The Best Damn Bloody Mary

Weekend afternoons at our house are one of my favorite things these days. The sun comes in through the kitchen window just right. The neighborhood is the perfect combination of lively and quiet. We do things like plant, hang, lounge, bake, craft, create, and nap. Lately, it's been particularly delightful. With the cooler weather comes open windows and patio chilling. And now that our house is pretty well together, I hope to have more daytime visitors.

This past weekend, Dale and I saw friends who were in from out of town. Rather than go out for brunch, we decided to make a Saturday afternoon feast of sorts. We had fresh coffee, Chemexed by Dale, which is a treat for me since most mornings I make it myself, and it's just never quite as good. We also had a veggie-loaded frittata with zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, and things. I made some butternut squash pancakes with buckwheat and oat flours. And Dale made these damn delicious Bloody Marys. Because my friend can't eat gluten (unless she wants to pass out and feel like poop), everything we made was gluten-free, including the Bloody Marys. It's sort of weird to me that Worcestershire sauce is not gluten-free and is typically not vegan either, so Dale left it out and came up with this amazing concoction, which I have officially declared my favorite Bloody Mary of all time. We found the cutest gluten-free salami sticks at Whole Foods, which we used to garnish. These Bloody Marys fit in perfectly with the rest of our epic brunch, with the chatting, and with the porch sitting, perfect weather afternoon.

Almond and Cornmeal Cake

I sliced, peeled, and froze a boat load of peaches while they were still in season a couple of months ago. I knew that at some point in the late summer or fall, I would want their sweet, juicy, peachy goodness. After I extracted the boat load from the freezer, cooked them down, and made these popsicles, I had a mason jar full of leftover cooked peaches. So they seemed like the perfect thing to pile atop this cake, what with its tender cornmeal crunch, subtle honeyed sweetness, and almond overtones. Of course October is not the time for fresh peaches, but no worries, any fruit or jam or cream or whatever you like will do as a topping to this beauty. Although, an unadorned slice of this cake is just as honest and delicious. Happy fall!

Peach & Lavender Coconut Milk Pops

It has come to my attention that it's mid-September. Clearly not the most appropriate time for popsicles or for peaches. But the thing is that I spent my summer with my face in books and bars (not the drinking kind). I didn't get to eat near as many peaches as I typically would want. And I didn't get to make all the popsicles of my dreams. I'm about two months behind on this whole summer thing. So, bear with me.

I snagged a couple of bags of peaches during Pearson's last farmer's market appearance of the season. I let the peaches get perfectly ripe, eating a few along the way, before pitting, slicing, peeling, and freezing the rest. You see, I had been dreaming of soft, juicy, cooked peaches swimming in floral infused coconut milk and knew I would, at some point, have the time and energy to make that a reality. And friends, that time is now!