For some reason, I can never eat the strawberries I buy before they start looking tired and worn. My intentions are good, but my follow through isn’t. In Houston, which has an amazingly long growing season, we are seeing the first ripe strawberries grown in greenhouses. They have great flavor, but are not as sweet as the summer crop. I bought a carton at the farmers market last week and they were lost in the back of the fridge. So this morning, I brought them out of the cold and tried a little TLC. That would stand for Truly Lovely Compote. This is an easy way to use up the not so perfect fruit—as a topping for pancakes. Compotes are sauces made from cut up fruit and a sugar. If you strain it, it becomes a coulis. You can use it on pancakes, ice cream, any plain cake, or on toast.

Freshly picked fruit is an amazingly rich source of Vitamin C, which starts to degrade quickly and is lost in cold storage and flash freezing. Strawberries are an excellent source of Vitamin C, folic acid, manganese and potassium.

The compote can be made in the time you get the pancakes cooked. What could be better really than a warm fresh strawberry sauce on stack of hot pancakes. It’s a perfect way to start the day. It also works well when you want breakfast for dinner. Everybody wins. Especially the poor, forlorn strawberries.

RECIPE: Simple Strawberry Compote

INGREDIENTS

1 pound fresh hulled strawberries, cut into pieces
3-4 teaspoons of cane sugar

PROCESS

Place strawberries in pan with sugar.
Cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the fruit breaks down into a sauce.
Adjust the sweetness with additional sugar as desired.
Makes about 2 cups.

The long, hot summer has gotten to the point where basil must be harvested. I was fortunate enough to be given a bucket full of freshly harvested basil, a combination of sweet and Genovese varieties. With that kind of volume, nothing but a quick turn in the food processor will do to make perfect pesto. I'll store it in the freezer to use for the next few months in a variety of ways. Pesto is a versatile sauce that can be used for pasta, with vegetables, added as an accent to soups or to fish or meats. I love to toss a little with steamed potatoes and beans.

I use pecans instead of pine nuts. I like the sweetness and I'm from Texas. Walnuts, almond or a combination of nuts are also really good. I leave out the garlic and add crushed red and ground black peppers for a little bite. I also like to add the zest and juice of a lemon or two. I don't add the cheese to the pesto until I'm ready to use it. I find it this keeps a smoother texture when the pesto is frozen and then thawed.

I always make mine freehand based on taste and texture. I ended up with 16 cups of packed basil leaves, so I scaled up accordingly. I made an effort to keep measurements and scale them down for a smaller quantity, so you may have to adjust for your taste, which you should do anyway.

If you've never made pesto, now's a good time to try it. All you need are the ingredients and a food processor. If you're old school, a mortar and pestle will be even better.

RECIPE: Basil Pesto (With Pecans)

YIELD Makes 2 Cups

INGREDIENTS

1 cup pecans (pine nuts, slivered almonds or walnut halves will do)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 packed cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for storage
Juice add zest of 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
1/4 cup grated parmagiano regiano (leave this out if freezing)

PROCESS

Put the nuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
Add the basil, oil, salt, peppers and pulse for 1 minute or so until smooth.
Add the lemon juice and zest and pulse for 1 minute more, until smooth.
Stir in the cheese if using soon. Leave this out if you are freezing.
To store, transfer the pesto to a sterilized jar with a tight-fitting lid. Pour a thin layer of olive oil on top of the pesto, seal and refrigerate up to 10 days or freeze up to 3 months.