Five Things That I Love This Week

I am craving some serious sunshine.  So the other day, when the thermometer creeped up to a near-75 degrees, I was celebrating summer, margaritas and all.  And what do I do when I've got summer on the brain, even if it's still cold as December out? Well, I make summer cocktails, plant a garden, and cook.

So, here are my top things I love this week, that make me feel like it's actually Spring:

1. The Farmer's Market.  I went in with $10, and ended up asking if they take debit.  I couldn't help myself, it all looks so much better in outdoor light, all fresh and piled high!

With these few little things...

 I made this...

 And this...

And this...

 

2. The Safeway Wine Sale. Right now Safeway is having their annual wine sale. And I love wine. A lot. So how good is their wine sale?  Well, all wines are 30% off. Then, if you buy six bottles, the price goes down another 10%. So I went to the sale because my favorite Merlot (Red Diamond) was on sale for $6.44 a bottle!  But guess what? They were sold out of the Red Diamond Merlot AND the Red Diamond Cabernet.  So what is a girl to do? Well, I just had to opt for a different kind of wine.  When I finished, my tab was $86 and this is what I got:

• Two bottles of Snoqualmie Whistle Stop Red Merlot/Cab Blend (Delish)
• Two bottles of 14 Hands Hot To Trot Red (Awesome)
• One bottle of Red Diamond Shiraz (Never tried but I love Shiraz)
• One bottle of Cupcake Red Velvet (Yummy)
• Two boxes (equivalent to 4 bottles of wine per box) of Bota Box Merlot (By the same winery as Gnarly wine and super good for the price) Tip: Put it in a carafe when hosting and no one will ever know you bought box wine!
• One box (4 bottles) of Bota Box Chardonnay (I actually don't drink white wine but it's good to have around for cooking and guests)

So, I got the equivalent of 18 bottles of wine for $86.  That's like $4-something a bottle and enough to last for...well, a while.  But then I went back to Safeway and they had re-stocked the Red Diamond.  So I bought another four bottles of the Merlot and two bottles of the Cab.  Yes, I'm a wine-o.  And my wine rack is almost full:

3. My New Garden.  We had this really ugly space on our side yard that we didn't know what to do with.  So we decided to use the left over pavers from our patio project and build a raised garden bed.  I'm really excited about it and got to planting right away.  Despite the rain. And the snow. And the hail.  I just can't seem to learn my lesson about planting veggies in June in Central Oregon.

4. Summer Cocktails.  What's better than a good drink after a long day? A good drink with fresh fruit after a long day!  On Tuesday, my sister made up her famous Strawberry Margarita.  All you need is margarita mix from Trader Joe's, Silver Tequila, Fresh Strawberries, Fresh Lime, and Rock Salt for the rim (Silly Straw Optional).  MMMMMMmmmmm!  So good.

Then another night, I took 1 Cup of Orange Juice, 3 Cups of Water, Fresh Basil, and Lime Juice from a Fresh Lime and made this mocktail. Also very delish!

5. Morel Mushrooms.  How can I not give one more shout out to these delish things?  I just knew rain served some purpose.  Turns out it's to make delicious mushrooms!

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