Note: Before calling attention to the Prunus genus of delectable summer fruits, there’s a botany lesson. We love brief glimpses of botany in food writing!

In botany, a drupe—the botanical name for stone fruit—is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin; and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a shell (called the pit, stone, or pyrene) of a hardened endocarp with a seed (kernel) inside.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so check out the third photo.

There are two main classes of fleshy fruits: drupes and berries.

 
Yet, you can’t assume too much. Avocado is a berry: It does not have a stony endocarp (the pit or stone) covering the seed—as those who have tried growing a plant from the seed are well aware.

Drupes are members of the Rosaceae family, also called the rose family. The family includes both ornamental shrubs and trees and those with edible fruits.

Drupes are members of the genus Prunus. Strawberries are cousins from another genus; apples, pears, and quince from another; and loquats from yet another.
 
 
DRUPES YOU’VE EATEN

Drupes are popular fruits in the U.S. and Europe. The family includes:

 
Let’s move on, leaving drupes behind in favor of stone fruits, the genus’ common name.
 
 
DIG IN NOW!

Stone fruits are summer treats. You’ve got another month to enjoy them fresh off the tree.

Beyond eating them as hand fruit, use them to make:

 
Or:

 
In earlier times, fruits like these were “put away” in cans and jars and made into jams to enjoy until the next year’s crops came in.

Now, when you see peaches and other stone fruits in the colder months, they most likely come from Chile or elsewhere below the equator, where the seasons are reversed.
 
 
STONE FRUIT RECIPES

You can fine droves of stone fruit recipes all over the web. Some specialty sites include:

 
 
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*These tree nuts are the seeds of the fruits of the tree: With these species of drupes, we eat the seed inside the pit instead of the fruit surrounding it. They are not true nuts.

†The cherries from the coffee tree enclosed the seeds, which are roasted to become coffee beans.

[2] A bowl of plums.

[3] The anatomy of the peach and other drupes (illustration © W.P. Armstrong).

[4] A close-up on the anatomy of a peach, perhaps the most popular drupe (illustration © Lady Of Hats | Wikipedia`).

[5] Almonds (and pistachios) are stone fruits, not true nuts (photo © Niederegger Marzipan | Facebook).

[6] Surprise drupes: (photo © Baldor Specialty Foods).

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Combine chocolate liqueur, marshmallow vodka and graham cracker crumbs into a special cocktail for National S’mores Day, August 10th.

Numerous recipes abound, but we had fun with this one, adapted from ACocktailLife.com.

You can also use chocolate vodka and marshmallow syrup, or a cream liqueur in any combination.

You can use a simple rim of graham crackers and a single marshmallow garnish, or go over the top.

Serve in a Martini glass or other stemmed glass (you can use a wine glass).
RECIPE: S’MORES COCKTAIL

Ingredients Per Drink

 
For The Rim

 
Substitutions

 
 
Preparation

[1] What’s a S’mores celebration without a S’mores cocktail? Photo and recipe courtesy ACocktailLife.com). [2] More subtle, this variation uses white chocolate liqueur (from Carrabba’s Italian Grill | Facebook).

2. COMBINE the marshmallow vodka, chocolate liqueur, creme de cacao and fresh cream to a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, shake well and pour into the prepared glass.

3. TOAST the marshmallow garnish. Place the marshmallows at the end or in the center of a skewer. Use at the end to set the skewer into the drink, use the center to lie the skewer across the rim. Hold the skewer over an open flame to lightly toast (if your skewers are bamboo, soak them first). Add the skewer to the drink and serve.
  

[1] This sophisticated S’mores truffles recipe from My Baking Addiction uses Smirnoff’s marshmallow-flavored vodka. [2] A down-home version from QVC’s David Venable. The recipe is  .

A couple of weeks ago, we suggested a gourmet S’mores party with a buffet of everything S’mores, including fondue, fudge, grilled banana S’mores and ice cream—along with numerous other adaptation of the popular campfire cookie sandwich.

If you don’t want the whole spread, just invite people over for easy-to-make S’mores Truffles with a glass of sparkling wine (our wine suggestions are below).

RECIPE: S’MORES TRUFFLES

This recipe from chef David Venable of QVC is very easy to make. You can delegate the task to kids who like to cook.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. POUR the condensed milk, instant coffee and vanilla into a 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. ADD the chocolate chips and continue to stir until the chips are completely melted and the mixture is lukewarm, about 3–4 more minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat, add 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs, and stir until fully incorporated.

3. POUR the mixture into a small shallow dish (8″ x 8″ baking pan or a 9″ round cake pan). Cover the dish with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until the mixture has cooled completely, about 2–3 hours.

4. PLACE the remaining 1/3 cup of graham crumbs into another shallow dish. To form the truffles, scoop 1 tablespoon of the chocolate mixture and make a well in the center. Place the marshmallow in the well, pinch the tops closed (to enclose the marshmallow), and roll the chocolate in your hands until a uniform ball forms.

5. ROLL the ball into the graham cracker crumbs until completely coated. Repeat the same process to form each truffle.
 

SWEET WINES TO PAIR WITH CHOCOLATE & DESSERTS

Some sparkling wines are made in a sweet style, just to go with dessert. In the sparkling category, the terms dry, sec and demi-sec (dry and semi-dry in French) are used for these wines.

Why dry? It’s an anomaly that began in the Champagne region of France. Here’s an interesting comparison of the different sweetnesses of Champagne.

Sweet Sparkling Wines

 
We also like two sweet sparklers from the U.S,:

 
Sweet Still Wines

Take advantage of the celebration to try one or more of these:

 
Liqueurs also work.

And how about that Fluffed Marshmallow Vodka from Smirnoff?

[1] Certain red wines—still or sparkling—are perfect pairings for chocolate (photo courtesy Taza Chocolate). [2] Prefer bubbly? Make sure it’s a sweet style (photo courtesy Delysia Chocolate).

S’MORES HISTORY

Since the Girl Scouts popularized S’mores long ago (the first published recipe is in their 1927 handbook), it has been a happy tradition around the campfire. A stick, two toasted marshmallows, a square of chocolate and two graham crackers get you a delicious chocolate marshmallow sandwich.

The heat of the toasted marshmallow melts the chocolate a bit, and the melted quality is oh-so-much-tastier than the individual ingredients (per Aristotle, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts). The name of the sweet sandwich snack comes from its addictive quality: you have no choice but to ask for “some more.”

But you don’t need a campfire, or even all of the classic ingredients, to celebrate with s’mores, as the recipe above and our other S’mores recipes show.

[1] One of our favorite treats. No need to turn on the oven: We’ll have it raw (photo courtesy Geraldine | Wikipedia).

[2] For dessert or snacking: a few spoons of raw cookie dough (photo © Edoughble).

[3] Buy pasteurized eggs, or pasteurize your own at home—instructions are below (photos #4, #5, and #6 © Davidson’s Safe Eggs).

[4] A carton of pasteurized Davidson’s Safe Eggs.

Eating raw cookie dough is no doubt as old as baking cookies. It’s different than, but equally as delicious, as the baked cookies.

We know: Every time we make a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, we end up with just 2/3 of the yield, and the rest of the raw dough nibbled away during prep.

Sometimes we mix up a batch just for the dough. You can wrap individual portions of dough and freeze them for future snacking.

In fact, make a few different flavors at your leisure, shape them into individual balls, and freeze them, and you’ll have an “instant” chocolate cookie dough dessert. You can wrap individual balls, or place them in ice cube trays.

Edoughble, a company that sells raw, ready-to-eat cookie dough (second photo), makes a selection of flavors: birthday cake, chocolate chip, chocolate peanut butter, cookies and cream, oatmeal chip, peanut butter banana chip, red velvet, s’mores, snickerdoodle, and seasonal flavors (it’s orange creamsicle this summer).

You can serve it on spoons, as in the photo; in a sundae dish with fresh fruit; with a side of graham crackers; or as a mini banana split.

Make your own cookie dough ice cream. Just roll small balls of cookie dough and blend them into a softened pint of vanilla ice cream.

It doesn’t have to be chocolate chip cookie dough. Oatmeal cookie or sugar cookie dough works just fine.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM

Chocolate chip cookie dough was created by accident by Ruth Wakefield, an inn owner on Cape Cod, in 1937. It took almost 50 years for it to become a favorite ingredient in ice cream.
 
The first record of cookie dough ice cream credits Fabulous Phil’s Gourmet Ice Cream in Lanesborough, Massachusetts, a small local business that existed from 1982 to 1983. The flavor was invented by owner Philip S. Kampe, using homemade cookie dough, in 1984.

Phil’s flavor was followed by one from the far-better-known Ben & Jerry’s in Burlington, Vermont, which got the idea from a customer suggestion (perhaps a customer of Fabulous Phil’s?). B&J bought cookie dough from a distributor, working with the company to make dough with the right consistency for a mix-in (known in the trade as an inclusion).

After the deadliest* Salmonella outbreak in history in 1985 traced to a dairy in the Midwest, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly discouraged consumption of it in everything from Caesar Salad to Steak Tartare and other popular recipes†. Many companies reformulated recipes to eliminate raw eggs or use pasteurized raw eggs, in which the bacteria have been eliminated.
 
 
GOOD NEWS: YOU CAN PASTEURIZE RAW EGGS AT HOME

First, a disclaimer: If you have a health condition or general concern*, consult with your physician before eating anything raw.

The easy way to make safer cookie dough is to buy commercially pasteurized eggs.

Look for Davidson’s Safe Eggs, pasteurized raw eggs. You can tell they’re pasteurized from the red “P” stamped onto each egg. If your grocer does not carry them, ask the manager to bring them in. Learn more at SafeEggs.com.

Pasteurized eggs undergo an all-natural pasteurization process that kills harmful bacteria without altering the consistency or texture of the eggs.

They look and act just like raw eggs while eliminating the risk of salmonella. Unlike processed liquid eggs, they deliver the fresh flavor delivered by raw eggs.

So you can enjoy the brownie batter, cookie dough, and other raw egg foods† with the gusto they deserve.
 

Home pasteurization doesn’t provide the 100% guarantee that commercially pasteurized eggs do, but it will significantly reduce any risk. (Also note that, as with many products, other ingredients can be contaminated including flour and nuts.)

Preparation

1. HEAT a pot of water over medium heat to 145°F. Monitor the temperature with a probe thermometer.

2. PLACE fresh, room-temperature eggs in the pot; the water must completely cover the eggs. Lower the heat and maintain the 145°F temperature. Do not let the temperature reach 160°F or you’ll start to cook the eggs.

3. REMOVE the eggs after 3-1/2 minutes, or 5 minutes for extra-large and jumbo eggs. Then use or refrigerate. They’ll stay even fresher because the bacteria have been killed off.
 
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*Salmonella generates more illnesses than fatalities but can be fatal for risk groups, such as young children, the elderly and infirm. Here’s more from Web M.D.

†Brownie/bar and cake batter, Caesar salad, cookie dough, cold/frozen soufflés, chiffons, French custard ice cream, eggnog, egg smoothies, egg white cocktails, homemade mayonnaise, mousse, steak tartare and others.
 
 

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August 8th is National Zucchini Day. Last year, we featured the Spiralizer, a gadget that started the zucchini noodle craze by making it easy to make long pasta-like strands from firm vegetables, along with a recipe for Zucchini Pasta With Crab.

The concept took off in the media and in kitchens across the country. Who wouldn’t like a better-for-you pasta experience? At 20 calories per cup of zucchini and 40 calories for a half cup of tomato sauce, one could have a big plate of “pasta” of better-for-you complex carbs for 100 calories—including the grated Parmesan.

Some people, though, still longed for the toothsome texture and flavor of Italian pasta. So today’s tip is:

Mix the two noodles together: half standard pasta noodles (wheat) and half zucchini noodles.

The concept is very versatile: the combination of starch and vegetable lends itself to many more sauces than standard pasta sauces.
 
SAUCES

You can use any pasta sauce, or turn to global cuisines for another approach.

Asian sauces work particularly well here, but there are plenty of other options including:

 
PASTA TOPPINGS

 
RECIPE: MIXED NOODLE PAD THAI

Match the zucchini size to the pasta size you buy, e.g., linguine (thin) or pappardelle (wide).

Also check out our recipe for mixed zucchini and pasta noodles with crab.
 
Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
 
Preparation

[1] Zucchini and fettuccine noodles with shaved Parmesan cheese (photo courtesy Elegant Affairs Caterers. [2] Zucchini and linguine noodles in olive oil-garlic sauce (photo courtesy Good Eggs). [3] Zucchini noodles with Bolognese sauce (here’s the recipe from SheKnows.com). [4] Chicken Pad Thai with zucchini noodles (here’s the recipe from ImBored-LetsGo.com).

2. ADD the zucchini noodles to the water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and test after 5 minutes. Do not overcook. When ready, drain, reserving a bit of the pasta water and add to the wheat noodles. Stir to combine.

3. HEAT the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, until tender.

3. WHISK the eggs lightly with a fork or mini-whisk; add them to the skillet and lightly scramble. Cook the eggs until they just solidify but are still moist. Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside on a trivet or other counter protector.

4. MAKE the sauce: In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and red pepper flakes. Add the sauce into the scrambled eggs in the skillet. Pour/scrape into the noodle bowl and toss to coat. At this point, if you want to serve the dish hot or warm, microwave briefly before adding the garnishes.

5. ADD the green onions, cilantro, and peanuts over the noodles. Toss lightly to combine and serve.

ZUCCHINI HISTORY

Zucchini, Cucurbita pepo, is a member of the cucumber and melon family, Cucurbitaceae. It originated in Central and South America, where it has been consumed for thousands of years. It grew in different shapes, including round balls that can still be grown from heirloom seeds. But the variety most of us are familiar with was developed at the end of the 19th century near Milan, Italy.

The word squash comes from Narraganset language of the Native Americans of Rhode Island, who used askutasquash, “a green thing eaten raw. The Pilgrims had difficulty pronouncing the whole word, and shortened it to squash. Either way, it was an extremely valuable source of food for both peoples, and one that we also heavily rely on as a source of nutrition for a large part of the season.

The word zucchini comes from the Italian zucchino, meaning a small squash (zucca is the word for pumpkin). In the wonderful world of food fusion, the word squash comes from the Indian skutasquash meaning “green thing eaten green.” Christopher Columbus originally brought seeds to the Mediterranean region and Africa.

While a botanical fruit*, zucchini is treated as a vegetable. With the exception of zucchini bread and zucchini muffins, both made with sugar, it is typically cooked as a savory dish or accompaniment. has its ancestry in the Americas. However, the varieties of squash typically called “zucchini” were developed in Italy, many generations after their introduction from the Americas.
 
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* Zucchini is a fruit, as are all squash, cucumbers and other members of the Cucurbitaceae family. It is the swollen ovary of the zucchini flower; zucchini blossoms are also eaten, stuffed and sautéed.