porch drink: fruity beer

each summer robert & I unwittingly adopt a "porch drink". the past few summers I was obsessed with making arnold palmers & honey whiskey with ginger ale. this summer we've been busy with house projects, so we've kept it as simple as popping a top. 

I have tried for many years to become a beer drinker. the phrase "pizza & cold beer" sounds so appealing to me. but even after a trip to belgium, the best that I could do was a lambic. this summer I discovered stiegl raddler graprefruit beer, and it's right up my alley. it tastes like a delicious, fruity, fizzy soda (warning: it's easy to consume one too many of these). and for a backup, we've also kept some of these michelob ultra pomegranate raspberry beers on hand. it's light, refreshing, and doesn't taste too much like beer :) 

happy labor day

happy labor day! today you'll find us in our newly landscaped backyard (finally!) sitting on a picnic blanket sipping ginger ale with a splash of honey whiskey & playing some jarts. enjoy the long weekend! 

mini caprese skewers

we had two get-togethers to go to in the same day & I wanted to make something easy that I could take to both parties, without too much effort. with all the delicious tomatoes in the store this season, I decided to create these little mini caprese skewers. I bought a ball of mozzarella & used a really small circle cookie cutter to cut out pieces (or you could just cut it with a knife), halved a bunch of grape tomatoes, picked some fresh basil from the garden, & threaded everything onto toothpicks. I added a little drizzle of fresh lemon, olive oil & salt & pepper too for flavor. they were delicious & the perfect one-bite appetizer. 

ice cream sammies

the perfect snack on a hot summer day. I used this recipe. hope you had a wonderful long weekend!

tgif + popsicles

ah, sigh of relief - it's friday. I'm celebrating with a popsicle (made with grapes, strawberries, raspberries, topped with lemonade). happy weekend!

blueberry picking

{3 pounds of berries for $9!}

singing in the rain

rainy days in the river are almost more fun than sunny ones.

happy 4th!

happy july fourth weekend! we're taking it easy & enjoying pool time, riding bikes & doing a little grilling. robert made jamie oliver's cilantro & mint marinated chicken & shrimp zucchini kabobs with baked beans & sweet corn with a rosemary butter. it was fantastic. the perfect start to a long summer weekend.

summertime snack

need a quick, easy & refreshing snack for summer? wrap some paper-thin slices of prosciutto around pieces of ripe melon. the sweet + salty flavor is delicious!

first week of autumn?

is it really officially autumn? because in florida, it still feels like summer. I'm finishing off the last of my otter pops that the amazing & most-generous west-coast liz sent me (I still owe you, liz!). looking forward to leaves & tights & pumpkin lattes... I'm trying to be patient, florida.

seasonal appetizer: peach + prosciutto + blackberry

when I walk by the peaches in the grocery store, they smell amazing. I knew I wanted to make some sort of appetizer using fresh peaches for our party, but just wasn't sure what. as soon as I saw the cover of the latest jacksonville magazine, I knew it would be the perfect end-of-summer appetizer to recreate.

I cut the peaches into slices, wrapped them in prosciutto & then used a toothpick to stick the blackberry on top. such a delicious combination.

{the perfect summer appetizer}

lisbeth salander's IKEA shopping list

what books have been on your reading list this summer? I've been enjoying the millennium trilogy by stieg larsson. if you've read the second book in the series, the girl who played with fire, you will love this post that shows photos of lisbeth salander's ikea shopping list (the books are set in sweden). sadly, I knew some of the pieces just by the names listed in the book. but I love that someone took the time to give us a visual of her apartment. and if you aren't a reader, I also enjoyed the swedish film, the girl with the dragon tattoo (the american version will be out next year, directed by david fincher & starring daniel craig. nuff said!).

bistro night

my favorite weekly meal is what I call "bistro night." it consists of fruit (whatever is in season, but usually strawberry & grapes), olives (these blue-cheese filled ones are robert's favorites), a fresh sliced baguette & a wheel of cheese. I usually serve brie, but this week I switched it up with gouda and topped it with a fresh fig compote (yeah, I've been watching "top chef"). I also had the deli slice me a few paper-thin slices of prosciutto & wrapped them around melon balls. delicious and surprisingly filling.  

{figs from our fig tree}

porch drink: arnold palmer's

my porch drink of choice this summer: the arnold palmer. a.k.a sweet tea + lemonade. I've altered tyler florence's recipe a bit to include sweet tea & a little alcohol. hey- it's summer, afterall.

arnold palmer {adapted from tyler florence's recipe}

1-2 family size iced tea bag

1 tea kettle filled with boiling water

pitcher

* ¼ sugar {for sweet tea}

1 cup simple syrup {for lemonade, recipe below}

1 lemon zest

1 cup lemon juice

ice cubes

vodka {or sweet tea vodka}

fresh mint for garnish

directions:

place 1-2 tea bags in a saucepan. boil a tea kettle full of water.  pour the boiling water over the tea bags.  let steep for several minutes. add *¼ cup of sugar & the hot tea to a pitcher. fill pitcher up with cold water & mix well until sugar dissolves.

lemonade:

to a blender, add the simple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 cup ice cubes & pulse to puree. place the mixture into the freezer for 15 mins.

add a handfil of ice cubes & a cup of the sweet tea to the shaker. using an ice cream scoop, scoop some of the frozen lemonade into the shaker. add 1 shot of regular or sweet tea vodka & mint leaves. shake well & pour into glass with the mint as a garnish.

simple syrup:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

add the sugar & water to a medium saucepan. bring to a boil & allow to simmer until the sugar has dissolved. remove from heat & set aside to cool completely. 

fig season

we are patiently awaiting our figs to ripen. we've picked a few but most are still green. you've gotta pick them just at the right moment, when they start to change colors but before the squirrels & birds get to them. looking forward to making all kinds of delicious things with the fresh figs this summer.

summer kabobs

nothing says summer like kabobs on the grill. I marinated some chicken in a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, paprika and s&p for a few hours. we threaded skewers with green peppers, banana peppers, onion & my favorite, pineapple & threw them on the grill. they were delicious & so easy.

the next morning robert cooked up some omelets with the leftovers.

flowers in-use

robert used the rosemary in his anniversary flower arrangement to make these amazing rosemary potatoes for dinner, served with grilled steak, corn on the cob & arnold palmers. a perfect summer meal on the deck.

mother's day drink

happy mother's day! I am so very blessed to have an amazing mother & grandmother. to celebrate, we went down to the family lakehouse for the weekend. on sunday I made everyone breakfast: a ham, spinach & swiss quiche, home-fried potatoes, fruit salad & a sparkling white sangria, which was delicious. it's a perfect summer drink & would be great for entertaining. cheers to mom!

sangria de cava (sparkling white sangria):

1 375ml bottle of cava (or any sparkling wine)
1/4 oz torres 5 brandy (or any spanish brandy)
1/4 oz gran torres liqueur (or any orange liqueur; I used peach flavor instead!)
splash of lemon-lime soda
1 orange
1 lime
cherries for garnish (I used strawberries)
simple syrup (I used 1/2 cup)

preparation:
cut orange & lime in half. pill large pitcher with ice and combine the wine, brandy, liqueur, lemon-lime soda, the juice from half the orange & half the lime. stir. add simple syrup to obtain desired sweetness. slice remaining orange & lime into thin slices & add to pitcher.

*to make simple syrup, combine one part water to one part sugar in small saucepan. bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. chill before use.