Street musicians were everywhere during the Galway Arts Festival. Click on the photo to watch a video.

(Watch a video of “The Street Musicians of Galway.”)

Galway is known for its music. Walk down the street anytime of year and you can hear it: this is especially true during its annual arts festival held in July.

Trish was studying at the university there for the month of July and I had the pleasure of joining her for a week. For me it was also a learning experience.

I took video of many of the street musicians with my digital camera. And this week I had a chance to learn iMovie by creating a short movie out of that footage.

I’m not completely happy with the outcome but I’m still learning. Here’s what I learned about shooting and editing video and about Galway:

• Galway is a village of friendly pubs.
• Musicians play in the pubs as well as on the street.
• More American rock, and blues music is played than traditional Irish music.
• iMovie is easy to learn but not as easy as learning the editing program on a Flip camera.
• I need to stand closer to my subjects. This will help make the footage look and sound better.
• A separate mic is needed if I want to improve the quality of the audio.

These shrimp have lots of fresh flavor: perfect for a hot summer night.

Each meal starts as a dream.

You have a craving for something and then have to imagine what would go well with it. In this way, by learning to daydream at will, we learn to put together a satisfying menu.

On Sunday I craved pasta but wanted something more so decided the pasta dish would be the primi, or first course, at my summer cookout.

Meat usually follows the pasta, but I wanted something lighter having attended a meaty cookout the day before. Plus, the weather in the Boston area has been outrageously humid making lighter fare a natural.

So, would it be chicken? No. I ate enough chicken over the past week.

Pork? No. I never really bought that whole “white meat” thing.

Seafood…..mmm…yes! And so quickly scanning Maria Batali’s Italian Grill cookbook, I found a recipe for Shrimp Rosemary and immediately planned the following menu:

HOT AND HUMID SUMMER COOKOUT MENU

First Course: Neapolitan-Style Macaroni II (From the Artusi)

Second Course: Shrimp Rosemary (recipe below)

Grilled bok choy (Recipe:Toss bok choy in olive oil and salt and cook quickly on hot grill, turning once.)

Third Course: Corn As Italians Would Eat It

RECIPE: Shrimp Rosemary

• Ingredients/Shopping List
• Fresh Italian parsley (About 2 cups, leaves only)
• Fresh basil (About 2 cups, leaves only)
• Bread Crumbs (2 cups; Mario didn’t specify what kind; I used Panko Japanese bread crumbs)
• Kosher salt (1/2 tsp.)
• Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• Extra-virgin olive oil (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
• Large shrimp (2 pounds, peeled and deveined)
• Rosemary sprigs (12, prepared as skewers and soaked in water for at least 2 hours over overnight. To do this, strip off all the rosemary leaves except for one end. Cut the bald end on the diagonal to make a point. Then soak in water.)
• Lemons (2, cut into wedges. Served as garnish)

What I did:

In a food processor toss:

–The parsley and basil leaves

–The bread crumbs

–Salt and pepper

–1/4 cup of the olive oil

Zap until the herbs are chopped and the breadcrumbs look green.

Transfer to a pie plate or wide shallow bowl. Add shrimp and toss to coat well.

Skewer 4 or 5 shrimp on each rosemary sprig. Dredge again in breadcrumb mixture. Place on platter and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cook on a hot grill. You can lay the rosemary sprigs on their side directly on the grill and then turn over once. The shrimp cook fast and are done when pink. Don’t overcook.

Serve shrimp with the lemon wedges.

Find more recipes in the Food section.

(Note: If you’d like to print this recipe, click here or on the headline on this post and then use the print button at the bottom of the post. In other words, print from the “permalink” not from the homepage.)

The strata took center stage at last week's breakfast meeting.

Working from home has its benefits and one of them is being able to plan a breakfast meeting in your own backyard.

Last week I held an editor’s meeting in the great outdoors. No sterile company conference room or institutional cafeteria for us.

Since we’re a new company, the purpose of this meeting was for everyone to meet each other and share notes on how best to get started with the work at hand. Everyone learned from each other and I believe the seeds of friendship were sowed amid laughter and free flowing conversation that lasted more than two hours.

That’s right, a two-hour meeting that was productive and fun. I like think the food (see below) and music (Beatles) had something to do with that.

Here’s the menu:

Vegetable and Cheese Strata

Fresh fruit bowl

Lemon/Cranberry Scones (OK, I bought these. No recipe here) with butter and strawberry jam.

Fresh Iced Tea

Coffee

Vegetable and Cheese Strata (Recipe from the Feb. 1991 edition of Gourmet Magazine):

Don't tell my son, Gabriel, we borrowed his mug for our meeting.

• Ingredients/Shopping List:
• Onion (1 1/2 cups, chopped)
• Scallions (1 cup, chopped)
• Mushrooms (3/4 pound)
• Olive oil (3 tbsp.)
• Red bell pepper (2, about 2 cups, cut into thin strips)
• Green bell pepper (2, about 2 cups, cut into thin strips)
• Italian bread (About 1 loaf; enough to measure 9 cups, cut into 1-inch cubes)
• Extra-sharp cheddar cheese (10 oz or 2 1/2 cups, grated)
• Parmesan cheese (1 cup, grated)
• Large Eggs (12)
• Milk (3 1/2 cups)
• Dijon-mustard (3 tbsp.)
• Tabasco (6 or 7 dashes or to taste)

What I did:

Cook the onion, scallion and mushrooms in oil over low heat, stirring until the onion is softened.

