"SummerFood" news and stories

After typing a post about a wasabi popsicle, I started to think about other spice and and ice combinations. Naturally, I thought of cardamom, one of my favorite spices. A friend of mine recently suggested that we make cardamom ice cream. Unlike wasabi, cardamom is widely used in both savory and sweet dishes, such as rice and pastries. Its deeply aromatic qualities have always attracted me. And now, I'm dying with curiosity to find out its potential with ice cream.

Below are a few recipes you can try at home:

• Pear and cardamom sorbet
• Rose-cardamom ice cream
• Cardamom ice cream
• Cardamom-pistachio ice cream
• Vanilla cardamom ice cream

If any of you have tried cardamom ice cream before, I'd love to find out what it tastes like. Please let me know!

We all know that Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer. Vacations are ending, kids are going back to school, and even though it might still be warm there's something that has changed in the air compared to August. There's still time for one more cookout though!

AllRecipes has a great selection of foods you can make today, whether you're having a cookout or just making something to eat inside. How about a Bucket Salad, or maybe some Factory Workers Chicken? Or how about the Cholesterol King Heart Stopper 3000, a giant party sandwich? If you're feeling guilty about that you can always eat a Watermelon Fruit Bowl for dessert.

Check out that first link above for all the recipes, categorized by different themes: America's Melting Pot, This Land is Your Land, and Big Appetites, Unite.

• Here's an interesting idea: let's get rid of restaurant menus!
• The Best New Wine Lists of 2007.
• A list of products and trends you'll see in the kitchen in the next few years.
• Three interesting burgers to try this July 4th.
• Speaking of the 4th, a French chef shows you how to grill a steak.
• Heading to Richmond, VA? Check out this guide to the city.
• If you're not going to Richmond, how about Paris?
• How to preserve summer flavors.
• This month's recipes: Blueberry-Lemon Parfait, Summer Melon with Crab, Potato Salad with Bacon and BBQ Sauce, Tuna with Provencal Vegetables, Almond Ice Milk, and Cucumber-Basil Martini.

This might be just because I'm not a big seafood fan in the first place (except for some fish, clams, and scallops), but I find oysters a rather odd food to even think about eating. The way it must feel when it's going down your throat...gah. I wouldn't eat one for a million dollars.*

But I know that a lot of you out there love them, and Esquire has everything you need to know about buying and eating them: what they are, the difference between East Coast and West Coast oysters, how to shuck them (including the equipment you'll need), and a few companies where you can buy the best oysters in the country.

Oyster lovers, rejoice!

* This is a lie. I actually would eat one for a million dollars.