Summertime 333

Tucked into my first post this year I spoke about my January-February-March 333 project. It went very well. I had a lot of fun doing it but I ran aground when I tried to pick my 33 pieces of apparel for April-June because of the weather.

The weather was so weird April-May, there was no spring really, then summer came mid June and I had two trips that had very different climates....well the end result was that I could not pick clothing. The battle between long sleeves and short was too much for me this year. My cold weather clothes seemed 'off' but I was freezing a lot. [except when I went to Palm Springs]

Now it is July and it is firmly summer and I find that I can make decisions about clothing easily. For whatever reason I feel like I can handle the weather for the next 3 months and I am able to plan. I also went out last month and got shoes for the summer so that hated task is done. I also realized I was short on plain t-shirts and tanks so I picked up a few at various thrift/consignment stores.

My List [always a work in progress]

1-3 Tan Sandals, Black Sandals, Coral shoes
4-9 Black pants, Slate pants, [2] brown pants, [2] green pants
10  Bronze shorts
11-19 Short sleeve tops: vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, [2] black T, [2] brown T, purple T, [2]print
20  Maroon print skirt
21-25 Sleeveless tops: black, slate, olive, lime, brown
26-27 Blue dress, Wine dress
28-30 Summer sweaters for AC: lime, blue, heather
31  Swimsuit

I am at 31 items including shoes.  I don't count exercise clothing or grubby garden wear or accessories. I have a awol purple tank top and my purple jeans are probably too big but my list may shift a bit.  I see lots of fun outfits in this list. It feels spacious almost too much so. If September turns cold I can swap out a bit but considering how hot it is now it seems silly to worry about it.

It feels good to have that settled.

Replacing potato salad

I grew up with my mother's potato salad and I enjoyed it. It was a typical blend of cooked potato chunks, chopped celery, hard boiled eggs and diced onion with a mayo/mustard dressing. Paprika sprinkled on top.  We had it on summer picnics with chicken.

Once I went off sugars and most starches in 2002 I simply replaced the potatoes with steamed, cauliflower chunks and never looked back.

But this week a friend asked me for my salad recipe at our 4th of July cook out and I realized that I make my salad different every single time I do it.  In fact this year's was quite different since all of my celery was bad and I didn't add eggs because there would be yummy deviled eggs on the same table.  I also let the ingredients I had in the garden lead me.

So here for my writing partner is how I remember making my  

2013 Cauliflower Salad.

Combine in a large bowl --
Steam a large cauliflower, cool and chop. Chill in fridge.
3 mild white radishes, chopped.
3 green onions, chopped small.
large handful of garlic chives minced.
large handful of tarragon de-stemmed.
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together for dressing --
1c homemade mayo [I know made this with olive oil but can't remember the seasonings]
1 tsp coleman's mustard
1 tsp paprika 

Dress salad and chill it in the fridge all afternoon for dinner. Invite a few friends over to enjoy a truly beautiful 4th of July summer night with good food and laughter. I think the occasion and the people added to the taste of the salad. But you may be able to duplicate it.

As for me I am grateful for the normal summer we have had thus far. It has been hot and sometimes muggy but not unusually so. The garden is doing well and strawberries are bearing and the birds are singing along with the waterfall.

Wishing all some summertime joy! xox