This is going to be short and sweet because I'm about to head out to hunt for morels with my mushroom club. I sound like I should have grey hair and wear those polyester khakis from Patagonia. Oh wait! I do have grey hair and I am wearing those Patagonia pants. Whatever, if I come home with freshly picked morels, who's going to notice anything else? In the meantime, let me distract you with this easy and indispensable recipe for grilled pineapple salsa. It's perfect to slather on everything this summer—a season which officially starts prematurely on Memorial Day weekend! The pineapple is actually charred in a hot skillet, but you could make it on the grill, of course. It's delicious on fish tacos and pork kebabs, scooped up with chips, and stirred into a simple bowl of brown rice, especially if it's drizzled with a little crema.
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I promised you a recipe for kimchi this week but I'm saving that for another time and offering you this cocktail recipe instead. Because you need it for the weekend! In fact, I'm going to see if I can come up with a new cocktail recipe for you every Friday. Not a drinker? Since most of my cocktails are based on seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs, you can make them virgin with just a few tweaks here and there. With or without booze, they are a great way to celebrate the season's bounty, and a signal to kick back and relax, alone or with friends. 

Refreshing rains have moved through here again, bashing the delicate ferns and denuding the last downy petals from the peonies. The enormous jasmine bush that leans over the neighbor's fence has bloomed, filling the air with a sultry sweet fragrance that wafts through our cottage and makes me swoon. There is no hissing of summer lawns here, just the chirps, caws and warbles of our avian choir.
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