There's a calendar hanging on the wall beside my desk in the office and I noticed today that it's still displaying the February page. Meanwhile, I've only just this week torn away the February sheet to reveal March on the calendar in my kitchen at home.  Perhaps it's because, much like everyone else, I'm so busy these days that the weeks, months (and years!) are literally flying by. It feels as though there's very little down time and I often find myself rushing about like a lunatic, to my dismay sometimes even on Saturdays. Hence, Sundays are hugely celebrated and appreciated at our place. That's when it's quiet time for reading, cooking, gardening, cycling and simply enjoying each other's company doing the things we love. Sunday is the day that I can get into my kitchen and just potter; or sit quietly at the kitchen table reading the newspapers, watching the wrens in the courtyard as I snack on fruit bought fresh from the farmer's market the day before.

The summer just past was deliciously hot, actually the hottest Australian summer on record according to the ABC's Weather Man, who reported this week that 'a new record was also set for the number of consecutive days the average maximum daily temperature for Australia exceeded 39°C – seven days between 2 and 8 January 2013, almost doubling the previous record of four consecutive days in 1973'!  In fact,  the average temperature across Australia on January 7 was 40.3 degrees C! 

Curiously, I really enjoyed this summer because we had had so much wind and rain the two previous years, after bitterly cold winters I felt somewhat deprived of warmth. Perhaps in an endeavour to savour all that the season of summer brings, I've been preserving more produce this year than ever before. My larder is full of Aunty Lizzy's hot sauce, mango relish, and peach and passionfruit as well as strawberry jam. I bought and froze large quantities of blueberries (and will share my friend Diana's beautiful recipe for blueberry and apple crumble in coming weeks).  And when I spotted these precious and perfect raspberries last weekend, I bought four punnets to stash away for winter as well.

It’s impossible to ignore the bountiful supplies of rich red tomatoes that flood our produce markets throughout summer. With their vibrant colour, appetising aroma and tasty tang, tomatoes are the trademark ingredient for refreshing salads and light summertime meals.

And when it comes to summer tomatoes, there’s much to celebrate!  Without them, summer salads and salsas would be bland in colour and flavour, pasta would be positively plain, and basil would be a total bore. I think Pablo Neruda best summed it up in his Ode to Tomatoes, brilliantly praising the fruit for bringing inexhaustible sun to our salad bowls, and for granting us a festival of ardent colour and all-embracing freshness.

My kitchen has been filled with the aroma of various fruit preserves lately due to something of a cooking frenzy! If you've been reading my recent posts, you'll know that I made some jam from bargain-priced Summer strawberries bought at the farmer's market. After a weekend in Young for the Cherry Festival, I've been busy preserving cherries for Winter pies and clafoutis. And when I saw mangoes selling at two for $2.50 at one of the independent grocers in the city, I knew what I had to do. And a girl has to do what a girl has to do, right?!

'Please take some, the cows are sick of eating 'em,' the stall holder said to me with a laugh, as he offered a kilogram of strawberries for just $5.00. 'Are you sure? I'm happy to pay full price,' I insisted, knowing that the good man had travelled some distance to sell his produce. He waved me away and handed over my prize, saying 'I'm sure, because you'll taste 'em, know how good they are and come back for more next week!'. With such a bargain and his genuine smile, how could I resist?!

For those (few) of you who don't already know him, I would like to introduce Pierre Issa, a.k.a. Pepe Saya. Pierre is the 36 year old father of two, married to his teenage sweetheart Mrs. Pepe; and, of course, maker of the amazing Pepe Saya cultured butter and lover of all things made from butter. 

Pepe hates the use of preservatives in food and says he does not appreciate technology when it comes to food, but understands we need to feed millions. If only we could do it some other way, he says. Pepe's love for food stems from his parents, who both love food! He says he is surrounded by loving people at work and home, and believes that life is a journey that should be enjoyed and shared with others. In this delicious Good Things guest post, Pepe shares a sublime recipe created from an idea born on Twitter. 'It's a recipe with awesome provenance involving three producers, Lizzy', Pepe wrote me, excitedly. Pepe's recipe combines award winning butter rolled into balls, dipped in award winning vanilla, then preserved in award winning honey. Awesome! Over to you, Pepe...

Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), whose writing I love, clearly appreciated food, for, apart from the poem above which is one of his most famous works, his many verses included An Ode to the Artichoke, An Ode to Maize, An Ode to Salt, An Ode to a Lemon, Ode to the Tomatoes, An Ode to Wine, and (would you believe) An Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market! Such passion for good things!

Had he not succumbed to leukemia, I feel certain the Nobel-prize winning Neruda (whose real name, incidentally, was Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto) would have eventually penned An Ode to the Chilli and An Ode to Bell Peppers as well.