Please have a doughnut?
In the words of Homer Simpson: "Doooooonut"
Some time has passed we realize. If you have felt a void in your life lately, and haven't quiet known what was missing, maybe it was a Summers' update. Or, perhaps you can join the crowd and do a cleanse to get the winter muck out of your head. That's right. While painful, stressful, not to mention an emotional roller coaster, I have to say that doing an annual cleanse is the way to go. Every carb is tempting, and everybody instantly turns in to a walking chicken leg, but it makes you appreciate food so much more as well as feel very clean and in control. If you can control nothing else in your life, control your diet. For the week we have omitted dairy, animal fats, gluten, sugar, and caffeine from our diet. Lemon water in the morning does not equal coffee! Anyways, since it has been an expanse of time, I am just going to give you the month by month highlights.
February: Homemade Doughnuts- What a blast! Valentine's Day.
On a whim, we decided to make homemade doughnuts. The whole operation was a little ghetto because we didn't have the exact equipment we needed. But, leave it up to the Summers to improvise...
For Valentine's Day we made a sensational meal including ribs, greens, cheese grits, and to top it off a tri-fecto of cupcakes from The Sister's McMullen.
March: Muffin Madness and Birthday.
I gave myself the personal challenge of putting some of the recipes in my muffin cook book to the test. I cooked at least one type of muffin every week. Among some of those muffins were pumpkin pear (perhaps my fave), strawberry, and carrot cake.
I also turned the big 2-6. Sam, along with our parents and my brother's family, cooked a delicious Southern-style meal for my birthday. It included pulled pork al-la Sam and a pie that Sam also made...both of which were delicious-o. I'd rather have pie over cake any day!
April: Cruise! and Easter...
Sam, myself, his parents, my parents, my little brother, older brother and his family(wife and 3 kids minus one), boarded a five night cruise to Key West and Nassau, Bahamas. It was good way to spend time with family because all the mundane tasks are taken care of for you...towel animals, 4 course meals, etc. There is also a lot to entertain people of all ages, so when we got tired of each other, we could go do our own thing and then, of course, always meet back at the dinner table and 6 o'clock sharp every evening. The entertainment options on the boat were endless: dance lessons, putt-putt, gym, sauna/steam room, karaoke, comedy and musical performances, as well as learning to fold the amazing towel animals are among the good times offered.
In Key West, we of course ate key lime pie which was delicious. We also ate square tacos and drank the signature drink of the island: a mojito. We took a bike tour around the island, rode to the Southernmost Point, and perhaps my favorite part, went to Ernest Hemingway's house and got to see his six-toed cats.
In the Bahamas, we were bound and determined to go snorkeling. We took a taxi ride to a beach and had these guys with a private, but very homely boat take us to a reef. We apparently were snorkeling on Eddie Murphy's island. We saw several starfish, but the current was so strong at one point, we had to abandon the idea of a leisurely snorkel and swim for our lives. All in all, it was a pretty sketchy situation. Oh! And Sam got to go to a pirate museum.
For Easter, Key West inspired of course, I made a key lime pound cake which turned out really yummy. We had dinner at Sam's parents that Friday, and then lunch at my brother's on Sunday. Sam and I got to hide more Easter eggs than we could possibly ever want to, and be questioned about when we are having kids. To all you newly-ish married couples out there, does this happen to you fairly regularly?
Garden blurb from Sam:
Things are planted. Mostly vegetables. Which is all I get to eat on this "cleanse" thing. It's good to get your hands dirty. Cheeseburger. And the weather's been nice. Ice Cream. That's about it. Coffee. You know what's good with coffee? Doughnuts.
The summer holds lots of neat things for us...and it is just around the corner. We only have 4 more Monday's of school left. That translates into 19 more days...but who is counting?
