Cucumber lime cooler

Got cucumbers? I know you do. Your cucumber patch has probably gone wild, just like mine has. Cukes are pretty good for you, and darn refreshing too, so this week's Saturday Sipper is a wonderfully refreshing drink that uses up some of those surplus cucumbers.

CUCUMBER LIME COOLER

1/2 large cucumber (or two small pickling cukes), unpeeled

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about two)

1 + 1/2 tablespoons honey 

2 ounces vodka

5 fresh mint leaves

two mint sprigs for garnishing

Makes two minty fresh cocktails!

Place all the ingredients into your blender and whirl away until smooth. Pour into two glasses and garnish with a big sprig of mint.

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Color inspiration—sunflowers

Ah! Sunflower

Ah Sunflower, weary of time, 

Who countest the steps of the sun; 

Seeking after that sweet golden clime 

Where the traveller's journey is done; 

Where the Youth pined away with desire, 

And the pale virgin shrouded in snow, 

Arise from their graves, and aspire 

Where my Sunflower wishes to go!

—William Blake

To see more colors, click on the red "color inspiration" label below.

A prolific patch of happy

A prolific patch of purple coneflowers in my side garden is a happy sight indeed—and the bees love them!

A little Ludwig van

We have a tradition in late August to pull the lounge chairs into a shady spot, crank up the outside speakers, and tune into the radio playing live at Tanglewood, whose last concert of every year is Beethoven's ninth symphony. We've been to Tanglewood many times, and have seen this choral masterpiece performed, but it's much less crowded in our back yard. Drinks and nibbles are always a part of this ritual of course, and here we have chilled Prosecco, a variety of cheeses, some crusty bread, and local fruits. The best peaches of the season were from nearby Brooksby Farm.

The Leland Palmer

You've heard of the Arnold Palmer, haven't you—half lemonade and half iced tea? Well This week's Saturday Sipper celebrates Arnold's twisted relative from David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks' fame—the Leland Palmer. It's a bit complicated with loads of ingredients, and you must make a syrup and chill well before mixing the drink, but it's super refreshing and well worth the effort. This cocktail is straight from Bon Appétit magazine.

THE LELAND PALMER

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup hot water
3 cups freshly brewed jasmine tea, cooled
3/4 cup gin
3/4 cup limoncello
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice
1 cup chilled club soda
Ice cubes
6 lemon slices (for garnish)

To make the Leland Palmer syrup base— Stir honey and 1/2 cup hot water in small bowl until honey dissolves. Cool completely. Combine honey water, jasmine tea, gin, limoncello, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice in large jar and chill for several hours. This is the Leland Palmer syrup—enough for 6 drinks.

To make the Leland Palmer drinks— Fill two glasses with ice and add (1/6th of) the Leland Palmer syrup to each glass, then top with club soda and garnish with a lemon wheel or wedge.  

Makes two twisted Leland Palmer cocktails!

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Gourd-zilla

One or two wild things usually pop up from our compost that we put throughout the gardens. Sometimes it's a tomato, sometimes it's a flower, and sometimes it's a mystery for a while. When I saw the greens on this plant I was hoping that it was going to be a pumpkin, but it turned out to be an ornamental gourd. (emphasis on mental.) The runners on this fellah must be 25 feet long, so I have been calling it (cue the dramatic music here) Gourd-zilla. Run wild, run free Gourd-zilla. Just do your thing.

Postscript: We harvested about a dozen of these yellow and green gourds, 

and six of the plain yellow ones that look sort of like pears..

Opera costumes

Opera Costumes from the time of Marie Antoinette

in the late 1770’s. Gorgeousness!

Happy birthday Mom!

Here is my incredibly amazing mom on her 80th birthday. 

She is in a 1934 Ford—the year she was born!
My cousin Bill refurbed this classic car.

Pauli's punch!

At my mother's 80th birthday party today we served a "welcome drink" called Pauli's punch. (Pauli is short for her name, Pauline.) The drink was made with Hpnotiq, a French liqueur made with cognac and fruit juices. We added rum to give a little extra kick, lots of lime juice to cut all that sweetness, and some club soda to add a little fizz, because let's face it, even at 80 Pauli has pazazz!!

PAULI's PUNCH

2 oz Hpnotiq liqueur

1/4 lime wedge, squeezed 

1 oz white rum
club soda

lime wedge for garnishing

In a large glass, mix Hpnotiq with rum and the squeezed lime juice. Fill two ice-filled glasses with this mix until 3/4 of the way up the glass, then top off with the club soda. Garnish with lime.

Makes two punchy cocktails!

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Color inspiration—pea pods

To see more colors, click on the red "color inspiration" label below.

Purple loosestrife + goldenrod

A curved split-rail fence curves along a field of purple loosetrife and goldenrod on my street in Hamilton. Dan took this photo the other day on a morning walk. I think there are all sorts of other wildflowers in this field, milk weed pods, and snapdragons. All just doing their own thing on a lovely summer day.

