9/7/10

blue cheese burger and giveaway


Best things of summer:
hearing those familiar crickets cranking away all night long
the first bite of hot, greasy, deep fried seafood
waiting in line for your first ice cream at the local ice cream stand
putting on those old/broke down summer sandals again
that first time you go underwater and freeze, but it feels so good on your head
the first time you encounter your dear old friend 'humidity' again and curse at it
feeling that ceiling fan whirl above you & blow the breeze while you fall asleep
grilled hot dogs with as much condiments as possible
greasy hamburgers on crisp thick buttered buns....ahhh
Seems like all my summer memories are food based. I did do a lot of eating this summer. Didn't do much cooking as the summer was fairly hot. Pretty certain we broke a few heatwave records here on cape cod and boston areas. With that said I spent a lot of time swimming. It was nice to take a break from blogging, but I missed it so....so nice to be back. I missed you guys and I'm sorry if I didn't keep up with visiting your blogs; I will do my best to catch up and say HI again.

What are your favorite summer memories? Tell me and you'll be automatically entered into a giveaway I'm having. I'm giving away 3 of my ecookbooks. This is one hot lil cookbook that you'll not only want to dive right into and try the recipes, but it also has stories of why & how each recipe came about. I personally have two chapters in there, but there are other food bloggers that you may not know about and really should. Chefs and bloggers alike that have major talent when it comes to creating recipes from scratch. One of my good friends and publisher of the ecookbook 55 Knives is Nick at Macheesemo. He was generous to give me 3 to give away. When I asked if I could he instantly said 'how many?". What a good guy right? Maybe I should have said 12?
So all you have to do to enter is leave me a comment about your best summer memory, be it food or not. But in all honesty we want to hear about the food! Make sure your email and/or web page is present so I can get a hold of you if you are picked.
How about I do the drawing 2 weeks from today? Cool?

55knives_button3_250x250


blue cheese burgers
print recipe

nothing more than a pound of 85% lean beef mixed with one pack of lipton onion soup mix and some fresh ground pepper. form into burgers, slip a pat of butter in the middle of the burger and close up. grill burgers till desired doneness. make sure to butter and grill the buns! serve with lettuce, sliced tomatoes and a HUGE dollup of blue cheese dressing.
makes 4 burgers

90 comments:

  1. If I have to post about my favourite food memory it's definitely being successful (on my third try) at making macarons. I jumped for joy, literally, and gave a little squeal because I was so overcome with happiness that they actually looked like real Parisian macarons!

    - Samantha
    http://flavorator.blogspot.com/

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  2. I've missed you! So glad you're back. Summer is amazing. My favorite season for sure. I love the beach, the feeling of sand beneath my toes, frozen yogurt, melon....

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  3. Best summer memories:
    1. Camping in June
    2. Anniversary celebrations
    3. Kid birthday parties
    4. Trip to San Juan Island
    5. Summer peaches and tomatoes

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  4. Mmmm, burgers. Ok, that's what I'm having for lunch now. Heh.

    My favorite summer memory? Going to Kimballs (an ice cream shop that's on a converted farm) with my family as a kid. Best ice cream ever.

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  5. My favourite summer memories...sitting in my chair reading my latest book at my favourite rock beach..when I get hot enough a cooling swim followed by a glass of local white wine:D

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  6. Being light until 10 at night! Then watching the fireflies. And fresh veggies right out of the garden

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  7. Ah yes - humidity. Humidity had many a fights with my hair this summer but I will take summer over winter any day - especially if it involves this burger.

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  8. My most memorable meal has got to be lunch at Pawley's Front Porch in Charleston with my brothers and sister and sig others. Their pimento cheese burgers and fried pickles are to die for.

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  9. Dawn! You're back! I have to admit when I first saw the title to this post, I thought of a recent Masterchef episode. I am glad that the burger turned out! I would be eating two of these, no buns please!

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  10. Low country boils with my family by the pool!

