By Randall Barnes

This past weekend I attended a class about cooking with stone fruits at Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food, & The Arts at 500 First Street in Napa. The class runs daily until the end of July. It was very interesting and informative. I also found a few more recipes to easily use up the stone fruits that can be in abundance this time of year.

The class covered many aspects and here are some tips to easily sum up the talk:

• They are called stone fruits because of the hard pits they have inside.
• Types: apricots, apriums, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, plumcots, and pluots.
• If the fruit is hard, slice in half, put some sugar on it and and it is ready for grilling.
• Fruit that is not fully ripened has more pectin, so it is not bad to add some into your jelly or jams.
• Nectarines are great to cook with because you don't have to peel them.
• Dunk the peach in hot water to easily peel it.
• When the weather is extremely hot and the pit warms up, sometimes the center of the fruit can start to decompose.

The recipes for the food that was prepared and served at the class:

Apricot and Rice Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
Serves 4 to 6
Recipes from Copia

4 cups water
3/4 cup wild rice, brown rice or a rice blend
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
3/4 cup Basil Vinaigrette (recipe below)
6 small apricots, pitted and sliced
1 small fennel bulb, cut into small dice
1/2 cup toasted nuts, such as pistachios, pecans, walnuts, chopped if large

Place rice in a strainer and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Transfer the rice to a small saucepan and add 4 cups of water and the salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce to simmer and cook until the rice is tender, 25 to 45 minutes depending on the rice (use the package directions as a guideline). Pour the cooked rice through a strainer and let it drain briefly. Transfer the rice to a mixing bowl and stir in the Basil Vinaigrette. Set aside to cool.

When the rice mixture is cool, gently stir in the apricots, fennel and nuts. Add more salt to taste. Serve cold or room temperature.

Basil Vinaigrette
Makes about 3/4 cup

1/2 cup packed basil leaves
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
7 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor, purée the basil, white wine vinegar, sugar, salt and olive oil.

The recipes below are from the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You can get the nutritional facts and diabetic exchange information from the website for each recipe. The website is http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnparecipe/recipesearch.aspx

California Fresh Fruit Kebobs with Lemon and Cayenne
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Number of servings: 12
Cups of fruits and vegetables per person: 1.0

Ingredients:
6 ripe pluots, halved and pitted
6 ripe peaches, halved and pitted
6 ripe nectarines, halved and pitted
2 lemons, juiced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Mint sprigs (optional)

Directions:

Cut each half of fruit into thirds. Place fruit in medium bowl, add lemon juice and cayenne pepper; mix well. Marinate fruit for 1 hour. On a skewer, alternate fruit wedges; chill. Garnish with mint sprig, if desired.

Bruschetta with Plums and Fresh Basil
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Number of servings: 6
Cups of fruits and vegetables per person: 1.0

Ingredients:
1 sourdough baguette (24 inch)
4 oz. fat-free cream cheese, whipped
6 cups sliced fresh California plums
1 cup fresh basil

Directions:

Slice baguette into 24 inch-thick pieces. Toast in a 350°F oven until golden brown. Spread each slice of bread with fat-free cream cheese. Slice plums into thin slices. Place several slices of plum on each piece of bruschetta. Garnish with fresh basil leaf.

Santa Fe Chilled Nectarine Soup
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Number of servings: 4
Cups of fruits and vegetables per person: 1.0

Ingredients:
2 lbs. (8 small) nectarines, sliced
1 cup apple juice
1 cup cranberry cocktail juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

Combine nectarines with juices, salt, pepper flakes and vinegar in electric blender. Whirl until smooth and blended. Add cilantro leaves and whirl in a stop-and-go fashion a few seconds, just to chop. Serve chilled.

Aprium Muffins
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Number of servings: 9
Cups of fruits and vegetables per person: 1.0

Ingredients:
1 14-ounce box oat bran muffin mix
3/4 cup apple juice
18 finely chopped fresh apriums
3/4 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 ºF. Lightly coat about 9 muffin cups with nonstick spray. In medium bowl, combine muffin mix and juice until just moistened. Stir in apriums and raisins. Spoon the batter into muffin cups until full. Bake 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan and cool on wire rack.

No doubt you're seeing these riotous shrubs and small trees in bloom right now! Sunny and hot will continue to be the forecast over the next couple of months, and that's when these beauties are at their best.

