Stop! And Smell The Basil

I adore this time of year. It’s like the entire world is one giant scratch-n-sniff game. The aromas, the colors, the flavors of mid-summer are enough to make one pretend to be Bacchus and just go hog wild on every level.

And it goes by so quickly! We have so little of summer and so much of the rest of the time of year; I always remind myself that I need to stop complaining about the humidity and just bask in it all.

Last week when I was the farmers market in Quiambaug, off Route 1, there was Davis farm sweet corn, giant bunches of fresh basil and parsley, gorgeous tomatoes, luscious raspberries. Talk about food porn. I nearly fainted.

I bought as much as I could carry. The basil was so aromatic that two days later you could still smell it in the car. I quickly stopped at the Big Y on the way home and bought pine nuts and fresh garlic, and whipped up a huge batch of pesto the minute I got into the house. Three days’ worth of pesto, it turned out, since the 13-year-old and I are the only ones who eat it (the men in this house are idiots).

(One idea – pesto and scrambled eggs with feta cheese is really, really good.)

And the blueberries! We were up in the Berkshires last weekend for my mother’s birthday, and the parents’ blueberry orchard was in high gear. We sent the kids in on their hands and knees to strip the lower branches – berries the size of nickels! That pop when you bite down on a blueberry, and the immediate gush of warm blueberry juice down the back of your throat – I’m sorry, is it getting hot in here?

The corn, the tomatoes, the local peaches – it is all so good (and good for you).

And let’s not forget the flowers. The hydrangeas are exploding, the Oriental lilies and the day lilies are in full bloom, I love driving or walking around and admiring everyone’s fabulous perennials. The pansies in the pots on the back deck have all expired from the heat, but they have been replaced by impatiens for now and at the end of August the mums will take their place. The geraniums on the front steps love this weather and have never looked better.

Life goes fast. Summer goes faster. So today, just for minute, stop. Inhale it. Taste it. Savor it.

We love you. Now show us some love! Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.