We decided to forgo the fan fare of parades and picnics and parties and outings......
Instead, we chose to have a quiet but lovely day consisting of a little early morning shopping and a little mid day relaxing and a little evening dinner on the little bistro-deck with our wonderful fashionista daughter and her fun beau.
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| Dinner for 4....the perfect way to usher out a holiday weekend and welcome the summer..... |
And, that's exactly what I did.
Luckily, I didn't need much to pull it off since I had almost everything I needed at my finger tips--including a few bottles of my newest summer wine love. And, I was just dying to use my new outdoor summer dishes, flatware and wine goblets that I bought on a cold, snowy January day for next-to-nothing when Pier One was dumping merchandise! Don't they look pretty? I just had to show them off...
Yes, it was all good-- I had a beautiful whole salmon and some gorgeous jumbo shrimp just waiting for me to dress them up. And, I had picked up some fresh corn-on-the-cob on a whim early Saturday morning. And, as always--my fridge was stocked with all the fixings for a lovely salad of butter lettuce, goat cheese and candied pecans and I had enough cheeses, cured meats and crusty breads to open a charcuterie. The only things I had to pick up were a few of the items for the Italian potato salad that I had been craving.
Yes...I am going to share all of the recipes I used....because I know you'll want to make this same exact meal this summer....haha!
Salad (I left out the cranberries this time. FYI--I really love this salad combo and I always seem to forget how easy this dressing is)
Grilled salmon (this is AMAZING...the longer you marinate it, the better it is!)
Grilled shrimp on a plank (perfection... The Proud Italian Cook can be counted on every time!)
Roasted Onions (make these now...HURRY!)
Italian Potato Salad (I added fresh blanched-crisp green beans, extra garlic and some strips of jarred roasted red peppers...oh yum!...the longer it sits in fridge, the better!!)
Grilled corn with 3 compound butters (yummy, yummy, yummy...my fav was the parmesean herb butter of course!)
Root beer floats using Trader Joe's French Vanilla Ice Cream and Trader Joe's Vintage root beer
And, because I'm sure you want to know about other happenings......
Yes, I know you know that we kicked off Memorial Day weekend with an amazing Bruce Springsteen concert (that's the review from Thursday night....I was there Friday!).
But, I just have to gush about it..... just a wee bit....
It was truly one of the highlights of my almost 40 year adventure with my favorite rocker.
Although I always love a Bruce concert...this was different. This was personal. This touched my soul......this was a purely religious experience. I feel different.
The intimate setting, my 17th row seats, being with the guy I share a deep Bruce love with (btw...I am talking about my husband!), being surrounded by die-hard Bruce fans like myself (only die hard Bruce fans would pay the amount we paid for those tickets to hear his obscure tracks!), hearing songs that I only heard on albums.....just being there.....it was LOVE.
What more can I say?
Thank you for letting me have that moment.
In other news....
-Today, my Lap Band surgeon's office called me to schedule my 7 year (SEVEN!!!) follow up appointment. That call reminded me once again that there is no ending to my journey. It is forever.....
-I resumed my walking regimen. However, my walking shoes must be pretty angry with me. They hurt like hell! They are the same shoes I always wore. Do I have to go shoe shopping?
-The other night, I overheard two women talking about a new program they were both using called Shakeology. They both said they were losing inches off their bodies and how their energy levels increased dramatically. Having never heard of Shakeology and being that they were discussing "inches lost" and "increased energy", I assumed they were talking about some new exercise plan where you "shake". Hey, I could shake. Just as I was about to bust into their conversation, I got a phone call that diverted my attention. Since my daughter is quite an avid exerciser, I asked her---"have you ever heard of this new exercise program called Shakeology....I think you shake or something??" She looked at me like I had two heads. "Google it!" she said. So, I did. Here's what I found. I was disappointed for 2 reasons---#1-How could there be a new weight loss thing that I know nothing about? and #2-I would have preferred to find out there really is an exercise program where you lose inches and gain energy just by shaking. I like to shake and rattle and roll....
1 comment:
Looks wonderful Judi! Thanks for the recipes!
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