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  11. My favorite summer memory this summer is being able to visit Phoenix, Arizona. And talk about hot!!...The average temp while I was there was 112 degrees. My favorite part about travel is trying all the different foods. While I was there I visited Rustler's Rooste. This place is amazing!! They have a real bull penned near the entrance. The ambiance was of the inside of a barn. Straw on the floor, and an optional slide to get to the lower level. The view from the seating balcony was amazing too. You can enjoy viewing the whole city of Phoenix while you're eating. The food was amazing. The menus were set up to look like an old newspaper. Waiters and waitresses were dressed as, what do you think? Yup, cowboys and cowgirls. I ordered prime rib, of course, which melts in your mouth. Their table service was served family style as far as the salad, and house given cowboy beans. They serve there dishes using the old west style tin plates, mason jars for beverage, and a coffee can cotton candy meal ending complement. The late Sr. President Bush has been seen eating there. If you ever make it to Phoenix, Arizona this place is a MUST to visit.

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  12. My 15 year old twins got summer jobs :)

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  13. My best summer memories are the ones out on the deck watching the sun go down behind the mountain with a glass of mead and a firepit. AHHHH.

    Glad you are back!

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  14. So many great memories of this summer! I loved going to the beach with Sadie the pup and eating lots and lots of ice cream and having an excuse for it (it's hot outside, duh). Hope you enjoyed the summer as well!

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  15. Hmmm--going to the local city pool and visiting the snack bar for the french fries. They were SO good and so greasy, hah! Then getting back in the pool after being out for a while and the water was frigid again. (I grew up in VA, and it would get HOT there.) The best memory is definitely the fries though. :)

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  16. My favorite summer memories...yummy grilled burgers and caramelized pork chops and homemade cherry nut ice cream....ooohhhh ya!

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  17. Your pics are on the LAtimes daily food page!

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  18. Hmmm, my best summer memory would be going on a mini vacation with my daughter to the north coast, whale watching, swimming and eating some great desserts.
    Glad you are back blogging. Now you can send me this burger :)

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  19. After randomly buying a 32 piece plastic tea set one day, my friends and I got a candle, some juice, and some teddy grahams and had a midnight candle lit tea party in a gazebo, then went to the town beach and chased fireflies. It was grand.

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  20. My favorite summer memory would have to be lounging by the pool with a good book - there's simply nothing better than that!

    Or, on second thought, wine tasting in Sonoma accompanied by the best.caprese.saladonabun.ever. at V Sattui. Yep, that one might take the cake.

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  21. Best summer memory - eating delicious local fruit on our back deck in the sun!

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  22. Favorite summer memory this year: grilling steaks and corn and sipping chilled white wine right off the beach in Amagansett during an early summer sunset in June. Sigh! Where does the summer go!?

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  23. Ooo that burger looks delicious!! I love all the roadtrips I took during the summer--so fun!

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  24. Welcome back, Dawn! We are Wellfleet bound for sure. Best summer memories: camping in Maine, eating a five course luncheon of aphrodisiac foods at Chillingsworth, picking blackberries in Vermont and making jam, our Labor Day feast of campfire steak, grilled corn on the cob, and potatoes from our own garden. Toasting the end of summer with blackberry infused martinis.

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  25. My favorite summer memory would be our annual seafood boil! It's a wonderful tradition.

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  26. I love going to the beach each summer with my family and tubing and grilling out. Glad you're back!

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  27. My favorite memory is just watching Indigo have fun outside. There is something simple and wonderful about a 2 year old playing.

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  28. Welcome back! Ok, my best summer memory (from this year) is our insane Hollywood Bowl picnics. We go all out!

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  29. Swimming with my kids is definitely my favorite summer memory - and I enjoy making new ones every year!

