ice cream, a penny a lump.

a point-and-shoot tries its darndest to catch the yumminess in dinner.

summertime means fresh ingredients and memories of family vacation. there's nothing better than pan fried fish, caught off the dock that afternoon (for this, Wisconsin always has my heart). after a soak in a marinade of milk, Tabasco, and mustard, small (largemouth) bass fillets become a great base for dill breading. homemade tartar sauce, with lots of lemon and dill, keep a greasy dish light. easy diced cucumber/snap pea/celery salad is fresh and pallet-cleansing.

lower left: our third cherry tomato of the season!

dessert always gets me scrounging in the kitchen. luckily, ice cream is always a staple in our house, and in the right seasons, so is fresh fruit. living in a bigger city means less roadside farm stands and more grocery store bargains. but, we can find good Hawaiian pineapple and berries from an Indianan farm. hmm, Hoosier berries...i can't be too picky when they're so sweet!

tonight was a spicy, light entree, so i figured dessert should be the same. a little vanilla ice cream, fresh pineapple, and SAUCE. masala spiced pomegranate sauce, to be exact. cinnamon and cardamom bring a little heat underneath the tangy-sweet of the pineapple...and ice cream, the great rounder-outer.

Tartar sauce: just approximations/i'm a throw-it-in-the-pot type of cook
1/4 C mayo
1 tblsp. dijon mustard
2 tblsp. relish 
1/2 tsp. sage
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. dried dill (add more if fresh)
4 dashes hot sauce
2 dashes worcestor's
5 dashes lemon juice
salt + pepper

Pomegranate Sauce
~1/2 C pomegranate juice (I used Minute Maid's pomegranate blueberry)
2 tblsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. tea masala
1-2 cardamom seeds, cracked
reduce for 15 mins and remove from heat
combine 1 tsp. water and 1 tsp. corn starch
whisk slowly into juice and add to heat; bring to a bubble and turn heat off; will thicken as it sits
serve hot!

thanks to my mother for her plethora of potted-plant-garnishes!