[1] Removing pin bones with a kitchen tweezer (photo © Chef’s Pencil).

[2] When filleting fish, some professionals use a device like the Jarvis Pin Bone Remover. However, it can still leave a few bones (photo © Jarvis Products).

Pin bones are those tiny bones that end up in some fish fillets, and provide a not-too-pleasant surprise when one is trying to chew a tender mouthful of salmon.

Like mammals, fish have a flexible backbone (spine): a series of interlocked disks (vertebrae).

When a fish is cut into fillets, the backbone is removed, as are any larger bones running along the vertebrae.

The fillet is then considered to be “boneless.”

However, some fish have smaller intramuscular bones that can go unnoticed.

Fish in the salmon family have what are called pin bones.

They are actually calcified nerve endings that extend along the lateral line of the salmon.

Pin bones are impossible to remove through filleting, says Sitka Salmon Shares, from whom we get a monthly delivery of filleted Alaskan fish.

They tell us that large Alaskan processors remove them with a pin-bone machine (photo #2). However, to sell the freshest fish, Sitka Salmon Shares doesn’t do so*.

In order to use the tool, the salmon have to “rest” for a few days to soften the flesh.

However, this means the fish is not sold at its freshest; so the finest salmon (and some other varieties) may have a few bones.

They’re easy enough to remove with a kitchen tweezers*.

Soft enough to eat, pin bones are actually considered a delicacy in Japan, according Leite’s Culinaria.

But we wager that most people prefer to remove them. So follow these instructions:

*While some chefs use specially-designed tweezers, you can use any pointed-end tweezers that are dedicated to kitchen use.

This bit of food fun comes to us from Stemilt, one of the largest apple growers and packers in America.

It’s headquartered in Wenatchee, Washington, the “Apple Capital of the World.”

The family-owned and operated company has been farming apples for more than 100 years.

Check out the 20 different types of apples they sell, and how to best use each variety.

For this recipe, Stemilt chose their Jonagold apple (photo #2), a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Jonathan, with honey notes.

The apple pie ice cream is made by mixing cooked apples and pie crust bits into store-bought vanilla ice cream.

We took the recipe and ran with it, in a slightly different direction.

 
 
RECIPE: APPLE PIE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Ingredients For The Ice Cream

[1] Mini apple pie ice cream sandwiches (photo © Stemilt Growers).

[2] A Jonagold apple (photo © Apples From New York).

[3] Stir the cooked apples into your favorite vanilla ice cream (photo © Breyers).

1. PEEL, core and dice the apples into approximate ¾” to ½” pieces. You should have approximately 2 cups diced. Add the lemon juice and toss to coat.

2. MELT the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Add the brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and optional raisins, and stir until melted. Add the apples and continue to sauté, stirring intermittently, until the apples have softened a bit, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

3. PLACE the ice cream in a large bowl and let it soften enough to mix in the apples. Fold in the cooled apples gently, to thoroughly combine.

4. TRANSFER the ice cream mixture to a freezer-safe container with a lid (or the original carton), and return to freezer to firm (1 to 2 hours). If you would like your sandwiches to have frozen cookies as well (as opposed to room temperature cookies), remove the ice cream after 30 minutes, assemble the sandwiches and freeze them individually (you can put each in a sandwich bag). Otherwise…

5. ASSEMBLE: We served them DIY, setting the ice cream and cookies on the table and passing them around. Some people put ice cream between two cookies, others enjoyed them open-face.
 
 
> The History Of Ice Cream

> The History Of Ice Cream Sandwiches

> The Different Types Of Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts

[1] Watermelon sticks are easier to eat than wedges (photo © The Girl Who Ate Everything).

[2] Viva Signature Cloth Paper Towels are the best-absorbing paper towels (photo © Viva Paper Towels).

Watermelon slices are typically served in large triangle that require two hands—or a knife and fork.

Such a juicy fruit may be delicious, but it’s messy. We use Viva Signature Cloth Paper Towels to hold with the wedge, instead of a napkin.

But we discovered this trick from The Girl Who Ate Everything: Cut sticks instead of wedges.

The smaller sticks, 1-inch square, can be held with one hand, and the smaller size diminishes the amount of juice rolling down.

Just eat several sticks instead of one wedge!

Click the link above to see how The Girl does it, or watch this video from The Watermelon Board.
 
 
VIVA SIGNATURE CLOTH PAPER TOWELS

For years we’d been brand-loyal to Bounty Paper Towels as the best-absorbing.

