Radiometer! I admit to not totally understanding the science behind this, but the vane inside of this glass bulb moves when exposed to light. It is one of the prettiest objects in my house and a fun conversation piece. (More info on radiometers here.)

Extension Cord, aka The Most Beautiful Extension Cord in the World. I know it is extravagant to spend money on something that would cost you $2 at the hardware store—but come on people! Isn’t that what gifts are about? Look at this thing! And it is perfect for spots where an extension cord can’t be hidden.

Red Rock. Red Rock is the newest creation of Wisconsin cheesemaker Chris Roelli. It is a sharp cheddar with blue veining and is the most beautiful cheese I have ever seen. It looks like a geode, I could stare at it for hours. It is also one of the best things I ate in 2011. I haven’t been this excited about a cheese since last year’s bandaged cheddar. Remember, cheese is always the perfect gift. read more+++

Crunch time. Like many of you, I am planning Thanksgiving dinner. For me, Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday: secular, food-centric and followed by 3 days of no work! I thought it would be a good idea to check in and see what you all were planning on cooking. I hope we might be able to inspire each other and get energized for the big day. read more+++

This one is for Carollina, who asked what we brought back from the trip and wisely encouraged us to bring an extra bag.

Merci for Merci, one of my favorite places in Paris. These small enamel bowls are so rad.

Christine Ferber preserves for Pierre Hermé. The lady knows how to preserve fruit. I am always amazed when jars of jam survive air travel. read more+++

I want to spend a little more time talking techniques. Not formal recipes, but way of doing basic stuff that I find useful. And what better place to start than croutons? read more+++

Whenever I travel in Europe, I inevitably end up craving Mexican food. I need some heat. We have discussed traveling with a bottle of hot sauce, but that seems sort of weird and the chances of disaster are high. Admittedly, I could seek out Mexican restaurants, but I suspect they would be disappointing in one way or another. So, I return to the states wanting to put hot sauce on everything.

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I somehow missed the 3-year anniversary of my blog.

I’m still distracted.

Here’s the thing, I’m planning a wedding—my wedding! Yes, dear reader, Bryan is finally making an honest man out of me (eww, that joke kind of creeped me out). Remember when we went to Massachusetts back in July? Well, we got married on a beautiful summer day under an old tree in Salem. Just the two of us.

But we weren’t content with it being just the two of us. We think these things need to be celebrated and so we’ve been planning a wedding celebration to bring together many of our closest friends and family for a fun weekend.

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I’ve been distracted.

By things like the view above. Cape Cod. Provincetown. Massachusetts. Bryan and I recently spent some beautiful days in Massachusetts. I can’t begin to tell you how much I love that state.

We had one of the most wonderful dinners in recent memory at Oleana in Cambridge. Such a special place full of both good food and good people. It was totally perfect. I wish it were down the street. We ate the freshest of fresh oysters at the Provincetown farmers market and fried dough from the Portugese Bakery. I was happy to discover A & J King Bakery in Salem and will look forward to the next time I can eat one of their walnut sticky buns. We shared plates of Italian cookies from Mike’s in celebration of my best friend’s engagement.

You see, there were a lot of distractions. But I am back, and just in time for farmers market bliss. Stone fruit, berries and more vegetables than I know what to with. So forgive these last few quiet summer weeks, and know that I am doing what I hope you are doing- enjoying this crazy hot summer. I’ll be back in business this week with some updates on what has been cooking in my kitchen. xo

Two fun updates before I continue with regularly scheduled programming.

First of all, Bryan and I are two of the first-time homeowners profiled in the June/July issue of ReadyMade magazine. I love the issue (which is dedicated to first homes) and I really enjoyed reading about what others went through and the advice they had to share. There are some great photos of our apartment (mostly our kitchen!) and even a sweet shot of us eating breakfast. Eating your breakfast in front of a photo/design team and trying to act normal is not an easy task—especially for jokers like us.

This week was also my second dinner at Floriole. I had a great time working in the kitchen and getting to connect with those of you that joined us for our spring meal. It was such a pleasure to see/meet some of my fellow Chicago bloggers (Sara, Elizabeth, and Caroline!) as well as other readers and friends who made the trip up from neighborhoods as far away as Hyde Park (Katie and Octavian!), were sent to the dinner by friends in other cities (Melina!), or showed up despite feeling under the weather because they are true-blue friends (Katie!). And of course I had so much fun working with all of my friends at Floriole.

This time around, Melissa Yen (remember her?!) of Jo Snow syrups crafted us a beautiful rhubarb and basil syrup that we turned into a delicious beer cocktail. We all agreed we would be drinking this one all summer long.

We used Goose island Sofie (a Belgian-style ale that they describe as “tart, dry, sparkling”), a splash of soda water, and some of the rhubarb basil syrup. All of that on ice with a sprig of basil and a slice of rhubarb. A great contender for the official Drink of Summer, or at least of early summer.

Thanks to everyone for the good times this week! I’ll keep you posted on future events.

Next up, rhubarb mania sweeps my kitchen. Again.

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