Gorgeous portrait–Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall  1924-2014 

Lauren Bacall—one of the last living Hollywood legends—died yesterday. This gorgeous portrait of her shows off her youthful beauty. She turned heads with those big green eyes set wide apart on her face, those lips, and that hair!  She was sassy, sultry, and sexy with a husky voice and a lanky figure, but somehow, when her head was tilted down and her eyes were looking up, she was irresistibly adorable too. And so many films! My favorite of hers is probably How to Marry a Millionaire… I'm embarrassed confess how many times I've actually seen it….Twenty?… Thirty? I'm also a fan of Key Largo, Designing Woman, The Big Sleep, and Murder on the Orient Express. Most recently she voiced the character an old mouse in the charming English version of the animated French film  Ernest & Celestine. I like that she was always a straight shooter, saying exactly what was on her mind. Take for example that famous line she cooed to future husband Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not...

You know how to whistle, don't you Steve?

You just put your lips together and blow.

Cue the wolf whistle, and rest in peace 'Slim.'

Click on the gorgeous portraits label below for more gorgeousness!

You alone will have the stars

O Captain! My Captain!…

R.I.P. Robin Williams 

You - you alone will have the stars 
as no one else has them…

In one of the stars I shall be living. 
In one of them I shall be laughing. 

And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, 

when you look at the sky at night…

You - only you - will have stars that can laugh.

—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

+ + +

If you haven't ever read
Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, you should.
And if you haven't reread it lately, do it soon.
What is essential truly is invisible to the eye.

A Pickle for a Nickel, and other cucumber stories

My cucumber patch has gone wild! I grow the little pickling cukes instead of  their bigger cousins because I think they are crunchier... especially when they are picked real small. Even some of the ones in the photo above were too big for my liking, like that big fellah. The small cukes have a tender skin, a bumpy texture, and a killer crunch—and they actually snap when bitten. Z-snap! 

I suppose you are wondering about the title of this post? Well, pickling cucumbers always remind me of the pickles my mom made when we were little—gigantic jars of them, made with fresh dill from the garden—and that memory always reminds me of the book "A Pickle for a Nickel," that I had when I was even younger. Must find a copy of that book.

The Cleopatra

This week's Saturday Sipper may seem a little girly, but don't shy away guys, it's still a great summer drink. It's named after Cleopatra because she believed that rose petals were an aphrodisiac. Amor, amor!

The Egyptian Rose—known for its many petals—was the one that Cleopatra used to entice Mark Antony. Apparently Cleo covered the floors of her palace, and of course, in her boudoir and most especially around her bed. Rumor has it that the fresh rose petals were a foot and a half deep, and even the sails of Cleopatra's royal barge were drenched in rose water. So how could Mark Antony not succumb to the seductive minx? Try this drink and see what happens.

THE CLEOPATRA

2 oz gin (of your choice)

2 drops rose water
pink lemonade

roses for garnishing

Fill two glasses with ice and add an ounce of gin into to each. Add 1 drop of rose water to each glass... You do have some, don't you?! Fill up the rest of the glass with pink lemonade (yes, I suppose plan yellow lemonade would do in a pinch, but really...) then garnish with roses or rose petals. I'm sure that Cleopatra would approve.

Makes two rosy cocktails!

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Sufferin' succotash!

This summer succotash salad is full of crazy good colors and textures, including sweet nectarines, corn, peas (wishing I had lima beans) summer squash, shallots, rings of sweet mini chili peppers and spicy jalapeños, halves of mini grape yellow and orange tomatoes, and lastly, creamy avocado. It was dressed with simple, zesty citrus vinaigrette. The original recipe hails from Food & Wine magazine, where they call it a Summer Vegetable Ceviche, but sufferin' succotash… let's call it what it is!

INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 scallion, thinly sliced in rings
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
1 cup fresh baby lima beans (or frozen, or peas)
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (raw, from 2 ears)
2 nectarines, cut into thin wedges
1 Hass avocado, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 jalapeño, seeded and sliced into thin rings
1 large orange bell pepper, sliced into thin rings
1 pint of colorful grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1 /2 thin yellow summer squash, sliced into thin rings
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (optional)

If using fresh lima beans, cook them first. Shell the lima beans from pods and cook in a small saucepan of salted boiling water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the beans and rinse under cold water.

Make citrus vinaigrette by whisking the lime zest and juice with the olive oil, scallion and shallot in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper to taste. Gently fold in the lima beans, corn, nectarines, avocado, orange pepper, jalapeño and tomatoes. You can refrigerate 2 hours in advance or serve immediately. Fold in the cilantro just before serving.

Blue + white

Blue and white fabric makes me smile.

Cucumber blossoms + curlicues

I love those crazy cucumber curlicues. 

Lillet cocktail

The Saturday Sipper this week is one of the most refreshing summer cocktails ever—the Lillet cocktail. Lillet blanc is a delicious French apéritif wine made with a blend of white wines and liqueurs made from Spanish and Moroccan orange peels. Click here to read the history of Lillet—it's quite fascinating. Mmmm—this cocktail is light with the essence of orange, and not too boozy tasting. 

THE LILLET COCKTAIL

2 oz Lillet blanc

2-3 drops of orange bitters
prosecco or champagne

orange slice for garnishing

Fill two glasses with ice and add an ounce of Lillet into to each. Add 2-3 drops of the orange bitters (I use Stirring's brand), then fill glass with the prosecco or champagne. Stir and add a slice of orange and maybe a pretty nasturtium flower, and then sip and dream of being in the South of France.

Makes two trés refreshing Lillet cocktails

 

Read more about Lillet by clicking here!

You may also like the Lillet Basil Cocktail

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