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  30. toes in the water, a** in the sand, not a worry in the world, good book in my hand (and probably a cold beer in the other)... the song does a great job of describing my favorite summer memory

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  31. My favorite summer food memory. Has to be sitting around eating burgers stuffed with brie on homemade pretzel rolls with my roommates. I love those gals.

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  32. welcome back!! glad to see you back :) and with burgers--my favorite part of any summer bbq!!

    so many good things to summer, alot of them revolve around produce and outdoor activities!

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  33. Being 10 years old in Delray Beach we would go to the Shake Shack and get a peach shake that was called a Peach Wizz. We loved them and would go every night while we were on vacation.

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  34. My favorite food memory is going to Vegas and eating at Margaritaville with my family.
    katiemur@gmail.com

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  35. Kathleen Tuck Fontaine9/8/10, 6:18 PM

    Three favorite summer memories - food related....
    1. Being in Scotland with my parents and great aunt the summer before senior year in highschool. Having a beautiful and delicious trout served that I had to send back to have the head taken off....couldn't eat anything looking at me! (it was SO much better than the Haggis I tried!)
    2. Hanging out at the local creamee with my father-in-law. It was our go-to place when he was sundowning from his Alzheimer's. He loved watching all the kids as they raced to catch the drips from the cones. I loved watching him.
    3. Cooking blueberry pancakes using fresh local berries for my husband's aunt who stays with us every summer for 4-6 weeks. She loves her breakfast!
    Best summer memory of all time? The first time my now-husband told me he loved me by writing it in the sand on the beach in Dennisport where a year later, he proposed.

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  36. Best summer memories are family reunions, BBQ's, homemade ice cream, lots of swimming and of course sleeping in!! harpercrew@gmail.com

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  37. A great vacation with our 16 yr. Old son who will not be at home much longer. Graduation will be upon us soon.

    I just love the feel of the sunshine on me. Summer is my favorite season.

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  38. Thanks for this giveaway...picnics in the nearby park and evening walks at many different beaches in the san francisco bay area are my all-time summer favorites.

    ramvinayak_81@rediffmail.com

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  39. my favorite summer memory is going to be winning this book.....

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  40. Favorite summer memory...my summer's with my grandparents. We traveled all over the states in their motorhome and they showed me everything from monuments in the Dakota's to the best ice cream shop in Oregon.

    It makes you realize how special time with your family can be.

    Holly
    devilishdelights@gmail.com

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  41. the best part about the summer is the produce! I love picking strawberries. They taste so much better than the ones in the store.

    -carriechilton@gmail.com

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  42. Favorite summer memories: every single day with my children all three months. Honestly.

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  43. My favorite memory of the summer was when I was a counselor at summer camp. The week's theme was all about baking desserts, so my campers had an Iron Chef challenge to make Gourmet smores. It was so much fun, AND I discovered that smores with peanut butter in them are my new favorite camp food :)

    thecollegebakery.blogspot.com

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  44. Enjoying time with my grandson!

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  45. sitting in an inner tube in the sun on the lake reading a book :)

    jacquieastemborski AT comcast DOT net

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  46. Butter inside the burger? Woman... you know how to kill me. There is nothing better than burgers, blue cheese, and butter. My kind of heaven.

    Best summer memory? Road tripping for two weeks on my motor home through Yellowstone. Awesome.

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  47. Best summer memory this year was visiting Orlando and trying all of the food from different countries at Epcot
    tanyainjville at yahoo dot com

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  48. That burger looks fantastic! I was just thinking of you this morning, so I'm glad you're back my friend.

    I think most of my memories are food related too. But I think just grilling out back and spending time with family is tops for me. Getting too loud, drinking too much, playing board games and eating lots of good food. Oh and going to the beach never hurt anything either :-)

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  49. Best summer memories consist of eating steamed crabs out on the back deck.

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  50. i've missed you and your good taste, dawn! this burger is a jaw-unhinger, and i love it.
    as summer memories go, i'm hoping to keep the feeling of the sun on my face when it begins to get really nippy. that's always what i miss most of all.

