Squash blossom summer

One the best things about summer is finding breakfast in the back yard. The sun shining on our little garden plot in the morning is a joyous sight to behold. Andreas is an early riser even when on vacation, so he’s the one to get the drip coffee going and JPR on the radio. By the time I wander downstairs I’m often greeted with the smell of Trade Joe’s organic fair trade breakfast blend and one of Andreas’s special garden frittatas. The method is simple: gather peppers, squash blossoms, and basil from the garden, saute the pepper with chopped onions, add some roughly chopped basil and squash blossoms and also some crumbled cheese(feta or goat); whisk some eggs and pour them over the vegetables; bake until puffed and set. If there are some mushrooms in the refrigerator, slice and saute those with the vegetables, or chop some garden tomatoes, or put in some leftover sauteed zucchini. Whatever you do, it will be good.

Some days Andreas can’t wait for me to drag my lazy self downstairs and he’s already had his oatmeal or omelet before I show my face. If I’m lucky, though, he’s picked a few big beautiful squash blossoms and a handful of ripe raspberries and strawberries and left them on the counter to brighten my morning. I like the blossoms prepared very simply: beat an egg in one dish, and in another dish mix a handful of flour with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Dip the blossoms in the egg and then dredge them in the flour. Fry them in butter. That plus a little dish of strawberries and raspberries, or some just-picked cherry tomatoes will brighten your morning as if you’ve swallowed the sun.