Simple Heirloom Tomato & Burrata Salad | An Ode To Summer

How much have I talked about summer lately? A lot. Are you all hoping I shut my face soon? We get it, Gina. It’s hot. You aren’t wearing pants. It’s time for cocktails. The produce is amaze. We get it. Just stop. #WishICould

So, yeah. All of those things. But… TOMATOES, amiright? I mean, look at them. Just add them into the summer celebration! Is there a tomato dance? I’m sure we can figure one out. Maybe a jazz square on bottom with a raise the roof on top? My dance library is limited. Let me know if you come up with something more exciting. The more shoulder action the better. If you want to add in a shimmy, I won’t get upset.

Tomatoes are totally the apples of summer (they aren’t, but it’s Monday and my analogies are lazy at best). They are sweet, juicy and plentiful. They come in every color and variety, and markets are exploding with them. Just ask my husband how crazy and muppet-like my face looks at a summer farmers market. You would think I’m a six-year-old at Christmas. I had a very similar expression on my face in 1989 when I ripped the Santa Clause paper off a Barbie Dream House. Excitement + Bliss + OMG-DAD-PUT-THIS-TOGETHER-BEFORE-I-LOSE-MY-MIND-AHHHHHHH-OMG! Except, with tomatoes it is Excitement + Bliss + OMG-PETE-LET-ME-BUY-THESE-BEFORE-I-LOSE-MY-MIND-I’M-GOING-TO-PUT-THEM-IN-A-SALAD-AND-MAYBE-EAT-ONE-IN-THE-CAR-ON-THE-WAY-HOOOOOME-AHHHHHH-OMG! […]

Brussels Sprout Salad With Walnuts, Cherries & Bacon

Summertime means 9pm cocktails on the deck because the sun has yet to go down. It means grilling. It means buying 4lbs of peaches at the farmer’s market and existing on them for days at a time. It means questionable fashion decisions because, heck, it’s hot. It means letting the dog get wet while you water your plants because she must be ever hotter in that fur suit of hers. It means let’s not turn on our oven tonight. It means berry picking and cucumber pickling. It means walking to the park in the evening and feeling the warm breeze hit your skin. It means waking up with approximately six mosquito bites on your backside even though you were totally wearing pants last night on that walk. What? That’s uncomfortable. Oh, well. It means you’re now having an intense relationship with Calamine lotion. Excellent.

Summer totally means SALAD. You know what I’m talking about. It means the kind of salads that can pass as a whole meal. The kind of salad that your husband will ogle because it has bacon and fruit and is topped with a runny soft-boiled egg. This salad is serious and meaty and summery. It’s a total win. I could actually put this in my face for breakfast. I will do it. Don’t dare me. Someone get me a fork. I mean… can we just look at this pretty little thing for a minute? Ugh. Now. Gimme. […]

The Heatwave | A Whiskey Cocktail

You guys!
It’s Tuesday and it’s totally almost a long four day weekend! It’s almost Fourth of July, people. Or in grown-up world “America is cool, but it’s even cooler that I can BBQ these ribs in my underwear while enjoying the sweet freedom of a whiskey cocktail on a Thursday” Day. God Bless America.
Pete and I have been gearing up by trying to find the perfect summery cocktail combo. It’s hard work, but someone has to do it.  Let us do that heavy lifting for you. We’ve come up with something pretty great. Muddled raspberries mixed with lime, ginger beer and whiskey. Summery magic? Yes indeed.
We sat around sipping guzzling our creation trying to come up with a name. Since we were both sweating semi-profusely, draping our bodies carefully in juxtaposition to an AC vent,we decided to call it The Heatwave. It’s hot. I know, I’ve mentioned this. But, really. Complain, complain. We need cocktails. […]

Spicy Sriracha & Honey Drumsticks

It’s HOT. Summer has arrived.
Who’s sweating? Raise your hands…
If you’re in California, I bet your hand is up. Unless you are one of those crazy bears that claims they don’t sweat. You know the type. That girl who wears make-up to the gym. You look at her and think “Jeez. Big mistake. After this kickboxing class she is going to look like a clown.” You almost feel sorry for her. The thing is, she is one of those non-sweating unicorns. The intense workout only makes her more glow-y and sparkly. You on the other hand (me) are sweating so heavily that it looks like you have just gone on a deep sea adventure. Your cheeks are red, your upper lip is moist, you try to put on your sunglasses, but they fog up from your general swampy-ness.  Moist. No one likes that word. Also, no one likes to be moist. Especially on their upper lip. Ugh. What? Why do I say these things. Gag. I don’t know if I can make that sentence sound better. Help.
Isn’t there some stupid saying out there claiming that “Women don’t sweat, they glisten.” FALSE. Unless you are that glow-y unicorn girl. Then you glisten. You are beautiful. I am jealous of the way your bangs aren’t turning curly in this heat. Stop it. […]