An Easy, Healthy Summer Appetizer Ever wonder how to throw a Scandinavian Feast to celebrate Midsummer, the longest day of summer? Think fish and fresh plus a summery dessert buffet. One appetizer idea? A quick and easy-easy healthy summer appetizer, just smoked fish mixed two ways (either with sour cream or cream cheese) and spread on thin slices of cucumber and topped with caviar, capers or fresh herbs. ~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~ ~ Midsummer Menu Ideas ~ This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes published every summer since 2009. Watch for new "summer easy" recipes all summer long! With a free e-mail subscription , you'll never miss a one! How to Throw a Party for Midsummer So we had a little party on Saturday, gathering friends to celebrate the Summer Solstice – what Scandinavians and my Inner-Finn call Midsummer. Saturday was St. Louis' first day of sun after many-many d

Chicken with rice, all bound together with a quick sauce made with caramelized onions and warm spices, topped with a quick sauté of matchstick carrots, raisins, almonds and saffron. Sound, um, unusual? It's amazing. Whole Food, Fresh & Flexible. Budget-Friendly. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. High Protein. Great for Meal Prep & Feeding a Crowd.

Simple whole-grain muffins studded with soft, sour pockets of a late-spring treat, rhubarb. Rhubarb Muffins are barely sweet and oh-so-tender and definitely – definitely! – not cupcakes. For all who prefer a less-sweet, less-rich but ever-so-satisfying morning-bread treat, this is your recipe! ~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~ Victory! People! Did you hear crazy cheers of joy from the back yard this week?!! Did you see the CNN cameras? Did you see the headlines at Fine Cooking, Saveur and Gourmet? Did you watch the heavens part and world peace descend? Because I finally harvested my very own rhubarb – yep, those crisp, bright-red stalks of late-spring sourness – from my very own rhubarb patch in my very own garden. I harvested my own rhubarb! [insert squeals of glee] It's been a long, long time coming – a lo-o-o-n-g time, we're talking years, here. Interstate-transport, a cross-town move and transplant shock all contributed to the delay. My mom's rhubarb, our