Add bell peppers and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over moderate heat, stirring for 10-15 minutes or until liquid evaporates and peppers are tender.

Arrange half of the bread cubes in a buttered shallow (4 1/2-quart) baking dish.

Spread half of vegetable mixture over bread cubes and sprinkle half the cheddar and half the parmesan cheese on top.

Arrange the remaining bread cubes over the cheese layer.

Top with remaining vegetables and then the remaining cheese.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, the milk, the mustard, the tabasco, and salt and pepper. Then pour this evenly over the strata.

Chill the strata covered, overnight.

Let the strata stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking it in the middle of a 350-degree oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until it is puffed, golden and cooked through.

This recipe serves 8.

Find more recipes in the Food section.

(Note: If you’d like to print this recipe, click here or on the headline on this post and then use the print button at the bottom of the post. In other words, print from the “permalink” not from the homepage.)

The Union Square Farmers Market on Saturday features several different farms, a fresh bread stand, and a live band.

I’m eating a savory piece of cheesy foccaccia right now that I purchased at Iggy’s Bread stand at the Union Square farmers market in Somerville this morning.

I love the market in Union Square. It features food from several different farms and usually includes a live band (much better than the muzak or other music piped in at supermarkets).

Sweet, locally-grown plums and nectarines bought there are mingling with locally-grown tomatoes I purchased at the Malden farmers market earlier this week in a fruit bowl on my dining room table. And the freshest and spiciest arugula is sharing a shelf in my fridge with succulent pea tendrils, just waiting to be blended into a crisp salad to accompany a barbecue dinner tonight.

Sunflowers are a popular item at most farmers markets. This bunch sold for $4.

Produce tastes better when allowed to ripen on the vine; when not tampered with with chemicals that are often added to ensure they won’t spoil when being transported across the country or imported from other countries. And now is the season to take advantage of all this local glory.

Farmers markets in Massachusetts are held every day at this time of year. To find one near you check out this website. It features a handy tool that allows you to type in your zip code. You can also search by day of the week.

Just be careful. At some farmers markets produce grown out of state is sometimes mixed in with produce grown locally. The whole reason to visit a farmers market is to get the taste of locally grown. That other stuff doesn’t taste as good and you can get it a lot cheaper at the supermarket.

Drumlin Farm in Lincoln is just one of the farms peddling their wares at Union Square.

But the out-of-state stuff is easy to spot: bananas and other exotic fruits and vegetables are not grown locally. Strawberrries are grown locally but some markets supplement with out-of-state varieties. If you’re not sure, don’t be afraid to ask. The people who man the stands are usually very nice and eager to help and explain all the goodness that comes with locally grown produce.

I didn’t spot any out-of-state produce at the Union Square market today. But a Melrose farmers market held earlier in the week was selling “Georgia” peaches and strawberries from out of state.

At a farmers market in Malden, I spotted bananas but everything else was grown on a farm in North Andover, I was told. The strawberries I bought there were out of this world: they weren’t the giant, red ones that entice you at the supermarket but they had a giant strawberry taste that made me think I had never tasted a real strawberry before.

I ate the whole pint quickly. I wish I had bought more.

Find a Farmers’ Market Near You

Learn About CSAs

Learn About Eating Local at Boston Localvores

Dinner for one can be so much fun.

I planned to barbecue chicken and ribs tonight for dinner, but then remembered no one will be here.

Trish is still in Galway (Ain’t no sunshine). My son, Sean, has to work. And my son, Gabriel, is at a dance tonight at his day camp.

So I whipped this together using tomatoes and greens from the Malden Farmers Market.

Fresh Lemon Pepper Tuna Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 can of italian tuna (in oil)

Fresh arugula

Fresh pea tendrils

1/2 farm fresh tomato

1 slice of crusty bread, toasted

Lemon pepper (1 teaspoon)

Asiago cheese (a few crumbled pieces)

Salad dressing (your favorite)

What I did:

Mix tuna with lemon pepper.

Top slice of toasted bread with a few tomato slices. Scoop tuna on top.

Put slices of tomatoes on top of tuna.

Mix greens on side of dish. Add cheese, slices of tomato and your favorite salad dressing.

Serve and eat by yourself (preferably while watching Cash Cab)

Find more dinner ideas in the Food section.

Find a farmers market near you.

This ancient Italian recipe is quick and easy to make and won't heat up your kitchen.

Afternoon thunderstorms gave some relief from the Greater Boston area heat wave today.

And so, I returned to the kitchen after a week of take out, cold cereal, and quick omelette dinners.

But it’s still hot. So what’s a well-intentioned cook to do?

Tonight, I’m making some “Easy Week Night Pasta.” Here are some other recipes that won’t heat up the house (too much) but are certain to bring a warm smile to your face:

1.) Beach Salads and Bruschetta

2.) Octupus’s Garden Gazpacho With Leftover Chicken Hummus Sandwiches

3.) Mortadella and Ham Salad Tapas

4.) Grilled Braciole Fit for a Saint

5.) Breakfast for Dinner: Gingerbread Pancakes

6.) Soup & Sandwich Night With Style (Instead of Take Out)

Find more dinner ideas in the Food section.