And...We're Back

Summer lasts forever around here so there's really no way for me to know when to get back to blogging. Especially since it's only gotten HOTTER since September hit. Awesome. Not. We have had a great summer and will continue to have a great summer, oh until ... about next summer, when we'll start having another great summer again. That's right, endless summers around here. Actually, if I didn't write a few things down and take a few pictures here and there I'd say, duuuuuuude, my summer was so laaaaame, all I did this summer was wooooooork. Which is true. But we also managed to have some fun. So, without further ado.......I'm bringing blogging back.

It's apropos to start a very important stream of posts with my first love in life: food. These are some summer eats we enjoyed over the last couple months. Some high points of the summer lip-smacking:

* Living life out of a blender. Strawberry smoothies, blueberry smoothies, mixed berry smoothies, watermelon juice, peach shakes, chocolate shakes, a butter pecan shake which kind of made me gag, and sadly, no papaya milk this year. I had one bad experience with a papaya this summer and I can't go back for the time being. We will make up soon, I hope. Nothing effects you quite like an encounter with an overripe papaya. Oh, and blender salsa. Entirely new concept to me but brought to my mind by a missionary that lives around the corner who brought us some of his own as a house-warming gift - how thoughtful! And how delicious. Chips and salsa were my dinner maaaany times.

* The Grill! I learned how to use the neighborhood grill. I mean, I learned how to turn ON the neighborhood grill. After that I made Adam or the nearest male take care of the actual grilling. We had BBQ chicken, teriyaki chicken ... and then BBQ chicken again. I'm still new to grilling so I'm still kind of timid. A big, juicy steak is next on the list of things-to-grill, but I'm a little intimidated. Once again, somehow I have a feeling someone from the male species will pop up from behind the nearest bush, take the giant fork from my hands, and do what he came to this earth to do: grill a beefsteak.

* Various items that feature mayonnaise as the main ingredient. For some reason, I was shameless with the mayo this summer. I made several chicken salads, my new favorite involving a combination of mayo AND sour cream. Sheer delight, that combo. Then I made macaroni salad AND my very first potato salad. The latter usually makes me wretch at the sight and smell of it, but for some reason there was a hankering down deep inside. And I was hosting a Labor Day picnic, so I thought it only right that the potato salad have one last honorary showing this season. The macaroni salad was seriously lacking in mayo so I added as much as I could afford but it was still dry. Some recipes on the internet make me lose hope in internet recipes. Back to Betty Crocker for the potato salad. Delicious and anti-nutritious.

* A couple tarts and many cakes. First I went through a tart phase. You have a birthday? You get a giant lemon berry tart! I have a birthday? I get a giant lemon berry tart! Adam has a birthday? Guess what he gets? Wow - the tart had my heart ... and then too much lemon curd got lodged in that same heart and we decided to take a break. Onto the cakes. I can't remember what cakes I made, exactly, but I remember that there was a phase. A phase that had me whipping out frosting concoctions the likes of which I never knew existed. The phase ended, sadly, in something close to tragic, this time an overly taxed stomach resulting from eating just one wedge from this three-layer, lop-sided chocolate, banana, peanut butter masterpiece I created for Adam's brother's birthday. I've regretted that cake ever since. It kind of sent me over the edge. And I've put the cake plate back on hiatus.

* Visits to the outside world. Yes, even to restaurants. We don't eat out much, but when we do, I can think of no two people who relish, enjoy, savor and literally devour it more, than us. TK Burgers - a hole in the wall across the street from Huntington Beach that has a cheap, huge burger and plate of fries that illicited this thinking-out-loud statement from Adam, "I don't want this to EVER end." Dairy Queen next door to TK Burgers - we rarely pass a Dairy Queen without a huge screech on the breaks and a dramatic swerve into the parking lot. This time we only had to walk, phew. The Girl Scout mint blizzard was my summer favorite. Mmmmmm, you get that sneaky I've-got-thin-mints-out-of-season kind of feeling and it somehow makes it alllll the more satisfying. Pat & Oscars. If you live around here, you might frown down upon my judgement. I'll tell you, my first time in a P&O's was to ask for directions and the place made me shudder. But I've been back to that place more times than any other place around here, and I still crave it. It's boring old American food served almost cafeteria style and soooooo cheap. Last night it hit the spot and it will continue to do so many more times, I know. Orange's street fair was also a culinary adventure. They've got Irish Street, Dutch Street, American Street, Australian Street, Germany Street, and the one we chose: Greek Street. We got souvlakis and loufthakes (no idea if that's even close) - so basically flat bread filled with fresh-grilled meat, tomatos, onions and some yogurt sauce, and then little donut holes soaked in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. I nearly threw it all up that night cuz I had preceeded the meal with a bag of Cheetos ... smart ... but I would do it all over again in a second.

It's almost alarming how long I could go on about food, but I'll give it up there. See you soon for more posts...be excited. Be very excited.