Are you a crunchy or a chewy?

Summer begins July 5. Ok, ok, ok - I know the calendar says the first day of summer is June 20, but the elder Hinkelgruber son reminded me that honestly, summer begins here on July 5. And since that's the case, Mr. Hinkelgruber and I are going to Vegas July 2. We'll come home July 6, which means we'll be back for the full onset of summer.

I tried two different versions of biscotti for dessert today. Most of you know my theory about people: they're either chewy or crunchy. And, biscotti is definitely for the "crunchy" set - of which I am one. I have learned, however, that when you put dried fruit in biscotti, it becomes an odd amalgam of chewy and crunchy - chewchy, if you will. I don't think I'm a fan of the "chewchy".

S'mores, s'mores, and more s'mores....

The closest I ever get to camping is s'mores. And, today we'll be trying to make s'mores in the oven. Yep...the oven. If they work, oh, it'll be a whole new way to enjoy a delectable treat.

This week, painting of the dining room, living room and hallway begins. Turns out that the dining room has been the hardest one to decide the color of. I still don't know if I've gotten it right, but we'll see.

Have you ever seen the HBO series, True Blood? I'm hooked! In addition to deciding colors for those rooms, I've spent the last week watching the past four seasons so I might be caught up to the most recent one. Wow! Gorgeous men, beautiful women, sex and, well, oh, yeah, violence. And, funny!?! Who knew the supernatural had such humor.

A new coffee maker, a new way to make coffee!

So the eldest Hinkelgruber son brought his new "Aero-press" coffee maker over this morning and I had two cappuccinos and a cafe Americano. Wow, were they good! I can only hope the caffein wears off some before I go to my movie today! And, that means, I'll be buying my own maker.

I spent yesterday creating a most beautiful French Strawberry Cake for today's dessert. I must say, it is delicious (we taste-tested it after watching the Belmont Stakes horse race). But, there is enough to feed everyone today and send some home with people.

As the sun shines through the dining room window, I am reminded why I live in this town. No better place to live in the summer - when the weather is really summertime weather!

I think summer may be here...

Ok, so the weather doesn't seem to indicate that it's summer, but as I told the strawberry vendor today, "It doesn't matter what the calendar says, or what the weather shows, when your stand opens up with strawberries, summer has arrived!" And, I got the first flat of the season and that's what dessert will be this week - strawberries with whipped cream! Mmmm....

The dining room finally got finished (well, the walls and ceiling textures) and this week will be spent putting the house back together so that people will stop asking if we're moving. The nice thing is, when folks see how fruit-basket-upset it all seems to be, they tend not to stay and chat.

Mr. Hinkelgruber is in a class all week long, and so the menu shows lots of old favorites - with hopefully, very few leftovers. (They're buying his lunch all week.)

We made our first sojourn of the year up the gorge to wine country yesterday and have our summer supply. Now, all that's really needed is some hot weather...