1.(a) When does summer start for you? (b) When does it end?
a) when it stays dark past 7.
b) mentally, after fire season is over and out here that can be until late October. OR until the temps dip consistently below 60F at night. But definitely by Halloween, come inferno or not.
2.(a) Favorite Food(s) to cook on a grill:
BBQ beef ribs, steak, grilled corn on the cob.
2.(b) any recipe you'd like to share?
Macaroni Salad:
Get bag of elbow macaroni. DO NOT get the "big" elbow macaroni, do not get the "small" elbow macaroni, get the kind that when done is about "xxxxxx" <-- this long. If you use the wrong size macaroni, you WILL screw this up. Get a bunch of hard boiled eggs. At least 6, 8 is better. Chop them up, but not too fine....yolks and all. Get a bunch of diced celery (do NOT skip this) about 3-4 stalks should be good. Fry up a MESS of bacon, very crisp. Yes, use the whole damn package, or nearly so...you know good and well you will eat some of it when you're frying it up. Crumble up the bacon. (DO NOT SKIP THIS) Now, once you've got all this mix with REAL mayonnaise, not FAKE mayonnaise or "lite" mayonnaise, if you're going to do that, don't even BOTHER. [If you can't take the calories don't make it!!] Now...how much mayonnaise is tricky - start with a little, and gradually add so that the whole thing is nicely held together with mayonnaise, neither a mayonnaise bath or stingy so it doesn't form a proper colloidal dispersion. Do your best to have an even distribution of ingredients. (Duh) Sprinkle top with paprika if desired. This next part is KEY -- chill for at least one hour, preferably even 2-3 before serving. This salad is not for calorie wusses. Go munch lettuce if you want something like that, but don't say I didn't warn you that you will end up looking like a manatee if you go the romaine lettuce route. My mom and aunts always made this macaroni salad and we NEVER had any left over, you were lucky not to get clawed fighting over it. It's even better the next day.
3. Favorite summertime smell: Beach towel and clothing taken to the beach. The faint smell of salt water, sun and suntan lotion is unbeatable, and if you're careful with that stuff can last well into the fall.
4.(a) Where was your last summer vacation? Theatre trips to Wichita and Sacramento.
4(b) Where did you go (or what did you do) on your favorite summer vacation?
Month long Grand tour of Europe with my best friend from college and her older sister after my senior year in 1978. We hit Ireland, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France. We had a blast. I did the whole thing on roughly two grand, and that included 1st class Eurail pass for 3 weeks.
5. Favorite summertime dessert?
Watermelon.
6(a). Favorite summer sport? Baseball.
6(b)Why? It's a metaphor for America. It's a head game as much as a physical game. All good Americans have played it, or it's first cousin, softball. There's no "hiding" either you perform well or you don't. There is no such thing as a "friendly" game of softball. It's the perfect game to listen to on the radio. And there's nothing like "stealing home." I did that once when I was 13 and it was one of the coolest things ever. :-D
7.(a) Do you tan easily? Not particularly, though I can if I'm careful. I usually burn a bit before tanning, but I can tan. I don't go too dark. I don't want to screw up my skin and get leathery. But I don't want to be blinding white either.
(b)Favorite suntan lotion?
Hawaiian Tropical Blend if I have money, Coppertone if I don't.
8. What do you like best about summer?
Everything's more relaxed.
9. What do you hate about summer?
It goes by so quickly now. When I was a kid, summer went on forever. I pity kids with short summer vacations or who really have no time to get started with a hobby or try something totally different. There's nothing wrong with just plain old "hanging out."
10. Do you like theme parks? What's your favorite ride?
Yes. Disneyland's Splash Mountain. I was sorry that last drop scared my mom to death, could never get her to go on it, though I know she would have loved the rest of the ride. (pretty good vid linked to, but I missed the "Beeeeesssssss.")
11. Favorite Summertime movie(s)?
Jaws. I like the whole thing. I especially like the scene where Robert Shaw describes what happened when the USS Indianapolis went down. Superb piece of acting. And, guilty pleasure one summer Keanu Reeves in Speed. Totally hokey, but there was something about that line "I can't believe you SHOT me" that just killed me! American Graffiti. The sound track alone is killer and it's a classic.
12. Favorite Summertime Book(s)?
Light reading. Every year I used to read Jim Bouton's Ball Four and/or other baseball books. And in my teens I always reread Gone with the Wind without fail.
13. Favorite picnic spot?
Can't say I personally picnic much, if I do it's usually a park near the beach...on a WEEKDAY!
14. Footwear?
Sneakers or barefoot.
15. Favorite Summer flower?
Double delight roses. Mostly white with the edges red. Very fragrant.
16. Favorite summer song(s).
Beach Boys, Jan & Dean. That stuff never gets old. The Beatles' Sargeant Pepper Album.
17. Things you used to do, and miss in the summer:
Miniature Golf, Drive in movies, running outside to get Mr. Softee Ice cream from the guy who used to drive around when I was a kid, just as the sun was going down. I'll have a vanilla cone, please.
18. Summer poem?
Casey at the Bat.
If you're reading this and it looks fun, consider yourself tagged.
H/T to me and my friend Mary - we both made this one up.
8 comments:
Yum! I love macaroni salad! Yours sounds very similar to mine, except I like to throw in a few frozen peas, adds just a bit of sweetness, and yes, REAL mayo! And sometimes instead of the bacon, I'll thrown in small ham and cheese cubes, like about one-fourth inch square.
Yum! I love baseball! (salad sounds good too). I used to live for the Saturday Game of the Week called by Tony Kubek and Joe Garagiola. When I was young, we had the Ogden Dodger Class A team. Tommy Lasorda was manager and Steve Garvey and Ron Cey (among others) started out here.
Tara...peas? SACRILEGE, I tell ya, SACRILEGE! [ ;-D ]
Rjw: I LOVED Joe G. he was "The man" when I was growing up too. We must be roughly the same vintage. (HS class of '74 for me.) I have to say I never liked the Dodgers, BUT I came around to a grudging respect regards Tommy. He and two of his players used to ride to the practices together, them all leaving near each other. One day, Tommy is late, and picks up the other two. When they get to practice, Tom FINES the guys "for being late." "But TOM, WE WERE WITH YOU." "Doesn't matter, you should have picked someone more reliable to get you to the game on time." Other story, [this time I'm not sure if it was Tom or not.] The manager forbade the players to drink in the hotel bar when on road trips. His reasoning? "Because *I* drink in the hotel bar...."
Classic. BTW, Joe G.'s book was pretty good too. "the tools of ignorance" indeed!
Karen
Yay! A new meme. I'm going to do this one. Mahalo Karen.
Oh, good, Esther. We'd had fall and winter meme, but I don't remember seeing much about spring and summer.
HS class of '73. We had a rec gane umpire awhile back that had umpired in the minors for years. He told us he had tossed Tommy twice. He said he had seen him a few years ago at spring training and Tommy had carped that he had cost him $500. The ump responded, "You just made a million dollars selling slim-fast. Get over it!" I loved it.
Classic. The guy made zillions, and he's worried about that $500 from years ago!
Karen
Looks like fun...too lazy to do one at the moment but enjoyed yours!
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