"summer desserts" news and stories

It was extremely hot and humid yesterday. Not only did it reach 88 degrees with high humidity, it was the first truly hot and humid day of the year so it felt even worse. For some bizarre reason I played two hours of tennis in the sun and cooled myself with Tropicana Summer Lemonade (which is quite good, by the way). So I wanted to do a post with a really good lemonade recipe.

Instead of that, I found a recipe at AOL Food for Frozen Lemonade Pie which sounds both filling and refreshing. You make it with a graham cracker crust and a can of frozen lemonade concentrate. The oven will only be on for 7 minutes so it shouldn't get too hot in your kitchen.

(Old Orchard also has a similar recipe for Frozen Lemonade Pie (pictured above), but it includes cream cheese.)

Several months ago, I discovered the deliciousness that is fruit spread with really good quality ricotta cheese. I discovered this by accident, during a tipsy evening with a friend when I inadvertently dipped an apple slice into the bowl of cheese. One taste and for the rest of the evening it was all we ate until the cheese was all gone.

One caveat is that this doesn't work with that grainy ricotta you get from the grocery store. You need to find the stuff that is available at cheese and specialty shops. Here in Philly, I get it at Claudio's, a cheese shop located in the Italian Market. It is super-creamy (I imagine it has a much higher fat content than regular ricotta) and when combined with fruit, becomes special in a way I am not totally able to articulate.

Last night I cut a pineapple up into spears and took it, along with a small container of this special ricotta, to a dinner with friends. It was one of several dessert options and yet was one of the favorites, because it was a change from the sweet (but delicious) baked goods. You can use your imagination to determine what other fruit might go well with it, I haven't tried it, but have a suspicion it would be fantastic with peaches and nectarines.

photo by Marisa McClellan