Taste of Summer

I don't know about you, but I crave certain foods in the summer. Yes, I eat more salad and fruit and grilled food in the warmer months, but I'm talking about those things that, when you bite into them, make you think "This is what summer tastes like!"

My grandpa Martin's homemade ice cream is one of those things. I only make it about once a year - not because it's difficult, but because my ice cream maker is small and I have to do it two batches. But it's so very worth it. It's worth the calories and the raw eggs in it.  It's worth waiting two days for because I have to refreeze the churning container between batches. It's pretty much perfect in my book.

Another one of those things is watermelon. I adore watermelon and will eat a ton of it in the summer. Good thing too, since Duane can kind of take it or leave it and the kids freak out if there is even one little while seed in their watermelon chunks. That's okay, more for me!

I also love a meal of a BLT with a fresh tomato, and corn on the cob to go with it. Again, this is one of those meals that Duane could take or leave, but I force it on him once to twice every summer.

You  have to have summer camp out/grilling food. I can pass on hot dogs most of the time, but cook one on the grill or on a stick over a campfire and I will devour it - and probably have seconds! S'mores too. Just the thought of a real s'more (not prepackaged or made in the microwave) sends me swooning.  I will eat myself sick on s'mores.

The final thing is something I have introduced the boys to this summer - toffee ice cream bars. I remember when we would go swimming as a kid and they would sometimes sell toffee ice cream bars during break. They were my most favorite thing to buy there. Maybe it was the sun or the chlorine scent in the air, but they always tasted extra good.

So tell me, what tastes like summer to you?