At the header of this page, Burning Pasta promotes itself as "a do-it-yourself guide to basic cooking, food pairing, and homebrewing, based out of philadelphia, pa." We even put an Oxford comma in there for you. I know you're impressed, right?

We're not just reminding you of what's on our header for fun, though. Up and until now, with the exception of a fleeting glance at a felicitous glass of Apricot Wheat Ale last year, we’ve largely failed to satisfy the homebrewing end of that proclamation. Well, we’re going to rectify all those broken promises, and we’re going to do so right now.

Hot summer weekends call for quick, cool, tangy lunches. Something not too heavy, something that can be made ahead, something that can be taken on a picnic. Sure, you can make tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad, potato salad (and all those recipes' many permutations), but isn't it time for something new?

Today we're making a cold eggplant salad, and, while we're at it, a profile of our latest homebrewed beer, just placed on tap a week ago. Let's get started.