat it with oil. Keep stirring for a couple of minutes until the rice looks um, chalkier and more white.

Add 3 1/2 cups of the stock and the salt. Be careful not to get hit with splatters.

Put the lid on and fasten it. Bring it to high pressure on high and then lower the heat to keep it on high for 5 minutes (you don't want a ton of steam escaping). Put the cooker under cold running tap water until the pressure comes down. Take off the lid carefully so you don't get hit with a face full of steam. Stir in a little more water if you need to, and whatever seasonings (parmesan or romano), vegetables or meats you like. One favorite is just onion, saffron and shrimp, another is morel mushroom, asparagus and a little pre-cooked wild rice (ala Zuni Cafe).

regards,
trillium

the turnips were great leeds -- very very mild and just cute. They had a little turnip bite at the end...

The stand mixer in the ad was already sold.
I suppose that is a good thing. I don't have any counter space to speak of, but I use my friend's stand mixer whenever we go to visit . . .

I'm struggling with counter space concerns, too, Guido, hence my "to buy or not to buy" dilemna with the processor. I'm reaching critical mass with kitchen storage...

Thanks Trillium--I actually found a risotto recipe, too, that is on my list to make this week! But I'm glad to have this one, too, which seems even simpler. That is one major asset of the pressure cooker--I HATE stirring endlessly!

Christine -- My desire for a pressure cooker was reawakened after watching some episodes of Jacques Pépin's "Fast Food My Way". I settled on getting the accompanying cookbook.

But the real desire came from my love of canning, which is easy enough if you're doing pickles, tomato-based substances, or sweet items like jams and jellies. For anything else (and all meats), all the books and websites recommend using a pressure cooker. And I really want to make pickled herring.

looking for ideas to perk up a cold grain salad . . .

I made barley and grilled portobellos
I added cumin and coriander (dry) and
parsley (fresh)
I cooked the barley with a little fresh mint, which didn't much come through. I have some really lovely watercress to serve with it, which will add snap, but I'm wondering what else to do with the rather plain barley/mushroom salad.

I haven't tried lemon yet, or maybe a lemon vinagrette, but that's my only idea so far. Anybody?

Tarragon infused white wine vinegar? Or halved cherry tomatoes? Something with acid.

regards,
trillium

A friend makes a barley-mushroom dish, which is delicious warm or at room temp.
Vegetable Barley Casserole -
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 large carrot, peeled and finaly diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 cup pearl barley
2 cups veg.or chicken stock
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Combine onion, mushroom, carrot & celery, cook in 1 T oil. Add barley & stock. Cook until barley is tender & liquid is absorbed. Stir in cheese & parsley at the end + s&p. Let stand, covered, for 10 mins.
It's really good.
guido-in case any of that is of help; maybe adding Parmesan to your barley/mushroom?
The combination of something simple & wholesome will work well with the side of peppery watercress, I think.
I love watercress just with salt, lime juice, olive oil, maybe tomato.

I love my stand mixer. I've got it in sort of an in-between place (not on the counter, but not hidden away, either), and it does almost whatever I ask it to do. (It's a little weak on egg whites, but I've switched to the whisk for those.) I don't bake every week, but when I do, I don't want to have to struggle with the mixing. And also when I do, I seem to do several batches of something, or a couple kinds of cookies for an event, or something, so the usage evens out. As has been mentioned before, it's pretty easy to get a good chunk of money off these at Bed Bath & Beyond.

I also have no trouble cleaning up my Cuisinart--everything goes in the dishwasher. If you don't have a dishwasher, though, I could see how that would be a pain.

Gosh, now I'm having complete small kitchen appliance lust. I want both a stand mixer AND a cuisinart! My mom offered to give me her chrome Sunbeam, since my brother and I bought her a kitchen aid a few years back, but I insisted I didn't need it. I guess taking my mom's old appliances (she has a non-cuisinart food processor she never uses) is one solution--at least to see how much I need them. Joan, the "big batch" thing has me too. I bake most around Christmas, and that gets to be a bit of a hassle with the hand mixer. My hand starts to get pains in it!