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  51. My fav summer memories are boat rides on the lake!

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  52. Great to see you back online! That's a great looking burger!

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  53. My favorite memories of summer include the warmth of the sun and the smell of the air. Love summer!

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  54. My favorite summer memory has to be trips to Cedar Point every year. Can't beat an awesome roller coaster and some funnel cakes!

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  55. My best summer memories are the ones when as children, my younger sister and I got to go fishing with our father on Sunday afternoons. He worked all the time, we hardly got to spend any time with him, so these days were real treats for us. We'd sit on the side of a local pond with our cane poles and impatiently wait for him to finish grilling juicy burgers over an old rusty bbq, all the while listening to him recount stories of his youth. Great times for us.

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  56. My favorite food memory of the summer is definitely eating delicious tarte tatin in a small provincal village in France.

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  57. Amazing burgers OMG.!!

    My favorite summer memory would be in our beach house, with all my cousins (I'm the only girl!) ina warm night,fighting over the first slice of a sky-high yellow cake with chocolate frosting and then eating it, all smooched together in one sofa, watching lousy movies in the oldest TV known to earth. That was simple life.

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  58. My fav summer memory was barbequeing with friends, on our own, for the first time!!

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  59. This burger looks amazing! My favorite summer food memory is eating ear after ear of fresh corn on the cob at BBQ's and crabfeasts! Isn't wasn't until I realized that each ear equals one cup of corn that I started limiting myself to one ear per meal! Also, I love the first ripe tomato of the summer sliced and eaten on white bread with salt, pepper and little mayo!

    Kim in MD

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  60. I love strawberry rhubarb cream pie that my grandmother used to make with fresh rhubarb from her garden

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  61. Re-living my childhood vacation memories on Cape Cod with my friend...who I hadn't see for two years!

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  62. Yeah! You are back! Love Burgers!

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  63. My favorite summer memories are running around in my grandma's backyard in and out of the kids pool...free as can be!

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  64. My favorite memory this summer was of visiting my parents' farm in Oregon last week. I took pictures of their gorgeous fruit trees in their garden: voluptuous plums and nectarines, bright green Gravensteins, ripening red and golden delicious apples. Then I brought home some big fat blueberries their neighbor grows, and made muffins. It is such a treat to have fresh fruit like that!

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  65. great looking burgers! my favorite summer memory would have to be going to nashville with my husband. amazing bbq and great catch-up time with him!

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  66. pretty pleased with my baking this summer since the stone fruits were so sweet!
    reading tons of new cookbooks (from the library!)

    good to see you back!

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  67. Now that you mention it, few of my summer memories are food based. Of course ALL of the rest of mine are. I can remember being outside at night with the other neighborhood kids in the warm air, playing hide and seek. Long days of time at the beach or pool. Cool, air-conditioned movie theaters on very hot days. Nice.

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  68. Glad to have you back, I have missed you! My favorite summer memories would have to be s'mores around the campfire. Giant peaches from BC's Okanagan. Corn on the cob and BBQ burgers!

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  69. I'm glad you had yourself a good summer. I'd have to say the same for my self. I've kept myself busy which is a good thing with my projects. I've never been much for blue cheese, but I'd give this one a try.

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  70. Not many things in life beat a simple, great burger.

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  71. Hmm...I love sweet and sugary s'mores! That perfect marshmallow, the heat of the fire on a cool summer night...ah it makes me sad just thinking about it.

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  72. Favorite summer memory... hmmm I have a lot but I guess the best one is our yearly trip to pick blueberries, followed by a picnic and then treating the kids to some kiddie rides at a nearby park.

    That burger is so beautiful and juicy looking! I so want to bite into it.

