The LOVELIEST Libation

Dear HF,

OMG, I love a Gin and Tonic. There's nothing more refreshing or soothing. LOL!

I recently stumbled upon this recipe for Gin and Tonic sorbet and like, got soooo excited! ROFL!

So I made it. And now I have the recipe perfected to my own standards. And OH MY, God, have you got to try this. Of course, I just needed to double the recipe and add more gin. That's sooo me, amiright!?

So HF, thanks againsies for this fab drinkie,

Amen.

RECIPE:

2 c. simple syrup

5 c. tonic water

1 c. lime juice

1 1/2 c. gin*

*I like New Amsterdam gin. It comes in a pretty bottle, is good quality and is pretty inexpensive.

So easy, just throw it all in your ice cream maker and freeze it. It takes a little longer than ice cream would, b/c of the alcohol and all, but it's well worth the wait.

You can also garnish with lime zest and/or a lime wedge. This only matters on the first round. After that, nobody will care.

Well isn't that just lovely...

So many wonderful things about my life lately. I'd like to share them with you.

For those of you who don't know, I moved into my friend Blake's townhouse. It's much cheaper here, and it's a financially responsible decision for me. I carpool with my coworker, and it's nice to have people at home from time to time. One of my favorite things about living here so far has been the garden. Blake doesn't have a lot of desire to garden, so he's allowed me to plant whatever I want. Here's what's in my garden:

Strawberries. These were here before Blake moved in, so I trimmed them back, and they've produced many small, but delicious berries this year.

The Geraniums are out of control!

And other various flowers. I've got some Cosmos, some Zinnias, some Impatiens. Some other stuff that I cannot name. Because I forgot what it's all called.

Also, I just had my first Pride. It was so totally, unbelievably brilliant and rewarding. I marched with the Utah AIDS Foundation. This organization is run by such great people, and it was (and is!) a privilege to be involved with them.

Blake marched with us too. Blake is one of the good ones. It was his job to carry the rainbow flag, and he carried it so proudly. There were a few moments where I watched him, saw the pure happiness and pride in his face and nearly burst into tears. It was amazing. The look on his face expressed how I was feeling inside. So damn proud to be me.

These are some of the most brilliant, amazing people I know. Some of my best friends who marched with me. (L-R: Lydia, Blake, Denice, and me). I'm crying a little, just looking at this picture.

I've also been training for a half marathon. I'm not sure which, but my drive to be fit has never been more. Since I'm running about 6-7 miles right now, I decided to run the Pride 5k. A local photographer took this AMAZING picture of me. I was proud of my time (26:20), and Denice and Blake were there to cheer me on. Amazeballs friends. Just amazeballs.

Also, there's been this great boy lately, Danny. We've had a lot of fun over the last month or so. Problem is, he's moving back to D.C. (He was here on temporary assignment). I knew he'd be leaving all along, so it's no surprise, but I'll be sad to see him go. But he's just been one more thing to top off the greatness in my life right now.

Now with more choppy editing!

Acorn squash.

Today I cooked acorn squash for the first time. I roasted it with a little butter, brown sugar and kosher salt. The skin turned such a beautiful black I couldn't resist photographing it.

Snapshots from my life in the last few days.

Saturday night: "Come down here right now!" I shouted to Rachel. Immediately, the funk I was in was over. It was like I had done some very powerful drugs.

Rachel must have been in a panic, and immediately ran downstairs. "I got an offer!" I continued, conscious of the sleeping children. Rachel smiled while I danced around like a weirdo, hugged her, and generally basked in the fact that my life was going to change.

Later Saturday night: How interesting. On the night I find out I'm moving from Idaho, I end up on a date with an adorable boy. Sigh. Of course I did.

Even later Saturday night: The happiness that was immediately injected into my system a few hours earlier left me almost entirely unable to sleep. I achieved a whopping two hours of sleep. Over and over again, I went from lying there with my mind rushing through thoughts of where I was going to live, my new responsibilities, etc., to clutching my knees and giggling like an imbecile, so happy that i was finally leaving Idaho.

Sunday morning: I went to church, where I lit a candle and announced, "It's been wonderful to be here in Idaho Falls during such a defining time in my life, but now I'm moving to Salt Lake City." Coffee hour was filled with friendly goodbyes.

Sunday afternoon: Caught a very quick nap. Certainly not long enough to catch up on sleep.

Later Sunday afternoon: Helped Rachel prepare for dinner guests. We ate a delightful dinner, then I couldn't handle the stress of new people in my sleep-deprived state. So I watched the baby in the living room for a while then crashed for a two-hour nap. The dinner guests wondered where I went.

Now: I think I'm pretty much caught up on the sleep I missed. I'm in a rush to get everything done before I start my new job on August 5. Very exciting, my friends, very exciting.

I'm coming out, I'm a gastrosexual...

I was listening to a food show on NPR today, and they were talking about a new breed of man, a gastrosexual. This means you prepare food to seduce lovers (the host said that it was sexist to say that only men could be gastrosexuals). Well, I can't say I've ever used food in that way, exactly, but I do love sharing a good meal. Miss Catherine was in town this weekend; what a delightful weekend we've had! (Mostly, this post is to show off the fancy presentation I did on the steak quesadilla we shared!)