Thursday, August 4, 2011

My Summertime List




I see so many lists in the summertime --  best beaches, best resorts, best restaurants, best shopping.
  Here is my list of the things I want to be doing in August to stay cool, happy, and inspired.

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This is what I want to be eating

Michael Chiarello's Late Summer Bruschetta

 Pasta with Pesto, Pinenuts, and Peas;  Heirloom tomatoes;  Grilled Steak
Cooked recently by myself and a friend for the Hollywood Bowl

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This is what I want to be drinking

Chilled chardonnay from my friend Bill Sweat's winery in Oregon.

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This is where I want to be dining

On the patio in the back yard

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This is what I want to be buying at the farmers market

Heirloom tomatoes and gorgeous peaches

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This is what I want to be using on my table

Placemats bought in New York in June

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This is what I want to be doing

Going to old-fashioned bake sales like this one for "Share Our Strength"


Visiting vegetable gardens in the neighborhood

Finding ideas for the garden in nurseries like this one in the Hamptons

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This is what I want to be reading

Anne Zimmerman's new book on M.F.K. Fisher

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This is what I want to be hearing

Music under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl

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This is what I love (!)  to be seeing

The front door of my daughter's house when she and her husband have us over for dinner

I hope your summer is filled with simple pleasures that you savor throughout the month of August.  Before we know it September will be here, the pace will quicken, and we will all be rushing around.  Hopefully we are making a lot of memories that we can call upon when fall is here to slow our pace and bring us back down to earth.

  

7 comments:

  1. OMG this is so cute! can't wait for many more dinners.xoxo

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  2. Sunday, what amazing images and heartfelt words. You're truly Heather's mother. Cozy runs in the family.

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  3. I love the idea of making memories so that we will come back to earth! xoxo

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  4. Sunday! I am so excited for you to read my book. Can't wait to know what you think. Also -- I know Bill Sweat. I used to work for a winery in Oregon, R. Stuart & Co. Bill and Donna were in the wine club when I managed it, and we also purchased grapes from their gorgeous Winderlea (formerly Goldschmidt) vineyard. I just tasted some of their chardonnay at the International Pinot Noir Celebration. Beautiful wines, nice people, and a small world!

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  5. Anne, that really is a case of a small world. Bill and I both went to Bates College in Maine and we have been on the Alumni Council at Bates for several years now. His chardonnay is such a good wine. And yes I can't wait to read the book. M.F.K. Fisher is so legendary in the culinary world and yet I know very little about her.

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  6. This is the most wonderful post...and in so many ways one I can relate to. I read the book; it was great. Have you read the new book "As always Julia"...excellent! I am not familiar with the wine, but of course I well know the Hollywood Bowl. And I must tell you that you garden is glorious!

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  7. Lovely list!! I have my own versions similar to yours but I have never had such a busy summer - I haven't had the time to do all the things I would like!! And many I've been talking to have said the same - something about this year!! Enjoy!!

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