Another Blizzard

This fellow describes today pretty well (although I think we're over 22 inches and still going strong):

Weatherman Freaking Out Over DC Snowpocalypse
by TheDlisted

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.

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.

We might be warm.

All of a sudden, delightfully, it is fall, perhaps winter. Last night was chill - I couldn't feel it under the down comforter, but the boy felt it at 5 am as he walked to work and I saw it when my breath hit the air. I spent the morning repeatedly blowing the circuit as I frantically plugged in space heaters, cursing the laid-back landlord who I was sure was basking at home in heat while neglecting to turn ours on. Then, at 5 o'clock there was a noise in the kitchen, something like a pot of water boiling over combined with the gas leaking. Upon investigation - the old Victorian, silver painted radiators have come alive! What had been a rusted, ugly cleaning challenge became the most quaint and comforting thing in our home. They are hissing steam, and exuding smells I can only describe as warm, and best of all, the temperature outside is freezing literally but inside I am wearing flip-flop slippers!

Fall hits.

I think we turned off the air conditioners for good yesterday. Yes, it is almost November.