Hello Summer.

I am very proud to announce that it is *officially* summertime!  I'm sure you all well aware that today marks the first day of summer.  Yay!  The heat is on and so are the sprinklers in everyone's front yards.  Bust out the BBQ's, dust off that patio furniture, get those flip-flops out of the closet and for heaven's sake, go swimming!  Although summer is not my favorite season of the year (it comes in a close second to spring), I enjoy it immensely and to the fullest extent.  I always think that as an adult summer seems to fly by so quickly, blink and you miss it.  But when you are little, the days linger on and on- riding bicycles until the street lamps blink hello, floating around in the neighborhood public pool, rollerskating every single day around the park.  At least that's what my summers felt like as kid.  I loved them dearly.

Now that I am grown, I take pleasure in the finer points of summer- like cooking sirloin on the grill and pouring a nice bottle of wine to share with friends, or laying out on my favorite lawn chair in a big straw hat with latest copy of a Bon Apetit.  A much more mellow version of relaxation, although I will admit to sitting in plastic baby pool full of cold water with an astropop in my hand.  No, I do not have kids.  We had purchased the little blue pool for our pug when we first moved here to Concord, to help him acclimate to intense east bay heat.  The two of us will often just stick our feet in and daydream together (pug and I). 

Summer in this house means we are B-U-S-Y.  The hubbs and I manage to jam pack the season with food events, wine events, parties, backyard fun, weekend trips galore.  I personally have a lot coming up pertaining to this blog that I'm really excited to share with everyone. My summer is going to be full of book reviews, dinner cruises, luncheons, day trips, restaurant write-ups, wine tastings and a novel's worth of recipes/cooking ideas to get on the page, all in the name of good eats. 

As a way to kick off the season, I visited my friend at her grandfather's house this morning- we call him "Gramps".  Gramps is a bona fide farmer.  He grew up on a farm but now lives in a quaint little house with a very large backyard, the entirety of it covered in crops.  All spring he has been taunting me with his absolutely insane backyard garden, and today, of all days, the garden was ready for a reaping.  Gramps was generous enough to share the wealth, knowing that I'm obsessed with farm fresh produce (and I think a little promo for him *wink*)  He was kind enough to give me red onions, Walla Walla sweet onions, garlic, radishes, cherry tomatoes, basil and squash.  Happy summer solstice to me!  Check out the first crop...

          

More on upcoming good stuff soon, I'm trying to play catch up with my articles- I have so much great content to share!!!

Happy first day of summer everyone,
B