Taste Of Summer

What does summer taste like? Like the ice cream cone these girls lick at the Tolland County 4-H fair. www.4-hfair.org/tolland/county.html . It certainly tastes like a trip to the Uconn Dairy Bar and the Jonathan Supreme mounded up in a cup and drizzled with chocolate fudge syrup. The Uconn cows got up early to make the cream that is sprayed onto your Sundae so yummy! Don't forget to drive up to the Kellogg Dairy Center to watch a bit of milking. All those bovine beauties making all that delicious ice cream. www.dairybar.uconn.edu
If you are way out in the Ct. Quiet Corner get your licks at Fort Hill Farms new Ice Cream shop www.forthillfarms.com/creamery.html Any way you better lick quick while the sun is hot and make that special moment in your summer to enjoy ice cream at or near its source!

Corn on the Cob is another favorite taste of summer. We have had some mighty sweet corn this season due to plentiful rain and good hot sun. Corn loves the hot days for growing. Come by our family stand Country Stop and Goods at 25 Stearns Rd for some of the best Butter and Sugar corn you ever tasted. I put tonight's leftovers in the freezer and cant wait for a frosty fall day to make a bowl of corn chowder with it. Corn should be cooked and eaten the day it is picked. Be sure not to boil it to long and if you are putting it up for the freezer dunk it into a sink of ice water to get the heat out of it quick after it boils. Did you know that each kernel needs a piece of the silk to get it growing, so if you are missing a few kernels on an ear probably some bird borrowed the silk for a nest and left the bare spot in the ear for a reminder.

My other favorite taste of summer, Limeade or Lemonade - in that order. Crackling ice in the glass and a make it a tall one. Pour the Limeade in and add a sprig of mint. Total refreshment. A fun project for kids is to make Sun Tea. Put a clear gallon jar full of water and 10 tea bags out in full sun for a few hours and when you come back its tea. Kids really like to watch the color of the water begin to change. Staying hydrated on a hot day means drinking lots of water. Then when you have had enough, sip one of the refreshing summer drinks for the flavor to last.

Blueberry season came early and we are picking berries out in the yard each morning. I have to say eating them right off the bush is my favorite way to enjoy blueberries but there are so many good choices. My church just had a Blueberry Breakfast as a fundraiser for the 300th anniversary we are celebrating this year. http://pages.cthome.net/FCCMansfield/ Delicious blueberry baked goods, french toast and Blueberry sauce, oh it was all really good! Find some ideas at
www.blueberry-recipe.com/index.html

Eat up and enjoy these tastes of summer, before long it will be time for sugar on snow!