You know that many members of Team Hammock are becoming locavores this season. We’re shopping local farmers’ markets, enjoying a bounty of produce delivered right to our front doors through CSAs, and growing a plethora of veggies and herbs in our own backyards.

During a recent visit to the Sunset Valley Farmer’s Market in Austin, Texas, I picked up some of the first summertime Texas peaches of the season. Juicy and sweet, they were just begging to be eaten in any form or fashion. I grilled a few, ate a few straight out of my hand, and turned a few into a yummy peach and blueberry crisp.

Fresh Peach and Blueberry Crisp
3 cups fresh peaches
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 tsp. almond extract*
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1 stick butter

*I didn’t haven’t almond extract on-hand, so I just used vanilla extract instead.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Peel and cube peaches.

In a large bowl, combine peaches, blueberries, extract, lemon juice, sugar and 2 Tbsp. flour. Pour into a deep-dish pie plate or 8×8″ baking dish.

In a separate bowl, blend 1 cup flour, brown sugar, almonds and butter; mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over berry mixture and bake for 30 minutes.

I’d suggest letting it cool about 10 minutes before enjoying.

And if you happen to have some fresh radishes on hand, be sure to try this sweet radish recipe.

‘Tis the season for peas, so lately my weekly CSA shipment has been jam-packed with snap peas in addition to broccoli, cauliflower, peaches, lettuce and basil. Tired of snacking on raw snap peas before dinner, last night I started hunting around for a new recipe that would help me make good use of the peas. This is what I found:

Sugar Snap Peas with Walnuts and Basil

4 cups water for boiling
4 cups ice water
1 pound snap peas
2 TBL butter
5 or 6 basil leaves
3 or 4 TBL chopped walnuts

Boil water in a medium-sized sauce pan. Prepare the snap peas by washing them thoroughly and removing the strings. Drop peas into boiling water for one minute. Remove and drain quickly, then plunge into ice water for 2 minutes.

Heat butter in a large skillet and add walnuts. Toast walnuts until fragrant, then add peas. When peas are heated thoroughly, add basil and let simmer for 1 or 2 more minutes.

I used this recipe to make a side dish that paired nicely with grilled fish and fresh fruit. Best of all, the peas reheat well, so you can eat them with your lunch the next day!

Hammock folks are voracious readers at all times, but, like most everyone, we have summer reading plans that include books we haven’t gotten to yet, as well as some old pals we want to hang with on a sultry afternoon or two.
So we polled our colleagues about what’s on their summer reading list, as well as their favorite time or place for reading and preferred medium — traditional paper, audiobooks or e-readers like Kindle. As you might expect, the responses were varied and sometimes surprising — and worth reading: