It's Officially Summer Around Here

Summer has officially hit in California. And... it's HOT!

Well, we've had days of heat at least... for California that is. Nothing compared to my hometown counterpart of Charleston, SC where the temperatures have been record high. Can't say I miss that at all.

But the difference.... the BIG difference - is that almost everyone in Charleston has an air conditioner in their house. Sweet, lovely, beautiful air conditioning. Oh, how I miss it. In Northern California - it's a luxury in most houses. Especially when you live in a house built in the 1940's. It is an extremely cute and charming house, but there is no air conditioning. And when you walk into your house after a long day of work, and the thermostat says 93 degrees, you can choose to sit and complain - or make a ice cold fruit smoothie and sit on the back porch till 11:30... I chose option B! ;) okay.. maybe I sat on the back porch, drank a cold fruit smoothie and complained a little bit (a lot) how hot it was.

In the spirit of summer, I thought this yummy blue cheese potato salad was a perfect recipe for an introduction to summer. It makes a perfect dinner all to itself on those days where it's so hot you're not even hungry. It also makes a lovely side dish for those awesome summer barbecues. You can serve it warm or at room temperature, so it makes it great to take with you to a barbecue where it might sit out for a bit. It would be perfect for a July 4th get together.

The bacon, shallots, and blue cheese meld together for the perfect marry of flavors for this! You'll definitely want to give this a try!

Blue Cheese Potato Salad (Adapted From: Simply Classic - Junior League of Seattle)

Ingredients:

Salad

4 pounds small, red new potatoes, unpeeled

1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup heavy cream

12 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

3 tablespoons chives or green onions, minced

Dressing

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

salt and freshly ground pepper

2/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup shallots, minced

2 tablespoons parsley, minced

Preparation

For dressing, mix vinegars, mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil, then add shallots and parsley.

Steam or boil potatoes until just tender. Cool slightly and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place in large bowl. Gently mix in 1/2 cup of the vinegar dressing mix into the potatoes.

Place potato mixture on a serving platter. Whisk blue cheese and cream into remaining dressing.

Spoon over potatoes. Top with crumbled bacon and chives. Serve warm or at room temperature.