vermontucky lemonade

what has summer brought you so far? good things, i hope? summer has brought motorcycle rides/commutes for me, rosé-and-baguette picnics, farmer’s market dinners, cookouts with friends, and endless warm afternoons by the pool with the dogs lounging nearby. grilled pizza from my mom’s kitchen. my husband and i making our way, for the second time, through the best tv show ever on Instant Netflix. bringing the intensity to workouts with my girls at the gym. not too many sunburns, not enough concerts, frosty buckets full of ice and beers in the back of my truck, traveling to outdoor movie nights. saturday brunches at our favorite dive. berry picking, beach trips, bicycle rides. windows down, mosquito bites. summer is pretty great i think.

ultimate best summer jam: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Rebels. there isn’t anything Tom Petty does wrong. though this is a definite highlight.

best summer community love: running events raising money for a new pedestrian bridge that would connect our two major parks! see you at one of them soon!

favorite summer barkeep: Rob the Bartender at La Capitale, as always. the best in the west. pours  those gin fizzes quickly and icy-cold. also: best late-night grilled cheese sandwich!

ultimate summer pick-me-up: Stumptown cold brew stubbies

i don’t normally drink caffeine, but since i had been reading about these locally-brewed hardcore bottles, spying one in the coffeeshop right next door to my office had me tempted. i drank about an inch of it and was unbelievably wired. cold-brew coffee is heaven in summer, i make jars of it at home (decaf), and this was so tasty. and also the closest i have ever been to being sincerely high. i had my husband drink the rest of it and he agreed on it’s potency. a good kick in the pants. recommended.

finally, my favorite element of summer this far: Vermontucky Lemonade.

our friends have helped us consume  large quantities of this while sitting in lawn chairs with our feet in their kid’s pool (we seem to be enjoying the pool a bit more than the little guy has) on warm Saturdays. it’s kind of perfect. this is a cocktail for people who don’t care for cocktails, suitable for a dinner party, pool party, or a sunday afternoon in your PJs (i won’t tell). a zingy, freshly-squeezed lemonade base takes a maple syrup hit and a glug of your favorite bourbon. mix with ice and club soda — don’t bother making them in single glasses, you’ll need a pitcher’s worth.

this is summer living.

 

recipe from smitten kitchen

• 2 pounds lemons
• 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup maple syrup (pure or homemade)
• good bourbon
• club soda

squeeze the lemons and mix in a large pitcher with maple syrup to your taste-preference of sweetness. add about 2 cups club soda and enough ice to yield about a quart of maple lemonade.
we mix the bourbon right in (i don’t measure), but if you have varying strength-level preferences, pour bourbon and lemonade separately into each serving glass. enjoy.

thanksgiving recovery plan

i think the last week or so of such an eating marathon was probably hard on all of our stomachs/pant sizes. pretty well worth it though, i say. i cooked my best turkey ever (and my worst mashed potatoes of all time — really? i blame you, jim beam). i did my part to help consume about 65 meatballs and 8 bottles of wine… 5 lbs of carrots, 4 pies and even a box of Stovetop stuffing, which my husband insisted upon after my mother-in-law fell ill and was unable to bring her tasty homemade version. sigh. at least our long-standing tradition is to take the dog for a family walk after Thanksgiving dinner. so we pretty much negated our calorie intake (ha!).

i adore the days following Thanksgiving… firstly, leftover pie for breakfast, right?! secondly, turkey sandwiches. (i did ours with sourdough toast, mayo, melty jack cheese and gravy!) and my favorite, which is still to come: turkey. pot. pie. a delicious reward for cooking a bird that takes almost no effort at all! my grandma’s recipe! i can’t wait!

here are two things that can help you feel infinitely better after many days of heavy food and/or being on your feet in the kitchen for too long. meet my friends Salad and Cocktails! together? why not.

don’t get all bummed out. i’m not talking about a boring wilty salad. i’m talking about simple and super-fresh, colorful and tasty! i used to be against salads because a) i didn’t consider a salad an entree unless it was loaded with meat and b) nobody likes homemade vinaigrette. you know what i’m talking about… you read some science-experiment of a recipe that says to whisk oil and vinegar together AS IF THAT WOULD EVER WORK and you whisk and whisk, or shake the dressing inside a container, shake and shake as hard as you can but no matter how quick you are on the draw, the nonsense has separated again before you can bring the fork to your mouth. then you get the oil-coated leafy bites, while all the flavorful part of the dressing has slipped and slid down to the bottom of the plate.

i never understood this.

i took this picture immediately after whisking the vinaigrette a whole bunch. i am not eating that!

the problem is that whisking (hahaha as i was typing “whisking”, “whiskey” appeared instead. this is not a good sign) or shaking is not enough to get the vinaigrette to emulsify. and until it becomes an emulsion, it will keep on separating. this is a promise, and a threat. from science.

break out your blender! there is such a better way to do vinaigrette! and it is so easy and delicious and i promise you will never have to buy salad dressing again. you won’t want to. this little baby uses standard pantry ingredients and is a little thicker than the usual vinaigrette, so it really sticks. also it is good on everything! salads, sandwiches, crackers (i’ve done it. why not?)…

the same vinaigrette, blender-ized, delicious and with properly-suspended poppy seeds!

this feels like a Bill Nye episode.

honey poppy seed dressing

adapted, hardly, from America’s Test Kitchen

makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (i like to do half vegetable and half olive oil)
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
•  2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Combine all ingredients except the poppyseeds in a blender, and blend with the lid on until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides if necessary. Add poppy seeds and pulse until blended. Season with salt and pepper and pulse again. Store in a closed container in the fridge and use for up to a week.

Serve this over your choice of greens with anything else you like… fruit, berries, crunchy bites. My mom mixes (she buys the nice stuff) super-melt-in-your-mouth blue cheese, toasted and chopped walnuts, sliced pears and fresh mixed lettuces. It is the best, I’m sure you’ve heard  me talk about it about it before! And you’ve got your protein in there… so congratulate yourself on making a healthful meal, heyyyy.

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i promised a cocktail recipe, and i chose the Moscow Mule… equally tangy and refreshing on a 95-degree day in Brooklyn with my friends or on a 40-degree day in December at home, Christmas-tree-side.

A Moscow Mule is a great way to get comfortable mixing drinks at home. no fancy equipment required, it’s easy to drink, and has a wonderful spicy kick from the ginger beer. and, if you make this particular cocktail at home you will probably have a leg up on restaurants’ and bars’ versions… at least in our sleepy town, bartenders don’t keep ginger beer on hand, and instead make their Moscow Mules from ginger ale. this is a shame, don’t do it to yourself! if you’ve never bought ginger beer before, look for it with your grocer’s natural sodas or specialty sodas (despite it’s name, ginger beer is nonalcoholic).

Moscow Mule

serves 1

• 1/2 ounce lime juice from one lime
• 2 ounces vodka
• 4 to 6 ounces ginger beer, chilled

Pour everything together over ice cubes in a tall glass. Stir.

leftovers rating:

there won’t be any. bottoms up!