"mojito" fruit salad

Well, okay. This fruit salad — while very delicious —isn't exactly like a mojito. I think you may know about my love of mojitos? But it does have alcohol (wine) and mint. Pretty much any time I pull out mint leaves and start chopping, my mind thinks it's cocktail hour. And when paired with fresh summer fruit and sweetened, cooked wine... can you blame me for the comparison?

Can I be very honest? I think I have a crush on this fruit salad. Normally, my fruit salads are just chunked fruit, thrown in a bowl together and tossed. But lately it's come to my attention that the juices don't always pull it together well enough, and that a really good fruit salad will have some kind of slight, subtle "dressing" kicking it up a notch in flavor. This is that kind of salad.

The sliced fruit (I used watermelon, strawberries and green grapes) is sprinkled with a healthy dose of shredded mint leaves before being covered in white wine that's been cooked with sugar, and left to soak it up in the fridge for a while. The result is an incredibly sweet summer mix, swimming in juices, with an added freshness from the mint. A big bowl of this is currently chilling in my fridge, and, yes, you should be jealous.

"Mojito" Fruit Salad

adapted from Giada

1/4 large watermelon

roughly 2 1/2 cups strawberries

roughly 2 cups green grapes

1 1/4 cup white wine (I used Barefoot's Moscato)

1/3 cup sugar

mint leaves

Clean and chunk all the fruit into even, bite-size pieces. Toss together in a large bowl.

Finely slice a small handful of mint leaves. Sprinkle over the fruit.

Melt sugar into wine on medium-high heat, until the sugar dissolves (this will happen just as it starts to boil). Let cool.

Pour wine mixture over fruit and toss well. Let cool in refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

sweet potato fries

My boyfriend loves sweet potatoes. He orders them, in fry form, every time we go to our favorite pub and brewery, and they totally make his night. This week we were in the produce section of the grocery store (a place he would skip right over if I wasn't there), and he spotted some huge sweet potatoes. He came right over to me and, just like a little kid, asked if we could get some. Um, yeah!

Unlike Dave, I haven't always been pals with the sweet potato. That's probably because I didn't grow up eating them. I like to stick to my gourmet baby red potatoes for roasting, and my beer-battered fries (so delicious) when eating out. But when the guy you live with is head over heels for something else, well, you go with it. So we made our own sweet potato fries. And they were pretty amazing.

Tossed lightly in olive oil, and sprinkled with a little Mediterranean salt, parsley, and oregano, these fries were simple, warm, and sweet, with a slight crunch. The spices really just brought out the potato's own flavor. When I was reading up on recipes, I noticed several that seasoned the potatoes with cinnamon or brown sugar. At the time, I thought that sounded strange, but now I think that would be a great sweet take on this more savory recipe. And don't forget to pair these with a nice dipping sauce, whichever way you make them. I paired my fries with blue cheese dressing... and it made me smile.

Sweet Potato Fries

1 large sweet potato

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of dried oregano

dash of dried parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Slice the potato lengthwise into narrow wedges.

In a small dish, mix the spices together. In a lined and greased baking pan, toss the potato wedges with olive oil, using your hands. (Be sure to grease the pan lightly; it's a real pain to flip the fries otherwise.) Sprinkle the spices over the fries, and toss again. Lay the fries out in even rows.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. (Depending on the thickness of the wedges, baking times may differ.) Turn wedges and bake about 5 minutes more, until golden and tender.

what you missed

I'll admit it: I've been slacking! I won't apologize, though. I've been far too busy melting in the heat of my non-air conditioned apartment (what is up with my windows opening sideways? there's no way our air conditioner can fit in there!) and getting out in the sun. Baking has become something nice to read about other people doing, but is not currently something I want to pursue. At all. Ha.

So why don't I show you what I've been up to instead? And then you can tell me what you've been up to. Sound like a plan? Good.

1. I spent yesterday scrambling around barefoot on these rocks, making my way down to the cool, refreshing river with just enough of a current to keep me on my toes.

2. Here's a view from the boardwalk, after a dinner at a pub and brewery downtown.

3. Holy cow, those are some fast-moving, um, cows! Drive-by photo shoot.

4. Mmm, freshly picked blueberries. But they're not quite so appetizing after finding a little worm inside of one. I guess that's what happens when it rains a lot. The berries are currently bagged in my fridge, while I work up the courage to face them.

