My father-in-law recently sent me home with a bag full of fresh basil (please note that I have tried repeatedly to grow my own basil, and I tend to smother it with too much love/expectation and water. It dies every time.)

The bag of gifted basil was inspiring me to make something colorful, and I thought it would look pretty against yellow corn. Throw in a few tomatoes, and it's a party. Now, almost nothing beats simple corn-on-the-cob thrown on the grill. But sometimes I want to dress it up a little bit. So enjoy this dressy summer side . . .

Slice corn off the cob.

Melt butter over medium low heat in a large saute pan and add red onion. Cook until softened.
Add corn, basil, salt, sugar and a pinch of red pepper flakes and mix thoroughly. Let cook for 15 minutes or until you are finished preparing the rest of your meal. Stir in tomatoes (and more salt if needed) immediately before serving.

In keeping with last week’s theme of “Sweet Things the Man Makes” . . . here’s our favorite weeknight dessert: Caramelized bananas over vanilla ice cream.

A few simple steps: Melt about 2 tablespoons butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Stir in about 1/2 cup brown sugar and a pinch of salt, and stir together until sugar is completely melted. Toss in sliced bananas, and stir around in caramelized mixture until completely coated and slightly softened (about 1 minute.) Let cool for the time it takes you to scoop vanilla ice cream, and serve bananas on top.This also works well with peaches, apples or pears.

Did anyone else read this article about the end of the food pyramid as we know it? According to the new Dinner Plate imagery, half of our plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables. So I’m feeling pretty confident about this dessert. (I’m not sure the first lady would be too pumped about the butter, brown sugar or ice cream . . . then again, maybe she would!)

Some people call these cookies "Palmiers" (Palm-ee-yays). Some people call them "Elephant Ears." Regardless of their title, they are buttery, flakey and delicious. And they’re nothing I would normally post on Fish and Veggies. (They take several days to make and are neither fish nor veggies.)

So a big ‘thank you’ to my man for bringing sweet treats into my life that I would never make on my own.

The recipe comes from Baking by James Peterson, the baking tome featuring pictures of perfect palmiers . . . completely symmetrical and HUGE. Our Palmiers were tiny, twisted and lovable. Don’t worry about getting them too perfect. Their dimensions don’t affect their taste.

First up . . . make a classic puff pastry dough. Apparently this is just 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup water, 3 tbsp. oil, 1 tsp. salt and 1 cup butter (mmm butter!) Mix together everything but the butter with a mixer and then kneed with hands until it is a smooth, homogenous mass.

Form a square-ish disk, and wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Then mix the butter in a mixer with a paddle attachment. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes. Then wrap the butter in plastic wrap to shape it into a flat square.

Flour your surface, then roll out your dough in a plus-sign shape. You want to form four flaps that you can hug around the butter. Place the butter in the center and wrap the butter with the dough flaps. The butter should be completely covered by a neat envelope of dough.

Roll the butter/dough mixture into a long rectangle, making sure that the butter reaches all edges. Then fold into thirds.

Roll out and fold in thirds a second time, then wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Repeat this process (roll, fold, wrap, refrigerate) until the dough has been folded a total of 7 times.

If you had the patience to make it to this point, congratulate yourself . . . and keep going. Instead of flour on your work surface, sprinkle granulated sugar. Roll your dough out into a 9x14 inch rectangle. Then roll the outside edges toward the middle, one inch at a time. Roll out the two flaps, then fold one over the other (as shown below.) Gently press out this precious log of butter and labor, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Once chilled, slice into 1/4 inch cookies. Arrange on a sheet pan with parchment paper about 2 inches apart. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Enjoy immediately.