I do not believe it happened. The weather prognosticator predicts 97 degrees and sunny for this second Sunday of July. Finally, summer has arrived. I wake early knowing the lawn needs mowing and the garden requires tending. Excited at the prospect of a warm summer day, I dress and am outside by 6 a.m. Understanding my neighbors might not appreciate the sound of a mower engine during their slumber, I focus my attention on the garden.

Walking onto my deck, I inspect my pepper, basil and rosemary plants, planted in terracotta pots to warm their roots during this chilly, raining spring. I am amazed at their growth during the past few days. The cayenne, habanero and tabasco pepper plants have doubled in size and are flowering in preparation of fruit production and the rosemary's bright green growth proves its health. These Mediterranean and Central American natives are responding to the hot sun and warm temperatures of North Idaho.

Leaving the deck, I walk through my garden gate and see thousands of blackberry flower buds, broccoli beginning to crown, tomatoes forming on their vines, sweet peas reaching for the sky, onions and carrots showing green growth while hiding their delicious flavor below the earth and herbs - deliciously fragrant herbs. My herb bed is the hero of the garden. Offering the first gifts of spring, I harvest marjoram and chives in early spring and still enjoy fresh oregano, sage, tarragon and mint in my Thanksgiving stuffing.

The herb bed often shows off by offering more bounty than I can consume so I harvest often, give much away and dry what is left. To dry the herbs I simply place them in a brown paper bag, staple it closed, label the bag with the contents inside and wait. Once dried, I mix the herbs to create an Herbs de Provence mix which I use in my red sauce and other Mediterranean dishes. My mix consists of:

3 Tablespoons dried marjoram

3 Tablespoons dried thyme

3 Tablespoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon lavender

1/2 teaspoon tarragon

Using dried herbs in cooking differs from fresh herbs in two ways. First is taste. Dried herbs have a rich, deep flavor compared to the bright flavor of fresh herbs. Using dried herbs in a stew, roast, gumbo or chili offers the chef a deep, earthy taste desirable to warm one's body in the cold, snowy days of winter. July begs for the herbaceously fresh, bright flavor of summer. Adding fresh herbs to a quinoa salad dressed with sesame seed oil and rice wine vinegar, mixed with fresh peas and heirloom tomatoes leaves a long impression of what is best about summer.

Secondly, dried and fresh herbs are added to a dish at different times during the cooking process. Dried herbs are added at the beginning of the cooking process and fresh herbs are added toward the end of the dish's construction.

An example using both fresh and dried herbs to their full potential can be seen in the creation of a simple red sauce. My favorite and extremely quick red sauce recipe uses both fresh and dried herbs, depending on the seasonality of the herbs.

Bill's Seasonal Red Sauce

In this sauce, I avoid using measurements due to the wide array of differing flavor profiles in the ingredients. Add more of what you like and take out what you don't like. The importance of the recipe is the steps in building flavors with dried and fresh herbs. With each step, I will add a chef tip for the reason for the step and why it aids in building flavor for this sauce. These skills can (and should) be used to gain the most flavor from one's recipes.

Step 1 - warm a sauce pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add a couple of table spoons of extra virgin olive oil.

• Chef tip - always add oil to a hot pan then add ingredients. This will reduce ingredients sticking to the pan and will reduce the oil from penetrating the ingredients making them oily. Also, adding ingredients to cold oil produces steam instead of saute making caramelization difficult.

• Chef tip - in the past, American chefs NEVER cooked with extra virgin olive oil. The taste was thought to be off-putting and overpowering. Also, olive oil available in America was poor quality and bitter. Now, one can find high quality oil in most grocery stores and, the flavor of the olives adds depth to a dish. Try frying an egg in high quality extra virgin olive oil - yummy!

Step 2 - add minced garlic, onions and dried herbs (see Herb de Provence herb mix above), and cook until caramelized.

• Chef tip - caramelization adds another layer of depth to the dish. The golden brown color of the aromatics is full of flavor and now sweet and buttery.

• Chef tip - adding dried herbs to the dish while caramelizing the onions and garlic toasts the herbs and releases flavors trapped inside the leaves during their drying process.

Step 3 - deglaze the pan with red wine to release the fond (the stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan). Simply pour 1/2 cup of red wine into the pan and let it reduce (continue to cook until 1/2 of the wine is gone) by 1/2.

• Chef tip - now the flavors in the sauce are getting deep. Dip a piece of sourdough bread into the sauce and taste how rich this sauce is. You will find that the sauce is now sweet. Avoid adding salt and pepper until the end of the cooking process to ensure your sauce is not over-salted.

Step 4 - if you are using a canned tomato sauce, add it now. If you are using homemade tomato sauce, ensure it is well blended and deseeded. Then add to the wine mixture.

• Chef tip - peel, deseed and blend overripe tomatoes from your garden until smooth and use instead of canned tomato sauce. These tomatoes will likely be very sweet and will require copious amounts of salt. Avoid salting until the last step of the cooking process.

Step 5 - if using fresh herbs, add them now. Remember, it takes a lot of fresh herbs to season a red sauce.

• Chef tip - if you decided to use dried herbs in the recipe, the sauce can still regain a hint of summer by adding fresh basil at this point.

Step 6 - add salt and pepper to the sauce.

• Chef tip - taste, taste, taste. When adding your final seasonings, add a little, stir well and then taste. Let simmer, taste, re-season, taste...you get the idea. Under-season with salt slightly in preparation for the final step.

Step 7 - add a generous handful of shredded parmesan reggiano cheese. Allow to melt then taste. Adjust final seasonings and serve.

• Chef tip - this final step will add a ridiculous amount of depth to your sauce and leave your guests wondering what you did to make such a delicious meal.

Bill Rutherford is a elementary school principal, psychotherapist, executive chef and owner of Rutherford Education Group. Please email him at [email protected].