But move over, bounty: Viva Signature Cloth Paper Towels are absolutely the best-absorbing (thanks to reader Laurel for introducing us to them).

Viva makes three types of paper towels. Make sure to buy the Signature Cloth.
 
 
> Watermelon History

> Watermelon Tips

> Watermelon Recipes: Desserts, Drinks, Salads & More

[1] Just add tea leaves to sparkling water. It couldn’t be easier (photo © In Pursuit Of Tea).

[2] A wonderful book for a tea lover. Find it on Amazon.

Our last recipe was for summer cocktails, but if you prefer a mocktail, try this sparkling tea recipe.

The cold-brew tea recipe came to us from the artisan tea purveyors at In Pursuit Of Tea.

They got the idea from Timothy d’Offay of Postcard Teas, London’s finest tea store and a must-visit for tea lovers.

Tim published the recipe in his book, Easy Leaf Tea: Tea House Recipes to Make at Home (photo #2).

If you like this sparkling tea, get the book to check out Tim’s other drink recipes.

In Pursuit Of Tea says, “With good tea and good bubbles, you get a surprisingly complex, almost beer- or champagne-like drink.

“It tastes refreshing and sophisticated, like something you’d pay [a lot] for at a nice restaurant—except you made it at home for the price of a Pellegrino (or a Gerolsteiner, if you want to get crazy).

“Choose a bright, aromatic tea. [We used] a spring Darjeeling 1st Flush harvest from the Jungpana Estate, one of our favorites, though a snappy green or silky white [tea] would also be delightful.”

Bonus: zero calories!
 
 
RECIPE: SPARKLING ICED TEA MOCKTAIL

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. OPEN the bottle of mineral water, pour out a bit (or drink it from the bottle) to free up some space for blending in the tea.

2. USE a funnel to add the tea leaves to the bottle. Reseal tightly and gently turn upside down oncey, to mix.

3. CHILL in the fridge for 4 hours. Strain and serve in wine glasses.
 
 
> Tea Glossary: Tea Terminology & The Different Types Of Tea

> The History Of Tea

We use weekends to try new cocktail recipes.

Restaurateur and chef Art Smith made these summery cocktails on a recent episode of his show, “Healthy Comfort,” an IGTV Show.

We give them both a thumbs-up.

Should you happen to have blueberry vodka or cucumber vodka, certainly substitute them for the plain vodka in the recipes.en
 
 
COCKTAIL #1: CHEF ART SMITH’S BLUEBERRY LIME SMASH

Ingredients For One Extra-Large Drink

 
Preparation

1. FILL an Old Fashioned glass with cracked ice, to chill. Purée the blueberries in a blender or food processor.

2. MUDDLE in a mixing glass the simple syrup and four of the quartered lime wedges. Press to extract the juice without forcing the rind from the lime.

3. TRANSFER the ice from the Old Fashioned glass into the mixing glass, add the vodka and shake. Pour the entire drink with the ice into the chilled glass and garnish with 4 lime quarters

 
 
COCKTAIL #2: CHEF ART SMITH’S CUCUMBER-MINT FRUIT COOLER

Ingredients For 1 Pitcher
 
For The Cucumber Juice

 
Garnishes

Use extra amounts of the previous ingredients as garnishes. You can make a pick with grapes and kiwi, for example. Chef Smith squeezes some additional lime juice onto the drink.

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the cucumbers, grapes, kiwi, mint, lime juice and water in a blender. Blend until puréed (super-smooth).

2. PLACE a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl or pitcher. Pour the purée through the strainer into the bowl/pitcher. Press on the pulp to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the pulp.

3. FILL a pitcher with ice and pour in the cucumber juice. Mix in the cup of chilled vodka.

4. GARNISH the glasses (Old Fashioned) as desired and serve.

[1] Chef Art Smith’s summer cocktails: Blueberry Lime Smash and Cucumber Mint Cooler (photo © Chef Art Smith).

[2] Frozen blueberries (photo © Our Harvest).

[3] Seedless cucumbers. See the footnote below for the types (photo © Markus Winkler | Unsplash).

[4] Fresh spearmint (photo © Good Eggs).

*Seedless cucumbers have tender flesh, with a thin, edible peel and tiny or no seeds. Some stores sell them as a burpless cucumber, European cucumber, hothouse cucumber or seedless cucumber.