picnic, pool, patio

Three ingredients for summer. YAY SUMMER. I hate everything not summer.

So last night I went here:

 
original image here

(The annual Capitol lawn memorial day concert). While I’ve had fun going to the beach the past few years for Memorial Day, it’s kind of nice to actually do something meaningful.

Plus, whilst there I saw him:

  
Original image here

(Brad Paisley)

Up close he is TINY (I was ~50 feet away, so I got a decent peek- skinny skinny!) but vair vair talented! And definitely the highest caliber of celebrity there (usually it is pretty D List. We’re DC, after all).

We pick-a-nicked, of course. Being a classy family, we packed three courses.

Appetizer:

 

Made Mark Bittman’s “gaucasalsa” (mashed avocado+salsa+lemon juice) and didn’t have tortilla chips but did have tortillas so baked them at 350 in my peppy lil toaster oven with just cooking spray until barely browned and crisp.

Entree:

 

More curry-bulgur-mandarin-golden-raisin chicken salad! Which, as these things do, just got more delicious with time. And the curry flavor grew more pronounced, interestingly. Once again with lettuce for wraps (food is inherently more fun eaten 1.Outside and 2. With your hands)

And dessert:

Roasted beets with olive oil and balsamic mmmmmmmmm.

Then today I headed to the pool for the first time where the water was frigid but in the hot sun oh-so-delicious.

Then tonight I had kind of a mystical grilling experience. Real (wo)men use charcoal grills, in my opinion, and I just had perfect synchronicity of timing and heat and flames and… everything!

What I made:

On the lower right are Hebrew National hot dogs. Kosher hot dogs are the only ones that don’t totally skeeve me out. Somehow I feel like having a rabbi around keeps everything more… I mean, kosher.

On the left are a variety of squashies, some of which I marinated (used the same recipe we made for the party in Austin cause it was sooooooo delish) with skewers for kebabage (does anyone ever actually bother soaking them? I don’t!), and the rest of which I thinly sliced to grill for sammiches later this week. Why so much squash?

The farmer’s market had such a beauteous cornucopia that I had to get one of each kind hahahaha. Anyway, here are the finished kebabs (the recipe calls for fresh mint and lemon, but we had no mint and my mom had made a margarita and had lime out so we improvised. So pretty!)

Just lookit that wonderful tasty char. I know it makes things more carcinogenic. It also makes them more delicious. Everything worth doing gives you cancer, I swear.

 

My doggies, all toasty bun and blistery goodness, with mustard.

 

And my gorgey gorgey plate (I ended up eating FIVE squash skewers! They were so good. I did not, however, finish my hot dog, hahaha. Plants, man. They are all I ever really want).