Some plants grow tired and stressed when high temperatures persist day after day. Crape myrtles, on the other hand, thrive under these conditions, making them valuable flowering shrubs or small trees in the summer landscape. Whether trained as standard or multi-trunk trees, crape myrtles make beautiful specimen or accent plants. Showy crinkled flowers are abundant throughout summer, with colors ranging from the reds to pinks, purples, and white.

Plant these lovely shrubs in any sunny spot where summer color is needed. Planting is best done in late spring or summer, when they are actively growing. For desired size and shape, prune in early spring. Don't worry too much about your pruning skills, as they bloom on new wood. However, it is important to deadhead as blossoms fade in order to encourage continuous bloom. Crape myrtles are long-lived, drought tolerant (once established) and relatively pest free, although sometimes aphids and powdery mildew can be a problem. Watering in the morning, to give the foliage plenty of time to dry, will help keep mildew away.

As if that weren't enough, the handsome bark and fall leaf color add to an already stunning plant. Add one or more to your landscape, then just sit back and enjoy the show!

Among all of the pleasures of gardening are the little "gotchas" that the seasoned gardeners avoid, but the rookies fall prey to.

One of the most unforgiving of these is poison oak. So many people will quickly say, "I know what it looks like," then later report having it, that it might be wise to take a few moments to review.

Identify it:

Poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) is common in California, western Oregon and western Washington. In open or filtered sun it grows as a dense, leafy shrub. Where shaded it becomes a tall-climbing vine. Its leaves are divided into 3 leaflets, edges of which are scalloped, toothed or lobed.

Manage it:

Prevention is the best course of action. Learn to identify and avoid contact with the plant. If it is located on your property or near where children play, use a chemical exfoliant and physically remove the remains.

If you recognize that you may have come in contact with the resin, wash immediately and aggressively with warm water and soap. If the resin is not removed, it may be transmitted from the exposure site to the hands, face, forearms, and other areas. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot get poison ivy/poison oak from another person's rash. However, contamination may occur with contact from the resin.

Completely remove all of your clothing and wash in warm water and detergent. Harsh soaps and vigorous scrubbing won't help. Simply soaking in a cool bath with mild hand soap is sufficient to remove the resin and help prevent the spread of the dermatitis. However, this won't prevent the typical skin reaction in a highly sensitive person.

Anti-itch medication is helpful in relieving the symptoms. Calamine lotion and cool compresses will help relieve the itch. A cool bath with baking soda or oatmeal preparations will help buffer the skin's pH and relieve symptoms. Avoid topical anesthetic agents like antihistamines, benzocaine, and zirconium. Topical steroids are helpful to relieve the itching. Oral antihistamines are helpful in relieving the itch but may cause drowsiness. Do not "pop" the large lesions. These may become infected if not drained aseptically. Infected lesions may lead to secondary cellulitis.

Treat it:

Severe, incapacitating cases of poison oak/poison ivy can be treated with short-term oral corticosteroid use, typically prescribed as a daily or twice daily regimen in a decreasing or tapering dose for one to two weeks.

During the healing process avoid exposure to the sun. Sun exposure may cause scarring in healing tissue.

With summer here, garden herbs are kicking into high gear, producing lots of pleasing, aromatic, foliage that is great for cooking and potpourris. Freshly harvested leaves are wonderful for cooking, but you might want to preserve some to use later in the year or to create sachets that will fill your home with wonderful scents.

There are two ways to air-dry your crop. The first is to hang it up. With large-leafed herbs such as basil, rosemary, and sage, snip off the leafy stems, then tie the cut ends together with string and hang the bundle upside down in a warm, dry place (out of direct sunlight) with good air circulation. The herbs should be dry and crisp in two to three weeks. You can then strip the leaves off the stems and store them in airtight container for later use. This method is also a great way to dry lavender.

The second way to dry herbs is to spread them out to dry. With fine-leafed herbs such as oregano and thyme, simply remove the foliage from stems and spread the leaves on a cookie sheet or piece of clean window screen and set in a warm, dry, airy place away from direct sun. Stir them up every few days to turn them over. Once the leaves feel crisp, you can store them in an airtight container for later use.

LAST WEEK'S QUESTION:

Other than amaryllis belladonna, what bulb is also referred to as a naked lady?

PRIZE WINNER:

Diane Walker wins a $10 Orchard Nursery gift certificate! Stay tuned for another trivia question next week!