Campus Kitchen at UMASS Boston

Summertime and the livin’ is easy (and yummy)!

As of this week, the summer season is officially here! Like many of you, this is my favorite season of the year. I come alive during these next few months because I wait for them all year long! With the appearance of the gorgeous weather comes mostly positives, but here at CKUMB, we had to say farewell to our little kiddos at the ELC-East yesterday and it wasn’t easy. My delivery team and I really enjoy seeing their faces and hearing about what they’re doing in the garden on our weekly Wednesday and Thursday deliveries. I know we’ll be back to them in September (which will be here before you know it), but we’ll miss them until then.

Our post today is about summer fun because those two words go hand-in-hand, right?! Here in Boston, our weather has been sunny and hot all week with a thankful rain shower yesterday (sometimes it can be too hot). This weekend is also predicted to be just perfect for summer activities. So, tell me, what is it you like to do in June, July, & August? Oh – you want my answers? How thoughtful! I’m only giving them to you because you asked, of course.

A little background: my husband and I (yep, as of June 5th, he is officially my husband!) bought our house on the South Shore of Boston in December of 2008. Come April of 2009, my husband and his father took on the task of adding a deck to our backyard. This project was successful despite the odds and it’s been a great investment. My favorite summer activity is grilling and eating outdoors (not surprising coming from someone who works around food all day). We use the deck when the snow melts until the leaves fall off the trees – only the type of cuisine changes. On Monday, I grilled pizza which I’ve never done before and next week we’re going to have shrimp on the barbie – I’ve never eaten shrimp that haven’t come from a restaurant before, so we’ll see how it goes. The pizza, I must say, was a success. It’s not often that Marc asks for repeated meals (I try not to repeat unless he really loves ‘em), but he wants them again next week. I’ll include the recipe below.

Another of my favorite activities is boating. As a native Cape Codder, the ocean and I are close friends and have been my entire life. I firmly believe that salt water is the cure to any and all ailments. There’s nothing like feeling the wind rush through your hair and watching the ocean part before you. I like all types of boating – fast, whip through the water boating, let’s meander and see where we end up boating, and simply climbing onto the boat to eat lunch or hang out in the sun boating. It’s a sense of freedom and any day that includes it is a good one.

The last summer activity I’ll give you today is a special one – one that I hope you’ll enjoy if you haven’t tried it yet… outdoor movies. Tomorrow night, I’ll be watching Disney Pixar’s “Up” outside in a beach chair with a cooler full of goodies with my husband. Personally, I don’t think there’s any better way to spend a summer night. While the venues to do this are small, they do exist. There is a drive-in theatre in Wellfleet, Massachusetts (on the tip of the Cape!) that offers a double-feature every night from May 23rd through the end of summer and the Boston Harbor Hotel is also offering a “Movies by Moonlight” series for FREE on Friday nights through early September! Check out the websites below for more information – I think these are wonderfully memorable activities that can be affordable and feel like a mini-vacation.

Wellfleet Drive-In Theater Information

Movies by Moonlight at the Boston Harbor Hotel

Below is the pizza recipe I promised. Get outside and enjoy the summer!

Grilled Pesto Pizza (serves 4)

ingredients

• 1 pound prepared pizza dough, preferably whole-wheat
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto
• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (I used mozzarella)
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn (mine were from our veggies garden, yum!)