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  73. Hey Dawn, this burger looks fabulous...and oooh, love bleu cheese on anything!!! By the way, I DO have Facebook. Look me up (Michelle Turner in West Linn, Oregon) or I can look you up. Add me as a friend! Also, you'll never guess...I took Mocha off her metranidazole medication (she's on a little prednisone right now) and she felt better off that medication! I think the medication was giving her side effects. She's still not gaining weight...but not losing drastically. She's eating and still has energy! Thanks for popping over to say hi to me and the kids. :)

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  74. Good gawd, that lobster sandwich photo should come with a warning: Look -- at your own risk of feeling famished afterward. ;)

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  75. My favorite memories this summer will be of my grandkids coming to live with me for the summer. We will get to make so many fun memories. Lots of things to bake and eat.

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  76. My favorite summer memory is of the first time I noticed that it was staying light out longer, (I was 7) so that we could play outside well past our usual bedtime. Every summer since that summer, as soon as I notice it's still light past 8PM, it makes me smile.

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  77. Myrtle Beach for a week! We had absolutely perfect beach conditions & an awesome view from our condo. I ate lots of fresh seafood and definitely more ice cream than I should have. I finally got to go to The Sea Captain's House & it was so worth it.. even my son's kids meal was amazing. No wonder they've stayed open 80 years.

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  78. One of my favorite summer memories is of watermelon. I think pretty much every summer, my parents would newspaper the entire back deck and let my brother and I get as messy as we wanted, diving into wedges of melon as big as our faces. I still always associate summer with watermelon... simple times are happy times!

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  79. My fav summer memory was receiving my brand spanking new kitchenaid stove.

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  80. Watermelon, farmers market, sweet corn, early morning runs, late night walks, and fro yo!

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  81. my favorite food memory from this summer is for my 31st birthday! We were tossing some goodies on the grill and I grabbed some jalapenos, stuffed them with creamcheese and cheddar and wrapped them in bacon! delish!
    Best all time favorite food memory?! My mom freezing christmas cookies and then defrosting them so that we could have them in the middle of the summer!

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  82. Summer for me is best described as bike rides and runs in the morning. Cooking with friends a few times in the evenings & an occasional glass of wine with the husband on the weekends by the pool. Loving life and loving your blog! Thanks!

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  83. I always loved school supply shopping (NERD ALERT) and the smell of new school clothes.

    The butterflies in the morning of the first day of school combined with those two things, I'll remember forever.

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  84. Grilling – esp. cedar-planked pork loin, lightning bugs, warm evening walks, playing with my little girl on the front steps in the evenings after work, the countdown until beach vacations.

    Sounds delish...
    blondredhead at mac dot come

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  85. That bread is gorgeous. Did you make it?

    For me, summer really is about the food. Tomatoes, mostly (see my link), but also corn on the cob, good watermelon. Basically all fresh produce. Yumma.

    On really hot summer days in Philadelphia in my childhood, they would open the fire hydrants on our street, and we kids would play in the water. Between frolicking, my mom would give us big wedges of watermelon to eat. They had seeds back in those days, and we would have a ball, spitting the black seeds and playing in the street with watermelon juice running down our faces.

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  86. Best thing - state fair!

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  87. My best summer memory is eating watermelon with my roommates and spitting the seeds and chucking the rinds onto our front yard.

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  88. My best summer memory.......
    A cabin
    On a lake
    (Lake Michigan to be exact)
    With usually-far-away friends.
    All together.
    For one week.
    Laughing.
    Swiming.
    Adventuring in a small old-fashioned town.
    And cooking.
    Lots and lots of cooking:

    CurrIE Pasta
    Hobo Meals
    Fresh Salmon
    Homemade banana pudding
    and huge gallons of cookies n' cream icea cream.

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  89. interestingly my best food memories is not about eating food...but it's about smelling the ingredients that go into the preparation of amazing foods. Like when my mothers would walk me through the herb garden as a toddler to pick basil for her tomato sauce. Or like when I would climb the fig tree in our backyard and inhale the scent of summer. Scent affects taste which affects memory which affects, well, our inner self.

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