Posted 9:03 PM

roadside burger joints in small towns make pretty lackluster burgers, generally, but when they offer onion rings i almost always get them. today they didn't disappoint: thick & crunchy with a soft onion inside that cleaved with the ring rather than sliding out all at once like they sometimes do. beer battered with homemade fry sauce, they were even good cold later that night. yes.

Posted 8:09 PM

apparently the word "smoothie" can mean anything. in this case, it meant fresh honeydew, fresh ginger and half and half. perhaps not as shockingly refreshing as yesterday's honeydew smoothie, but 5 times times more delicious.

Posted 8:09 PM

a smoothie can be a slushie as long as it tastes like an icy slice of sweet honeydew every time i stop at a light or before i climb a hill during a hot afternoon bike ride. i might need to get a bubble tea smoothie every day for the rest of the summer.

Posted 9:55 PM

i'm not tracking daily food anymore, but it would be a shame not to mention taz's eid feast on the waterfront tonight. she brought homemade chicken biryani and a potato/chickpea dish. roger brought very good homemade baba ganoush & crackers. someone brought dates, which seemed like an excellent traditional ending -- but taz also brought homemade chocolate chip cookies.

i brought two homemade sodas: a melon fresca and a creamy limeade, both of which helped cut the spice in taz's dishes. they were both easy, if a little messy, to create:

creamy limeade (also known as brazilian lemonade):
the juice of 6 limes, 6 cups of water, a can of sweetened condensed milk, soda and salt. mix together, funnel into a clean 2-liter bottle.

melon fresca:
whatever melon you've got, mint from the garden, the juice of a lime, 6 cups of water, simple syrup, soda. blend the melon & mint with a little water, press through a sieve. add water, soda & simple syrup.

i kept them cool on the way to the feast there by putting them in the freezer for a few hours, then wrapping them with foil & bubble wrap before putting them in freezable lunch sacs w/ cold packs.

i love bringing homemade soda to parties.