But not after the last couple of weeks. The puu-puu platter of 90-degree weather, nice neighbors, fresh organic fruit and a long-neglected ice cream maker conspired to add a little avoirdupois to the frame. Not to mention the Rosé.
Seattle, whence we moved, would normally be beautiful this time of year. But here in the Northern California city of Oakley, I sit in my shortee PJs and read in the morning paper that Sea-town has been dealing with weeks of temps in the mid-60s, and showers. One year ago, we’d have been taking care of a few outdoor inspection items to complete the sale of the house, and getting ready to have the movers pack us up, while they tracked over the new living room carpet. Last year was sunny and warm; I’d be afraid to move this year.
A few weeks ago, our East Indian neighbor, Syed, phoned us up to say that he was whipping up a batch of curry, and to ask how spicy we wanted ours. Awesome! Soon, he and his girlfriend, Karen, were at the door with Tupperware enough to provide us several weekday meals.
Of course, Kathy, being raised right, was already worrying about what to put in the containers when we returned them. We had just received a shipment of fresh apricots in our weekly Community Supported Agriculture box, so I suggested a sorbet made using our long-dormant ice cream maker. Honestly guys, we have not used this machine in years, and when I consider, and regret, some of the prized stuff we virtually gave away at our Seattle moving sale, I’m surprised that we still had the Cuisinart ice cream machine. (We knew we wanted a fireplace in California, so I saved our fireplace poker/tool set and wood andiron grate; little did we know that almost all fireplaces here, including ours, are gas. I sold my cool BBQ tool set for pennies, and we actually have space here to grill.)
Anyway, we blew the dust off the ice cream machine, and now I’m afraid that we’re going to burn out the motor on the sucker! The CSA fruit comes in; Kath fires it up: Kiwi sorbet; strawberry, peach and plum ice creams, recipes for all found in the dog-eared, fruit-splattered pages of the Ben & Jerry’s recipe book we bought decades ago. (There’s even a recipe for Cherry Garcia; we made it last week, after doing cherry season’s final U-pick weekend, and the result is outrageous!)
And then, in this holiday weekend’s 90+-degree heat, there’s the wine needed to refresh and complement the celebrants. July 1 was Canada Day, and during our screening of “Strange Brew,” we sipped Bellinis made with peaches from our farm box. Today is July 4, and we’re just about to start our annual unspooling of “1776.”
I’m about to “refresh the missus” with another glass of Cline’s 2009 Mourvèdre Rosé from grapes grown on their Oakley property. There’s a great bright pink color (color-added farmed Atlantic salmon?), and a nice tangy tongue hit of cranberry and strawberry following in from the nose.
Siddown, John, and have another snootful, eh?
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