Summer in Pictures (The best news? It's not over yet!)

Summer rolls made exclusively with veggies from the garden and rice products from Chinatown.

We lit meringue on fire in Matt and Jess' garden, among doing other delicous things....

A large and gorgeous crowd came out for a stunning evening on the roof of Adelaide House.

It was all part of the scheme, "Best Summer Ever". It wasn't just the moonshine that put the rosy glow in people cheeks and the stars in their eyes....

It was a collective effort: Adelaide House made home-distilled moonshine with rhubarb-gooseberry juice, Erika made scrumptuous pickles, Alec made mulberry wine ("Lomax Nouveau"), from the mulberry tree that also presided over the dinner, and Kate brought the rest of the grub.

We watched the sunset, and after dinner "A Bout de Souffle" on the big screen.

Dinner for one: The beauty of a small harvest, baby red onions and beets

Garden-infused cocktails have been a big hit: Here is Lila Dobbs with her blood-orange basil infused vodka cosmo.

Summer started right with a face-off: Brandon Hinman of the traveling supper series Wink visits Kate Strassman's KRAK table. Together they decide to buy eachother five ingredients plus one wild card. B bought K lambs quarters-- it's a weed, not an animal part--, ouray raw cow's cheese, shitake mushrooms, juniper-berry kraut, kohlrabi, wild card: garlic scapes. K bout B Georgia sweet corn, maitake mushrooms, watercress, golden beets, thai young coconuts, wild card: fresh curry leaves. They each made three small plates, enjoyed tapas style. Long story short, it was an epic night to remember that ended in the wee hours of the morning at Maximillian Bell's on Nostrand drinking chardonnay on ice with a cocktail straw and rocking out to early Whitney Houston. For real. Brandon was thrown for a loop with ingredients like young coconut meat and curry leaves but came out triumphant and strong, and Kate learned a lesson or two on elegance and simplicity.... Here are some favorites from the menu:

Juniper berry kraut with tempeh bacon-avocado tea sandwiches

Mitake mushrooms and cold chickpea miso 

Marinated golden beets layered w/ ginger, curry leaf, beet puree, and young coconut sauce

Kohlrabi salad w/ sauteed shitakes, omlette slivers, thai-basil-chili-garlic sauce, and cashews.