Tomorrow We Fly to the Land of Mirror Pond and McMenamins...

...for an all family, all friend, all wedding whirlwind weekend! We'll take a break to picnic in Armitage Park between 3 and 5 on Saturday if anyone wants to join us (Jem and Val will be there too!)...

Oh The Things We Will Do...

I don't know why I resisted so long.
I suppose it's partly because I try to keep kitchen clutter to a minimum. No Unitaskers for me. Somehow I convinced myself that a food processor or a blender fit that category. I can chop anything I need by hand, and blend anything I need with a whisk.
It's partly because I used to think of myself as an Annie in Father of the Bride type. You know when she gets so upset because her fiancee's romantic gift for her is a blender and she's like 'You just want me to be a brainless little barefoot wife.' I used to think that I should think of a blender that way. But the truth is, underneath it all, I can't wait to kick off the heels I wear to the office and put on my apron and get to using my new blender. Excuse me, blender/food processor, this is definitely no Unitasker.

It surprised me just a little, but researching, buying, and using this Cuisinart Duet (isn't that name pure culinary poetry?) absolutely made my week. It has already saved my life, and my arm which did not fall off from whisking a double batch of roasted red pepper pine nut aioli.
You know how it's hot here? The last thing I want to do is contribute to that little problem by turning on my oven. I want cold soup. And more cold soup. I especially want the Creamy Asparagus with Toasted Almonds soup we had at Pazo's in Baltimore for my birthday but they wouldn't give me the recipe when I nicely asked. I made a few creamy cold cucumber and avocado soups last week. Sounds delish? Not so. They were disappointing at best and gag inducing at worst. I'm beginning to think that personal recommendations are much more successful than Google's. So I need yours. If you have an amazing cold soup recipe, especially one involving something I might find at the Farmer's Market next weekend, please please share!
P.S. Thank you Mom and Dad, this Duet was made possible by your Christmas gift last year.

Amelia Band

Here's me blogcritiquing again about a band I really like.

The Summer Line Up

I like Gwyneth Paltrow the best. She's down to earth. No, Kate Winslett, she's my favorite. She's down to earth. No, maybe Julia Roberts. She's pretty down to earth lately...
Back to Gwyneth. She's the one who gave me this idea. Or rather, put a label on the thing I already do...a uniform. Apparently, she's got her winter and her summer uniform. A week's worth of leggings and tunics for winter, a few dresses for summer. When I read this (thank you, Vogue) I realized I have a uniform too. Here it is for this summer.
Four dresses.

One pair of shoes.

One pair of earrings. One hair clip.

My summer uniform.

There's a lot I should be thinking about when I get dressed every day. Like what color will make my pasty skin look less pasty. Like what I can wear both to the office today and then to happy hour tonight. Like how I can best disguise my growing waistline (from butter, not a baby, mom). But all of these considerations somehow, recently, are obsolete. How I'm lookin' is one of the last things I'm thinking about.
When did this happen? Have I lost motivation to be fashionably imaginative since I'm no longer trying to snag a man? Please say no. Even if it's true. Please say it's because I'm thinking world historical thoughts that leave no room for superfluities. Yeah, that's not it. No, that's definitely not it.
To be perfectly honest I spend 98.2% of my limited brain power thinking about the weather. The weather dictates what I cook, my mood, whether I will hold my husband's hand, and who my favorite Beatle is. OK, not the last one. But... have I mentioned that its blitheringly, I wanna die, if-my-air-conditioner-breaks-I-will-die hot here? See, in preparation for last summer, my first in this muggy swamp, I ignorantly collected a variety of fashionable summery things, including things that cling to the body. Boy was that a mistake. Boy have I learned. Those dresses up there? They were chosen solely because they only make contact with my skin at those skinny straps. The fabric? It's so light I can barely feel it. The colors? Aside from the yellow (this year's weakness) the dark colors will not show swea, er, perspiration which there is just a bit of around here. The price? Around $13 each because by the end of the summer they will have seen their day and they will be disposed of. The fact that the billowy style disguises my growing waistline (butter) is a nice little bonus.
So yes, before you ask, I was wearing this same thing last time you saw me. And it won't be the last time you see it.

July? Really? Not just that, but halfway through July? Well all right then. I don't feel like that's quite fair that all these nice sunny days just rush on by me but how's a girl to slow them?
Ahh, wait, I know.
My front porch. My man. And my sister. And one of these...

Wow, oh wow. Could there BE a more perfect summer drink? Sugar, mint and tangy lime. Welcome, Richmond Gimlet.
When the hot weather hit and I got a hankering for one of these lovelies, my requests were met with blank stares from local bartenders. So I turned to my best friend Google. To my surprise, the links kept pointing me back to dear, old Eugene. If what they claim is true, the drink was created by a brilliant Eugenian named Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Oh, I like that man. But he's not here. And I can't let the West Coast hog something this simply perfect. I'm bringing it East. I'm braving the heat to boil batches of simple syrup. I've got an overflowing planter full of mint on my porch, and the fireflies are just going crazy these nights. And the best way to enjoy both mint and fireflies is, as mentioned, my porch, my man, my sister, and a Richmond Gimlet.

2 oz Tanqueray No. 10 gin
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
A few sprigs of mint
Shake ingredients well over ice and strain into a chilled, sugar rimmed cocktail glass.

The Plan

It's my turn now!
And this is how I'll be taking it.

What I'll Be Doing With Spare Time

I've joined up with a Sinister Cabal...and there I'll be talking about stuff like this.