5. View from my towel at the beach.

6. Dramatic clouds at the park.

There you go. Six things you've missed in the life of Carolyn. Your turn!

lake party

Last night, the newspaper I work at threw a big party for community businesses at an aquarium by the lake. It was so much fun, and the outdoor balconies provided a very pretty sunset view.

farm stand pizza

You know what? I'm in a try-new-things-in-my-life kind of phase. At least, this week I am.

I'm the kind of person who usually wants a detailed explanation of what will happen when I go somewhere. As in, Oh, your co-worker's having a party? Will there be anyone there I know, or don't like? If it's boring, what's our excuse to leave? Or sometimes, Hey, let's go to the movies. Oh, you want to see that movie? I heard it wasn't funny. How long is it? I don't like long movies. What if I hate it? ...Yeah. That's getting old. The result of it is that I talk myself out of things that could be really great. And I know it's more fun to go with the flow and let yourself be pleasantly surprised by what happens. So that's what I'm trying to do lately.

Example: Laughter yoga. Yes, I went to a laughter yoga class. I went even though I didn't know exactly what it was, or if I'd be fit enough to pull it off. I grabbed a friend and just went. And yeah... it was silly. It turns out you don't need to be crazy flexible or anything... you just try to laugh as much as possible. We pretended to drink milkshakes that made us giggle. We put imaginary ice cubes down each other's backs that made us chuckle. It was really weird, to be honest, but not in a bad way. It was just... something new.

Something else that's new? This farm stand pizza. I caught a little bit of Sandra Lee's Money Saving Meals this week and, oh boy, learned loads of little shopping tips. Watch out, grocery store! In the process, I watched Sandra make this cute little veggie pizza, and I had to follow up with my own the next night. Food, at least, is one area where I'm not afraid to be a bit adventurous. Join me?

(By the way, you'll notice I used a store-bought dough for the crust. Don't worry... I'm perfecting a homemade flatbread dough and will hopefully share it soon!)

Farm Stand Pizza

adapted from Sandra's recipe

The broccoli on this pizza is the best part. It gives it such a fresh flavor, and a nice bit of crunch to your bite. Baking the dough for a few minutes before adding toppings allows it to puff up and form nice, airy bubbles, as well as to get a little toasty. Make it personal by throwing on your favorite veggies and cheeses. Next time, I'd add some onions or cauliflower and a blend of cheeses — like parmesan and asiago along with the mozzarella.

1 (1-pound) bag of pizza dough (or your favorite dough recipe)

1 tablespoon olive oil

chunky tomato sauce

10 basil leaves, sliced finely

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup broccoli heads, chopped to bite-size

1/2 pepper, chopped to bite-size (I used red)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13" baking sheet.

Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface. Shape it into a rectangle about the size of your baking pan. Place the dough on the baking sheet and brush with the olive oil. Use a fork to dot holes all over the crust (I forgot to do this! It's probably a good idea.) Bake about 6 minutes, and remove from oven.

Spread a thin layer of sauce over the crust. Sprinkle on the basil leaves. Top with half of the cheese and the veggies. Spread the remaining cheese over the top. Bake about 15 minutes more, until all the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.

dave + me + playground

classic pancakes

These are the pancakes I've been eating all my life. It's the recipe out of my mom's well-thumbed cookbook, and it's pretty standard. I make them more interesting by adding berries or, more frequently, chocolate chips to the batter, or making a fruit sauce and serving it over the top with some yogurt. Usually, I do both.

For some reason, though, these are the only pancakes I like. I hate ordering them for brunch at restaurants because they always seem so dry and flavorless, and all you're given is a pat of butter or some maple syrup to drizzle over the top. I may live in Vermont, but I'm not a fan of maple syrup most days. I'd much rather make my own and jazz them up my way. However you do it, starting your day with pancakes makes for a nice, leisurely weekend, doesn't it?

Pancakes

1 egg

1 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

Whisk together the wet ingredients. Add in the dry ingredients, making sure the baking powder is well sifted into the flour. Cook over medium heat in a well-greased frying pan— I used olive oil. Serve with yogurt and fruit.

lakeside

Here are some things that make today unusually lovely:

1. Beach weather, and a sailing regatta on the lake for some scenery.

2. Blueberry picking to the sounds of a live band.

3. The smell of barbecues in the air.

4. Fresh freckles on my nose.