at home with ann

We were on vacation at the beach in Rhode Island last week.  During a heat wave there's no place I'd rather be.  Our days consisted of a nice little rotation of beach, other beach, salt pond and playground, all while enjoying Jon being home from work for the first week since August.  After Colin went to sleep at night (thank you, blackout curtains), we'd relax on the porch and enjoy the view of the water.  Vacations call for special cocktails, at least around our house, and Jon took the lead and whipped up this batch of Pink Lemonade Margaritas.  Pink Lemonade Margarita inspired by Ina Garten   Makes 4 cocktails. 1 cup pink lemonade 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice 1 cup triple sec 1 cup white tequila 2 cups ice kosher salt Run one of the juiced limes around the rims of the glasses and coat with kosher salt.  Set aside. In a blender, combine lemonade, lime juice, triple sec and ice.  You might need to add the ice in batches, depe...

I know I'm always saying things like, I don't like cake.  But I do like cake, I just don't like it when it's dry and tasteless or covered in that awful grocery store frosting.  This cake was neither dry nor tasteless, plus it looked so pretty in it's little bundt shape. I love using buttermilk, it makes me feel all fancy.  Inevitably, I am left wondering what to do with the leftover buttermilk and keep it around until I can justify throwing it out.  Not this time, however.  Our Friday morning pancakes were given a boost and the Buffalo Cauliflower Salad (recipe to come...) was topped with homemade buttermilk blue cheese dressing.  If you don't want to buy buttermilk, you can add a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to regular milk and let it sit for a few minutes.   Taking a cake out of a bundt pan is somewhat nervewracking.  I put the plate over the bottom, gave it a flip, said a silent prayer and heard the thunk when the cake released....

Now that it's May and Jon's birthday and corresponding pie was last week, we are making an effort to eat a little cleaner.  Sadly, this means cutting down on our consumption of things like nightly dessert.  Thankfully it does not mean we are going to stop going out to ice cream, because that's an important Sunday evening tradition for us in the summer.  At least for me, and I'm fairly certain I can get Colin in my corner.  This doesn't have much to do with anything, aside from the fact that this salad is healthy, filling and delicious.  And won't leave you craving peanut butter cups.   I love salmon.  Love, love, love.  I always feel good after eating it, and it's so versatile.  Ina made this recipe originally with fresh tuna, but I never see that in the stores, and when I do it can be crazy expensive. I think this would also be good with any firm white fish.  Asian Style Salmon Salad inspired by Barefoot Contessa   Ingr...