la vie est belle
this ice cream was screeeeaaaaaming at me from the freezer case. mcconnell's eureka lemon & marionberries. we love their pints but i hadn't seen this flavor yet, and i liked the sound of it.
and i really liked the look of it.
and as it turned out, i really really liked the taste of it.
this stuff will be on heavy rotation this season. so if you happen to come to one of our dinner parties, you might be eating this for dessert because i don't think it gets much better...
there's a reason they call rosé "summer water". we have been drinking it like H2O. so refreshing and pretty. it almost makes me happy about the warmer weather... almost.
during the weekly grind, we grind up a lot of coffee. we bounce around between matador and cartel and peixoto. that's the coffee rockstar trifecta for us. what fun to have such a solid coffee scene. i feel like phoenix has come a long way in the last five years. and we dig it. just because we have all this sunshine, it doesn't mean we don't appreciate some solid coffee. it isn't just for overcast spots, after all.
anywho. on the weekends, we like to grab a donut or pastry or somethingorother to enjoy with our coffee. so, saturday morning family coffee dates have been happening on the regular. and with this lovely weather sweetening the deal? you gotta.
sometimes we go for more of a drive and hit up some of our favorite early-in-day haunts (desoto central market and ocotillo, i am talking about you) but usually, we stick to our own backyard: peixoto for lattes and nitro and pastries (because tracy dempsey does them and we all know how we feel about her... see: every citizen public house post on here, ever.) or maybe the gilbert market for some mama's cold brew or bergies to pair with our food truck food.
and then there was that saturday afternoon when i got to talk business over burgers and fries. not too shabby. i am doing everything i can to be outdoors right now because the end of glorious weather is nigh. and a few short months (ha, who am i kidding?) weeks from now, i will be seeking refuge in the AC and not wanting to be outside at all never ever ever ever ever again. i do have a summertime date with my chess board + study materials + sewing machine. so, at least my indoor "leisure time" will be productive. there's that.
i must look like such a tourist all the time, taking palm tree shots and whatnot. but i can't help myself. it is easy for me to wish i lived elsewhere, especially when the 100+ degree temps set in. but seeing and stopping to capture the gorgeous desert surroundings helps to put things in perspective. palm trees and sunrise/sunsets and blooming cacti remind me that my life is pretty grand. they help me fall in love with arizona day in and day out. i get to live in vacation-resort-land all the time! so many people long for palm lined streets and cotton candy skies, and i just have to look out my window or walk down the street or go out for dinner. heck, even the worst rush hour highway drive has a majestic mountain backdrop. i can't complain.
but there's nothing wrong with some kind of west coast beach house or wine country home or upstate escape or london flat or parisian pied-à-terre. right, monsieur hubs? wink wink.
oh man, give me all the citrus. we have been eating so much of this thanks to having a sweet family hook-up plus a fabulous little lemon tree that could (it is still cranking out fruit and fragrant blossoms after over two years of being under my care. boom!).
we have been snacking and peeling and juicing like mad for the last month. elinor likes to peel-and-pop the oranges. i am all about the grapefruit (broiled is my current breakfast obsession). and ben is mr. lemon. he has made limoncello. he always adorns his sparkling water with a fresh slice. he made frozen lemon juice cubes so we will always have some on hand. he has been whipping up springtime pastas and pestos. and he has been playing mixologist with the juice and peel...although, not much beats a classic vesper martini. good times.