Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Favorite Summertime treats!

The whole summer is a treat.  Here's why:

1.  It is popsicle season.  Here are our two favorites:
 --vietnamese iced coffee pops:  make decaf espresso, combine with sweetened condensed milk, pour into popsicle molds and freeze.    Be careful of your espresso/SCM ratio, because it will affect the ability to freeze all the way.  Check David Leibovitz book the Perfect Scoop for a precise recipe.  (The pineapple recipe also makes magnificent popsicles). 
--strawberry lemonade pops:  formal recipe from allrecipes, but pretty adaptable with the premise of just making something like a smoothie of strawberries and lemonade and throwing it into the popsicle molds.  Limeade/cherries seems like it would work well too.
**I don't think we've made any popsicles this summer.

2.  Going to the beach.  We tend to pick the Canaveral National Seashore at New Smyrna Beach.  But Cocoa Beach is pretty fun too.  A very different experience. 
**I don't think we've been to the beach yet this summer, but are planning to go next Sunday.

3.  Swimming at the Y.  The Y has a variety of pools (indoor and out) around here that are lots of fun in the summer. 
**We have been swimming, but not nearly as much as usual.

4.  Camps.  This is a neat time for the kids (and the husband) to go do adventures. 
**This is the first year that El was old enough to go to soccer day camp.  This is the first year in a while that DH did not go to Boy Scout camp.

5.  Free time for me.  Girl Scouts is on hiatus in the summer, so I take the time to work on sewing projects, etc. 
**This has been happening, but I still have at least 2 quilt tops that need sandwiching, basting and quilting still.

6.  Steak on the grill.  My husband got a grill for my birthday a few years ago when our previous one wore out.  Grilling favorites:  corn on the cob (grilled in the husk), aluminum foil potatoes, steak, marinated pork loin, etc.
**this has also been happening pretty regularly for Sunday dinner.

I've been thinking, when someone asked recently, "How's your summer." that this hasn't been anything close to our typical summer.  It's a lot easier to see the differences like this.

Perhaps also, many of our circumstances are changing:  our work situations are different than the were for the last few years, the kids are getting older (19, 10, and 5), our commitments with other organizations are changing (more scouts for me, less scout leadership positions for him), etc.  Maybe this summer is a "rebuilding" or growth year.

7.  We've been going OUT for ice cream more.  This is pretty fun to go do.

8.  We went camping - I think we could do more of that.  Everyone is at a good age for it, we need to figure out the car/people/packing strategy maybe.  Perhaps we just need more practice.

9.  We celebrated Independence Day at my BIL/SIL's house "out in the country" again (e.g. right in the center of a small town about an hour away from here), which continues to be wonderful.  Totally a keeper.

10.  Staycations/Vacations/Fun/Adventure.  No big Yellowstone trip this year.  No local adventure staycation this year.  Need to find a few more adventures before the kids start school in three weeks.

3 comments:

Nana Sadie said...

I really like your list, and am into the idea of Staycations, myself - or little short junkets of a day's length or so...
(((hugs)))

Donna said...

We went out for ice cream ourselves last night. One of our favorite things to do!

Kim said...

I recently picked up a popsicle mold, so ideas for popsicles are very timely. Your list is great!