This spring/summer, I put on my overalls, sun hat, grabbed my tools and decided to play farmer. Since moving into our new house at the end of last summer, I’ve been staring at all the raised vegetables beds, dreaming of a bounty of vegetables and planning my garden. I’ve never really grown my own food before in large quantities. Sure, I’ve dabbled in herbs, but these new adventures in gardening are on a much larger scale. Little did I know how much work it would be.

To create a perfect summer pie you need to start from the bottom up. First the crust, followed with a fresh ripe filling and then the finishing touches.

As a chef I can’t help but look at a recipe as more than simply mixing ingredients together. Creating a great drink, cocktail or punch is no exception. They all need great ingredients and passion to make them delicious. Most of my punches use fresh elements such as sliced fruits, fresh herbs, and fresh juices. They add flavour undertones that cant be duplicated. I also prefer to use honey and other natural sweeteners over refined sugar, their sweetness has more complexity than just plain old sweet.

I have many fond memories of sipping cool beverages on sunny patios around the world. It is hard to beat a cool refreshing drink with good company while bathing in sunshine. One of my summertime favourites is a glass of cold lemonade. I’m not talking about the "just add water" type of lemonade my kids crave, I’m talking about fresh home made lemonade.

Sometimes I like to get down to some serious cooking: refined techniques, delicately prepared ingredients and well thought out, balanced dishes. Other times I like to cook for the fun of it – no measured ingredients or planned recipe, just cooking. This dish definitely falls into the latter category. That's not to say that you couldn't have a refined grilled dessert, however doughnuts grilled until warm and smokey on a maple plank topped with blueberry crumble shouldn’t be taken seriously.