I ate out a lot again this weekend—and had some great food that I’ll likely feature another week—but the best meals were the ones on my own deck, thanks to the gorgeous weather boldly flaunting itself before our “official” start of summer in July. I bought a bunch of white peaches (my favorite—so floral compared to a yellow peach) at the huge and inexpensive MacPherson’s Fruit & Produce in Beacon Hill. That night I pitted and halved them before placing them on the grill for about 10 minutes (until they were slightly charred). I had fresh mint from my garden chopped and ready to go, as well as freshly whipped cream (sweetened slightly). Each peach half got a small scoop of cream and a smattering of mint. Then I drizzled a mint vinegar shrub over it all, bought the weekend before at Folklife. It’s produced by Sage & Sea Farms in Portland, and consists of white vinegar, mint, and cane sugar. That tangy, minty splash worked beautifully with the fruit and the cream—providing a little pucker and another dimension to the dish. While shrubs are prolific on cocktail menus around the city (at Joule and Tilth, among others), adding them to certain desserts is a worthy use as well. They’re bright, acidic, and packed with the flavors of the fruit or herb they’re made of. My next experiment is to try this one as a salad dressing.

nsprinkle@seattleweekly.com