It is easy to be a great chef when you use the best in seasonal ingredients available. Here is the second chapter in Diva's guide to the Four Seasons Tuscan Style--Estate! Quattro Stagione alla Toscana! For me, summer is red! Tomatoes, watermelon, and bell peppers! Eggplants, my favorite, also appear as well as fresh white beans. Fruit trees laden with ripe fruit throw me into a frenzy in the kitchen. I'm making jams with the gifts from my neighbors--fabulous golden plums, called Claudia's, now fresh plums (prugne), which when they dry are prunes. Driving through the countryside, the gardens are full with several kinds of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and beans. The rosemary and sage plants reach incredible size and I begin to stock up on my Erbe Toscane for Christamas gifts. Lazy summer afternoons, when the heat goes away, are perfect for preserving some of the bounty of the gardens for winter. Summer meals are quick; the less time spent over the hot stove the better! Wonderful summer salads like panzanella, tonno e fagioli, and the sooo Italian caprese, which is at its peak with the vine ripened tomatoes still warm from the plant with fresh buffalo mozzerella, and basil freshly picked. Andrea, my husband, prefers his mozzerella pure--tomatoes dressed with olive oil, salt, and our own homemade red wine vinegar. Our vinegar packs a punch and is so refreshing in the summer. Coming from California, September is still one of my favorite months, where the heat of the day cools off in the evening so I can cook and try to preserve summer. This year I also brought a bit of America into my home, and made bread and butter pickles and pickeled red onions. If I get a chance, I will also make some stuffed chili peppers which are served here in wine bars and some chili sauce, like Stephano makes at Nerbone. Try some of these recipes while summer's bounty is still available! Click on the name for some ideas for preparation! > Tomatoes > Bell peppers > Eggplant > Watermelon > Fruit Buon appetito! NEWSLETTERS Estate Primavera Tuscan Chocolate Valley I Scream, U Scream, We All Scream for...Gelato! Slow Food, Slow Travel Sagre, Sagre, Sagre! Tuscan Virgins Fall Festivals La Notte di San Lorenzo Fireflies & Fireworks I Love EWE! Andrea's Christmas Dinner Addio Bistecca alla Fiorentina! Guelfa e Ghibellini Tartufi, Feste & Sagre Piatti del Buon Ricordo COMING SOON! Carrara: Marble & White Prosciutto