I can’t help but wonder: “What happened to summer?!” Well, a lot, actually. Hikes in the mountains, visits with friends, toasted marshmallows, canoe rides, a new cat, curd cheese, great meals… the list is long! As the sunny days shorten, I present you with my photo-based summer recap.
Summer officially started with the world’s best cinnamon roll and chilequiles during a trip to San Diego to visit two friends I met at Food Blog Camp, The Apron Archives & Meandering Eats. We, indeed, meandered and ate our way through the city. What else would a group of food bloggers do?!
Next stop: the wedding of my brother-in-law in Illinois.
Not only was their wedding spectacular, but they offered a candy buffet at their reception. Oh boy!
While in Illinois, I visited the Beer Nuts factory with my mom, and enjoyed many of the Wisconsin-brewed beers that I used to drink so often in college, specifically Leinenkugel’s.
My dad, step mom, fairy godparents, and I visited a great local hot spot on Iowa’s only island city: Bombfire Pizza. The place is decked out in a hodge podge of reclaimed vintage items cluttering every spare corner of the walls, ceiling, and lawn. Menus are tucked inside vintage record album covers. The wood fired pizza here is first-class, the beer local and micro-brewed, and the live music lots of fun!
You can’t eat pizza without finishing the meal with ice cream!
We ate ours at the Korner Stop, also in Sabula, Iowa, before heading back over the Mississippi River and home to Illinois.
Mom and I visited a farmers’ market in Bloomington, Illinois, and went on a pastry buying binge! We brought home all sorts of goodies to try with my grandma, and it turned into a regular tea party complete with antique dishes and my great grandmother’s handmade napkins and place mats. Pretty and fun!
No matter what I’m doing, there’s typically pizza involved. It’s my all-time favorite, and I’m a self-proclaimed pizza snob. You can imagine my delight when I was invited to join a group of friends at Boeger Winery for a wood burning oven pizza party. I made my standard pie of homemade spicy tomato sauce with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and a drizzle of EVOO. There were also gluten-free pizzas, a tasty onion and mushroom pizza made by my friend Lisa Page of Girls on the Grid, and fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert. Ahh! What a memory!
And this is only part of my summer! Stay tuned for more photos coming soon…