I tried the risotto last night. Had a bit of a problem, though. With the pressure cooker, not the recipe. I have the kind where there's a dial and an automatic pressure release. When the little thingy (for lack of a better term) came up, indicating it reaches pressure, no steam came out. The manual suggests this could be a clogged valve. Not sure. I cleaned it just to be safe, and will try again tonight. I finished making the risotto the old fashioned way.

Michelle, damn that Jacques Pepin! I saw that episode again last weekend. I'm just so charmed by him, I want to make everything he makes. Maybe I'll take up canning!

For a long time I made do with my grandmother's '60s Kitchen Aid, which had a motor that still worked, just the whisk attachment, and a glass bowl. It was quite powerful and I liked it, but it always "walked" across the counter and needed to be watched. Then, little by little, the metal things on the base that held the glass bowl tight began to bend, and the bowl would get loose. I kept bending them back, but one day a tough batch of batter (maybe not-quite-soft-enough butter?) at Christmas time overcame it, the whisk got stuck, and the entire bowl just flew out of the mixer and crashed everywhere. The end.

Hello all,
Would a seasoned cook please answer a question? ...a pasta recipe (linked in my name) calls for red pepper flakes. The only thing my grocery store had was "chili pepper flakes" (http://www.frontiercoop.com/prdDisp.php?I=22014&br=&full=y&PHPSESSID=01cb24741b93787d8fa40ca706feae8f).

Have I got the right thing?
Thanks for your help!

L
yes
same thing
yum

omg Joan, that totally just made me laugh!
i bet it was no fun to clean up, and could probably have been dangerous if someone was in the bowl's trajectory, but after a crappy start to my morning, a good giggle was just what i needed!
thanks!

sangria is on my mind.
i have white wine, cantaloupe, 2 peaches and a handful or two of cherries. oh - and lots of basil. think it'll work? will i need something to sweeten? i thought i might make a basil simple syrup - but are there any other ideas?

ann - Yes, I was pissed off and giggling at the same time...

lex - I have an idea. How about if I come over right now and help you sample it?

Thanks, guido!

Also, I will chime in that I love my stand mixer. Most recently we've started grinding sirloin with the grinder attachment. And though it doesn't sound good when paired with the previous, last week I discovered it makes awesome milkshakes even with rock-hard ice cream.

lex (& Joan A.) - may I come over & sample too?
Seriously, everything (except the basil I think) would work. How about adapting it from these:
Sangria Blanca
Recipe By: Food Network, makes: 10 svgs
2 bottles White wine, such as sauvignon blanc
1/2 cup Spanish sherry
1/2 cup orange-flavored liqueur(like Cointreau)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 bunch seedless white grapes
1 lemon, unpeeled and sliced
2 peaches, or as desired
1/2 honeydew, Honeydew melon,seeded & diced
1/2 liter club soda
Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 24 hrs, then add the club soda just before serving.
Or:
Sangria
1 bottle of champagne or cava
1/4 liter of white wine
1/4 liter of sweet sherry or brandy
cointreau to taste
sugar
peaches
cherries
oranges
If you want it to be lighter, you can also add sparkling water at the last minute.

actually, i know first hand that basil goes lovely in white wine!
i discovered in an old cookbook by Bert Greene that they used to place basil in casks whilst aging white wine to "calm" it
with this in mind i made myself a basil bevanda, which is white wine, basil and sparkling mineral water

if you must call it a spritzer, you may, but in croatia (where i learned to drink wine this way) they call it Bevanda (much cooler!)

and by they (of coures) i mean the French
lol, sorry!

Good to know, the Bevanda sounds delicious!
My experience lies in making red wine sangria, which I am now craving because I haven't made any yet this summer. But the weekend is coming up..

Hey sangria lovers. I agree - adding everything except the basil will make a really delicious sangria. I would add a little sugar too. If you click on my name it leads to a sangria recipe, and within the recipe there's a link to a second sangria recipe which includes a sort of sangria primer.

A cold glass of anything sweet and fruity sounds so good right now...

Ack! I'm making a berry pie--delicious receipe if anyone wants it--and my big rolling board has started to crack. Is there any way to repair it? I've had it forever and am assuming I just left it resting against a wet cutting board one too many times...

Suggestions?

Victoria