june recap

I've been bad at keeping in touch, I know, but I promise I'll make it up to you. For now I'll do a speedy catch up of the past month. Earlier in the month, T & I went home to New York to celebrate my father's retirement! Erin enjoyed the lake...

 

 

...and attempted the hammock...

 

...before calling it a day and napping in the grass.

 

While the pup napped I made sugar cookies...

 

...and looked through old photos (most of which are far too embarrassing to share).

We enjoyed some celebratory champagne before heading out to our life-long favorite restaurant.

 

That Sunday we headed home, driving through more sunsets, before restarting our driving the following weekend, when we headed to Philly to celebrate T's cousin's bat mitzvah.

 

the professional dog-walker

 

When we got home later that weekend we picked up some beautiful pink peonies (I really am convinced that Trader Joe's has some of the best long-lasting reasonable day-to-day flowers)....

 

...before making some lavender-vanilla sugar cookies to bring to my final week at my job.

 

This week T & I went to a Brasstacks dinner, knowing it would be recorded for Canada's Travel+Escape channel's new series "Illegal Eater", premiering this fall. According to the IMDB page, the series follows Barenaked Ladies' front man, Steven Page "as he embarks on a journey to uncover some of the tastiest, creative, illegal food in a city's unlicensed - secret - underground venues. It's in these places where the food is always fresh, local, and the experience is completely authentic." We arrived to the dinner, which was set at Bondir, and were shocked to see we were two of only twelve seats set. It was truly a delicious & personal dinner, per usual for Brasstacks, and we were lucky enough to be seated at a table of six with Bondir's chef/owner Jason Bond. 

  

The next day was July 4th (woohoo!), so I made some delicious potato salad, which I will share the recipe for on Tuesday...

 

 

...along with a red, white & blue sangria made with white wine, club soda, a splash of cranberry juice, a splash of vodka and grand marnier, lime juice, strawberries and blueberries.

 

 

After a feast of grilled chicken, cheeseburgers, and the potato salad, we played some croquet with the antique set we picked up at Brimfield last summer.

 

 

As the sun began to set, but the heat was just as intense, we had to find some alternative cooling strategies...

 

 

...before celebrating with sparklers!

 

My last day of my job was yesterday, so now I'll have the whole summer off before heading back to school for my MSW this fall, so I promise I'll be better about checking in with you, okay? Tomorrow I'll finally post the recipe for the tortilla espanola I tempted you with a few weeks ago, and Tuesday you'll be able to see the best potato salad recipe, to use for the rest of the summer.

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a calm july fourth

A calm 4th of July was filled with wandering around the yard, preparing for weekend guests, & installing the new curtains on the porch for a breezy easy feeling.

 

 

 

And of course....sparklers!

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early fourth of july bbq

Growing up in the middle of nowhere, my town used to put on a fireworks show a week or so before July 4th (due to fearing the residents would go to a larger fireworks show in neighboring towns instead of ours). In honor of this ritual, we celebrated with a BBQ.

The evening began with some Pimms and cheeses. We continued with hot dogs, cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, potato salad, cole slaw, and garlic basil corn... the usual June 23nd pseudo-July-4th-BBQ spread. We wrapped up the evening with strawberry shortcake and called it a night after relaxing under the lanterns. Looking forward to the real July 4th filled with sparklers and a quiet night in.

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