Autumn has officially arrived and I love the idea of a warm, cozy sip that uses locally grown apples with bourbon and smoky mezcal. This one is delicious for a swanky cocktail party but also works just fine in a red solo cup next to a bonfire or on a hayride.
The dog days of summer require something cool, strong, and slightly sweet - this one is just the ticket. Quick and easy to whip up…but impressive as a pre-dinner cocktail or for just sippin’ on the back porch. Feel free to increase the amount of vodka depending on your day -
Something magical happens when goat cheese is paired with summer tomatoes and juicy ripe peaches. This super quick salad works well as a starter course, but also equally impresses as an appetizer when served with our firecrackers or buttery grilled toast. We especially love the bright green nuance of fresh basil and mint from the garden, even though added bits of zesty arugula or watercress would make this the summer salad to end all summer salads….
Nothing on the planet is more delicious than fresh tomatoes steeped in olive oil, basil, and fresh garlic. Our SUMMER TOMATO TOAST is simple, but promises to be the belle of this year’s Fourth of July pool, lake, or river party. The tomatoes gain sweet complexity the longer they sit…so prep about an hour before guest arrival to ensure maximum flavor…and guest adoration.
Bob was my mother’s youngest brother; a sweet kid with a hidden mean streak that shocked me throughout my life. I spent a lot of time with my uncle Bob when I was in elementary school, usually fishing, going to the park, kicking around town during hot summer days, and hanging out at the peach orchard; Bobby always lighting a cigarette with a sly smile and ordering me “…you better not tell grandma…” which I never did because I just liked being around him.
Emily ONEMANBANDIT Smith turns heads. When she walks into a room, people can’t help but spill their drinks, shift their attention, and forget about whatever the hell they were talking about. Sure, she has tall, chiseled Ralph Lauren model looks, but it’s really her air of jovial accessibility that makes her so appealing to friends and strangers alike. I mean, she can talk to ANYONE as if they had been life long best friends, even complete strangers; and that laugh that is so big bold and undeniably infectious can make even the most socially awkward person feel tingly warm and accepted.
Still, there was something beautiful, endearing about her delicate laughter interspersed with a few short lines of an original song that only she could construct in that car, during that trip, at that time. These are the moments, the rituals that I understand will cross my tattered mind when I’m an old man…hell, they’re the memories I have now.
Once in a hidden back aisle of the school library when they were alone, she had made eye contact, nuzzled his neck delicately for just a moment; but they were interrupted by another kid looking for “The Bridge to Terabithia.” It’s the kind of love that kids felt innocuously back in the early eighties, before it got serious, before it could actually hurt.
