Patriotic Party Food

Did the month of July sneak up on you, too? Somehow June zoomed by and suddenly the 4th of July is tomorrow. Yikes! So, I thought I'd round up a few ideas in case you're on the hook to bring a dish to a BBQ. Or, perhaps you're hosting a BBQ that you only planned yesterday, and you're out of propane. No, just me? Sneaky, sneaky July 4.



A Hot Dog Bar - throw a bunch of hot dogs on the grill, and put out as many fixings as you can gather. Add a pickle bar if you're feeling fancy.

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Dry Rubbed Ribs - For a meat option with a bit more depth than a hot dog, these ribs look to-die-for.



Red, White & Blueberry Shortcake - I improvised this layered shortcake cake for a July 4th BBQ two years ago, and it was a total hit.



Strawberry Ice Cream Cake - Add blueberries or blackberries to this simple ice cream cake for some patriotic flair.



Mini Layer Cakes - Made in a tin can! Borrow Jordan's idea, but make it with white cake and vanilla frosting. Dye the frosting red & blue, or simply slip some red & blue berries in with the white frosting.



Triple Berry Pie - Simple & summery, just add some whipped cream for the requisite pop of white. 

Happy 4th!

Top image by Machiine

Summer Getaways

Let's move on to summer, shall we? It unofficially starts this weekend (did Memorial Day sneak up on anyone else?) and while I'm more of a Spring gal for the most part, I get excited for summer getaways. I like them to be close-ish to home (so the relaxing can start a.s.a.p.) lazy but also full (like how summer days felt when you were nine), and with plenty of summer-y food (preferably cooked outside and enjoyed with a cold beer).



So when I ran across this New York Magazine slideshow of fantasy summer rentals, it got my wheels spinning. Some of these definitely sit in the "fantasy" category with their hefty price tags, but Airbnb is sure to have plenty of places to rent with just as much charm. But let's dream for a minute, ok?





I'm ready to pack a bag and hit the road. Do you have fun travel plans for the long weekend?

All photos via NY Mag, linked info here.

Summer Dreamin'

I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm about to skip over a season. I'm excited about spring, I really am. I sort of like it more than summer, to be honest (no humidity!). But for some reason, today I'm dreaming about summer. It doesn't help that Urban Daddy wrote about the dreamiest-sounding summer getaway ever, The Graham & Co. It's in Phoenicia, NY in the Catskills, where I once spent an idyllic weekend in a slightly creepy cabin. The Graham & Co. sounds like it could improve upon that already wonderful weekend by removing the creepy cabin quotient.





Bonfires, movies on the lawn, floating down the river in an inner tube...sign me up. Although not for a few more months, it's supposed to snow tomorrow.

On Summer

"Summertime, oh summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweet fern and the juniper forever and ever, summer without end; this was the background, and the life along the shore was the design..."

Do you, too, feel like summer is just beginning? Usually, for me, August is summer tinged with a hint of fall. But this year, summer feels like it's just starting (blaming it on wedding season). Instead of secretly gearing up for fall, I'm reminding myself that September is still warm, s'mores will still taste like childhood, I'll still have time to steal away to Fire Island for the day.

While convincing myself that there's much more summer left to enjoy, I ran across this E.B. White essay that's soaked in summer memories, beautifully written.



"I took along my son, who had never had any fresh water up his nose and who had seen lily pads only from train windows. On the journey over to the lake I began to wonder what it would be like. I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot--the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camps. I was sure that the tarred road would have found it out and I wondered in what other ways it would be desolated. It is strange how much you can remember about places like that once you allow your mind to return into the grooves which lead back. You remember one thing, and that suddenly reminds you of another thing. I guess I remembered clearest of all the early mornings, when the lake was cool and motionless, remembered how the bedroom smelled of the lumber it was made of and of the wet woods whose scent entered through the screen. The partitions in the camp were thin and did not extend clear to the top of the rooms, and as I was always the first up I would dress softly so as not to wake the others, and sneak out into the sweet outdoors and start out in the canoe, keeping close along the shore in the long shadows of the pines. I remembered being very careful never to rub my paddle against the gunwale for fear of disturbing the stillness of the cathedral."

If you have a moment, read the whole essay here.

Top photo by Sarah Montour, second photo by William Abranowicz via Martha Stewart.

On August

When August rolls around I always end up thinking about this old Slate article about how nothing good ever happens in August. There are no holidays in August, wars have started in August, and Elvis died in August.

Ok, so perhaps it doesn't have the best historical or political track record. In spite of that, August has the happy task of beginning the transition from summer to fall. Some might argue that that happens in September, but I think it's August that is simultaneously full of the last joys of summer and the first glimmers of fall. So, to make use of the last of the year's warm, sunny days, here's what I'm looking forward to for the rest of August.



Tomatoes. When I was a kid, my Dad's tomato plants took over our garden every summer. My favorites were the yellow lightbulb-shaped ones that my sister (who called them "tom-a-tah-moes") and I would steal, warmed by the sun, right off the vine, and sneakily pop into our mouths while outside playing.



Frozen treats. Not that I don't love a good ice cream cone in winter (I do), but there's something decidedly summer about racing the drip of ice cream down your cone and winning.



Summer reading. Some books just have to be read in the summer, preferably outdoors. I've already mentioned my habit of rereading Gatsby in the summer, and I'm told the book I've just started (A Tree Grows In Brooklyn) is prime summer reading material.



Eating outside. Picnics, BBQs, park benches, or even the sidewalk. Bugs, schmugs.



Last swims. So far I've taking a dip in the ocean, two rivers, and a friend's kiddie pool. I want to do each one once more before my bathing suit gets retired.

Did I miss anything? What are you looking forward to in the final weeks before fall?

Images via: Diary Of A Daydreamer, skinnylaminx on flickr, Katie at Simple Bites, Harris Tweed, Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day, and Quin Bisset.

Cookies & Ice Cream

The Northeast is in the midst of our first real heat wave of the summer (we're supposed to have 100 degree weather this weekend!), and I've been craving ice cream sandwiches. (This one is my favorite.) For something a little less messy, I'd love to try a cup of je & jo's organic ice cream with cookie dough. It comes in flavors like mint ice cream with lemon lavender shortbread cookie dough, cinnamon ice cream with oatmeal raisin cookie dough, and peanut butter ice cream with peanut butter cookie dough. Yum!

Bonus: In addition to their Hell's Kitchen store, they have an ice cream tricycle riding around the city. I'll be on the lookout for sure.



above image via You Are My Fave