Summin up the Summer

Holy cow this summer has gone fast.  It went by so fast that I didn’t even have a chance to blog!  I hope you had a wonderful couple of months.  I have been spending a large part of the summer trying to not melt from the ridiculous Arizona heat.  One of Mr. C’s family members came to visit a few weeks ago and after telling us about the 120+ temp of her car she remarked, “you people are crazy!”  I couldn’t agree more, we are crazy.  Every summer I think that it’s impossible that it was ever cold in this state but then November comes,  I open the windows and take walks and wear layers and my beloved scarves and I think it’s impossible that it was ever really THAT hot.  And then the process repeats itself.  I think this is also called insanity.

Since I can’t possibly tell you everything I did this summer, I’ll share a few pictures with you.

Ohmygosh is this not the cutest puppy you’ve ever seen?  We got Coconut groomed at the beginning of summer and when Mr. C brought her home she had the cutest pink feathery bows.  They lasted about 5 minutes after I took this photo.  That’s probably a good thing though because the cat (the one with claws), thought they were toys strategically placed on the dog.

Mr. C and I served on Chrysalis, a Christian youth retreat.  We were cooks although that word doesn’t even begin to describe it.  Anyhow, we both needed an apron so I prettied them up.  We joked that we almost got a divorce trying to figure out how to get that pocket on there but we worked through it (whew!).  I was really happy with the end result.  I was also very proud of myself that I kept my apron so clean.   Right after I said that very thing out loud I looked down to find that the chocolate ice cream I was serving had dripped all over my white apron.  Oops.  The weekend was very fun though and it was amazing to see the transition in the kids.  I especially loved that I was able to serve with Mr. C, one of my amazing friends, some friends I hadn’t seen in awhile, and also met some really wonderful people.

My dad is IMPOSSIBLE to buy for.  I really think he is the worst person in the entire world to try to find a gift for.  So, for father’s day I wrote him a cheesy rhymey poem and promised him a few homemade pies and lets face it, there’s really no baked good that beats my pies.  I whipped up this baby, filled it with cherries, and even took the time to do the lattice top.  I should mention I was baking this at my parent’s house in their oven that apparently is not like ours.  As we were eating dinner I smelled something and went to check the pie.  Black smoke billowed out of the oven and flames shot out.  Okay, that’s a bit drastic but it would be accurate to say I burnt the crap out of the top crust.  We are warriors though and ate it.  It was still amazing.

There’s not much to say about this one except that I got the best pedicure available in Nebraska.  People say there’s not much to see in Nebraska but I beg to differ.  For one there’s an amazing nail tech who gives killer pedis.  She’s a pretty awesome person too. 

Whoa, you even get a BONUS PIC with this one!  When I was little my parents would take me to Sioux City to shop (you have to go to the big city for the good shopping experiences you know) and drive around and eat hotdogs.  These aren’t just any hot dogs though.  The Milwaukee Weiner House has been around forever.  My dad grew up eating these things so you know it’s been a long time.  Their menu is very basic and hot dogs are about the only thing you can get.  Well, that and glass bottled drinks.  I should also probably mention that I don’t really eat hot dogs.  EVER.  Except of course when we visit the Milwaukee Weiner House.  I may have had three.  Yes, don’t judge me.  They were amazing and after we drove around checking out the old houses which is another one of my loves.

I’ve been a reading fool this summer.  If you remember, my library book requests got a little out of control and I ended up with a zillion books at once.  I love how books have the capacity to suck you into a new world and the best writers write in such a way that you feel the emotions of the characters.  Unfortunately I have a tendency to get sucked in too much and for the next few days I’m upset I’m not a wizard or shadowhunter or whatever the main character was.  Although I read a bunch of books, this is the only one I felt the need to take a photo of apparently and I really have no idea why I have the photo anyhow.  I loved “The Last Summer of You and Me” by the same author and was very excited to find another book by her.  I read most of this book while flying back to AZ from NE.  After we got our luggage and drove home the logical choice would have been to unpack, do laundry, or go to sleep.  Instead I kept reading this book.  It was that good.  I even cried at one point and I am NOT a crier.   Anyhow, the point is that this book is amazing and you need to read it. 

I may have spent half of my summer cooking and cutting up fresh produce.  I’ve bought more corn, avocado, jalapenos and smoothie makings than I have in my entire life.  Although we’ve tried a bunch of new recipes this summer I still have no idea sometimes what to make when I sit down to do my weekly meal planning.  I do have a few new favs now though that I’m excited to share with you so stay tuned for posts with lots of pictures.  I specifically took this photo to prove that sometimes my food is picture pretty.  Please keep that in mind when you’re wondering what happened to the food in future pictures.

I will have a recipe for you next time. I can almost hear you jumping up and down and yelling with glee!  It’s super amazing and I’m pretty obsessed with it.  Did that hook you yet?