Archives - Weekly Update

Why do the summer months fly by when the winter ones linger? January feels a lot longer than July, and they both have 31 days. Anyone else feel this way? Let's see if August can do better!

Peaches are on my mind. I am trying to decide what to create with two huge boxes of peaches that we have here. Yesterday Ina Garten posted a photo of a cake that she is recipe testing that was topped with peaches and raspberries, as well as whipped cream. Now I am trying to guess what her cake is going to taste like. I will make mine with French Vanilla Cake Mix, and the aforementioned peaches, raspberries and cream. I know Ina will not be doing this...using the mix, I mean!

It's July 16th already. I want to slow down the calendar. Also, I think we need some makeup days on summer for all the rain that we have been seeing these last two weeks in between the extreme heat. Just as I head to the pool many nights, the inevitable thunderstorm comes through and thwarts those plans. I wish I was an early morning swimmer. I may need to start trying lunchtime swimming again!

I have spent the entire week not knowing what day it is. That is what happens when a holiday falls on a Monday.

It was a lovely long weekend; we spent a lot of time outside, which was really nice. I finished reading GREAT CIRCLE by Maggie Shipstead, all 589 pages of it! It was one of those books that twisted and turned me. Just when I felt settled in, I was brought into another direction. It is Maggie's longest book to date and very ambitious. The writing is so strong; she writes beautiful sentences and conveys so much in the way she weaves words together. She has done a lot of travel writing, and her descriptions of place are written with the eye of someone who has seen a lot and knows how to describe it. I confess to not loving the character of Marian, but that did not hamper my interest in the book; the twists and turns kept me going.

I am glad America is having a birthday, as I am craving a long weekend. Our entire amazing team has been working flat out these past few months, and a recharge is on the menu, for sure. We can use some time to watch fireworks exploding in the sky! 

We have been eating many peaches, so I had to snag some for a pie before they all disappeared. It’s been getting raves; the recipe is from THE PIE AND PASTRY BIBLE by Rose Levy Beranbaum, which I feel like I have had here forever. For the record, I loathe making pie crust, and the frozen one from Trader Joe’s has gotten huge marks from my family.

Last Sunday, I went to a farmers' market located near Cory’s apartment and picked up lots of rhubarb. I know…lots. Again citing my lack of love for making pastry dough, I decided to try the rhubarb cream cheese filling from the hand pies that I made a few weeks ago inside Pillsbury flaky dinner rolls. It was a huge success according to Tom and Greg. This weekend, I want to make a rhubarb cake that I found a recipe for in DESSERT PERSON by Claire Saffitz, and I am freezing a strawberry rhubarb pie...or maybe two.