And the winner is...

Margaritas won hands down for the favorite summer drink. And in honor of the poll, here is a tasty recipe for a Watermelon Margarita that should cool you down on a hot summer day.

Frozen Watermelon Margarita

2 1/2 cups seedless (or seeded) watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes, rind discarded before measuring
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
4 ounces tequila
2 ounces orange flavored liqueur
1 1/2 cups ice
Lime wheel or watermelon wedge, for garnish
Put cut watermelon in a plastic bag and place in freezer for a minimum of 2 hours. (If time does not permit this step, add a few extra ice cubes when blending, the difference is not that significant.)
Stuff all ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth. Garnish rim of glass with a lime wheel or a watermelon wedge and serve immediately.

And now for this week's poll topic. In honor of my tomatoes ripening, what is your favorite summertime vegetable?

I'll post a recipe (or two) for the winning veggie.

Harry Potter Mania

It's here. The final book for the Harry Potter story. I pre-ordered my copy on Amazon.com for a great price, but it also meant that I had to wait for the postman to deliver it on Saturday afternoon.

As soon as it arrived I began reading and stopped for very little, okay, I did make dinner and we did go see Hairspray (which I'll review at another time). I finished the book around 11 am this morning. I won't ruin it for those that are still reading it, but I will say that is one of the best ones in the series.

Now what I'm a going to do now that is no more stories about Harry Potter???

Summer Yummies

Plump, juicy, red ruby fruits of summer. The tomatoes are starting to ripen on the vine. This year, I started a handful of tomatoe plants by seed. In early April, I put the tiny seeds in mini-greenhouse on the windowsil in the kitchen. With love, care and lots of water, they grew big enough to be replanted and now are at home in big pots on the deck. After patiently watering, sometimes twice a day due to the southern heat, I've finally got my first red tomato. I'm very excited. More for the fact I haven't managed to kill them yet.

My little garden, if you can even call it that, reminds me of walking through Grampie's garden in the summer. It was always full of colorful veggies. Dad, Grampie, Jill and I would walk across the yard and peer in between the rows looking for the ripe produce. I always loved picking cucumbers and nothing tastes as good as a sandwich made with cukes picked straight from the garden.

In the next couple of days, I should have more cherry tomatoes than I know what to do with. If anyone has any good recipes that call for cherry tomatoes, please pass them along.

Check it out...

I figured out how to put a poll on my site. I'm going try and update it once a week or so. So check back often and don't forget to take the poll!

Summer Vacation

Happy Independence Day!! Micah, Reese and I packed up the car early Wednesday morning and headed to Deep Creek Lake for a mini vacation. DCL is in western Maryland, about 20 minutes from West Virginia. If you look at a map it is in the very tip of the tail of Maryland. It takes us about three hours to get there from Owings Mills and we make the trip quite often in the summer.

Despite the rainy July 4th, we headed out to see the fireworks that are set off at the resort nearby the house. Fireworks are quite the same in the rain, but what is July 4th without fireworks.

On Thursday, Micah and I headed up to Pittsburgh. Micah's father's family is from the 'burgh and I had never been. So once again, we got back in the car and made the two hour trip north to see the Steel City. It a nice city, very hilly. We had planned on seeing a Pirates game while we were in town. However, after waiting at the stadium for about an hour and half, we decided to skip the game and head to Squirrel Hill (a community within the city of Pittsburgh) for Mineo's pizza. But before we left the ball field, we did make sure to have a Primanti Brother's Pitts-Burgher Cheeses Steak sandwich. (For those of you who are not familiar with the Primanti Brother's, it is a restaurant that is a Pittsburgh landmark. The meat is a compressed steak-like substance that is topped with french fries, cheese and seasoned lettuce. It was, let me say, interesting.)

After running back to the car in the pouring rain, Micah took me a on a tour of Squirrel Hill, the community where Micah's dad and family grew up and still live. Micah described the corners of Forbes Ave. and Murray Ave, the center of the universe and for people that grow up in Squirrel Hill it is. After the scenic tour down memory lane, we walked down Murray Ave to Mineo Pizzehouse. This small joint has won more "Best Pizza" awards that I lost count around 15. And after sampling a slice, I realized why it has won all those awards... It was damn good pizza. Thin crust with just enough combination between cheese and pizza sauce. After filling up on pizza and taking a half-baked home for those who didn't make the trip to the 'burgh with us, we headed back to the lake house.

On Friday and Saturday, we put in some serious lake time and have the sun burns to prove it. Reese loves the lake and enjoyed running around with Ashley's two dogs, Harold and Sophie. The three of them run around so much that by 5pm they crash on the porch or living room rug. As soon as we got home, Reese climbed up on the couch has has only left to pee and eat dinner. He should be comatose for at least another day or so. You have to love the lake!

Early Sunday morning we headed home to catch up on chores and TV. (I can't help it, we are both addicted to TV.)

I love vacation, but it is nice to be home.

Just one reason why I miss home...

Quick update

SO I've been told by some family members that I need to update my blog. I do have to admit that I've let this slide a little bit, but life has just gotten in the way. So here is a quick update.

We spent a lot of time in June with Micah's parents. In early June we went up to Harrisburg to celebrate Larry's birthday over sushi. (Can I share with you how much I love sushi!!) And then we spent the next two weekends out in Deep Creek. We lucked out and got two beautiful weekends at the lake. And then the following weekend, we headed back up to Harrisburg for brunch because Ashley, Micah's sister was in town for a wedding. The exciting thing is that Ashley is moving back north and is hoping to find a job in Baltimore. It will be so nice having family closer.

This past weekend we threw a pre-Fourth of July BBQ. We had about 10 friends over gor some good food and great conversation. Like the junior Martha Stewart that I am, marinated chicken and veggies and made rice and even homemade ice cream. It was a lot of fun and it was great to spend time with friends.

Now, Micah and I have one more day of work until we are off for a mini vacation. We are heading back out the Deep Creek for the 4th and then up to Pittsburgh for the day on Thursday to see a Pirates game. (I know if I want to see a horrible baseball team I could just go to an O's game, but I heard they have really good food in Pittsburgh :) ) I'll be sure to bring my camera and take pictures of the ballpark, so at least I will have something to show for my travels.

Wishing everyone a safe and fun Fourth of July!!