Rough Night

Sam is visiting again, which, as you know, makes me ecstatic and makes M ... well, something other than ecstatic. Don't get me wrong: he adores Sam. The two of them (along with Pat, Sam's owner) have been on a number of extended camping/paddling trips together and he's pretty used to her hogging all the spare room in the tent.

That said, Sam occasionally brings out M's allergies, which can be pretty hard-core when it comes to animals, although more with cats than dogs. (When we visit Addie, Mike and Laura in Seattle, he's usually spends the entire time toked up on Sudafed because of the cats. I, on the other hand, am always thrilled for the chance to commune with Frida.) But if you have animal allergies, you know that sometimes they really get you, and sometimes, with particular animals, they're not so bad. Usually, the latter is what happens when Sam comes to visit.

In fact, M has had a good enough allergy experience the last few times she's visited that he lets her sleep in the bed with us. :) Let me give credit where it's due: this is clearly not something he would choose to do on his own, and I absolutely recognize that he allows this to happen only because I get deliriously happy about falling asleep while snuggling a puppy -- and M wants me to be happy. And I know it's a sacrifice for him: Not only does Sam sometimes bring out his allergies, but she also snores and, at least once a night, her tail really gets going (maybe she's dreaming about something happy?), which results in a lot of whapwhapwhapwhap at 4:00 in the morning. But M has put up with all of this so far to let me fall asleep with my arms around Sam, and I'm totally grateful.

Unfortunately, I think that's all about to come to an end. Last night was evidently the "perfect storm" when it comes to sleeping with Sam -- and I mean that partly literally. We had a crazy thunderstorm in the middle of the night that Sam and I managed to sleep through, but M didn't -- partly because his allergies were acting up, partly due to the noise of the storm, and partly due to the combination of doggie snores and whapwhapwhapwhap. I woke up this morning to find that M had spent several hours attempting to sleep on the sofa before giving up altogether (I didn't even realize he'd left the bed, because Sam had appropriated his entire side of our California king).

"You doing okay?" I asked when I bumped into him in the hallway around 6:00 this morning.

"Yeah," he answered, "but I think you and Sam are sleeping in the Blue Room tonight."

Well, fair enough.

Tastes Like Home

After stumbling across this ode to sweet tea from Slate, I just had to share it. My favorite line might be:

Offering up a glass of sweet tea on a hot day in the South is as welcoming a gesture as passing the doobie at a Phish show.

Summery Ingredients

Had a lovely evening with the Ds (M's folks) on Saturday night, including most of a dinner on the patio (we were chased in by rain at one point). Somehow, dinner entertaining is easier in the summer, isn't it? My amazing Burgundy Beef Stew notwithstanding, winter dinners seem to require so much more planning, time or effort. I love how summer ingredients are delish enough to shine on their own-- especially when I can pick some of them in the backyard! Here's what we served:

• Caprese appetizer: Slice and arrange, alternating, Brandywine tomatoes, Half-moon China tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and whole basil leaves. Spritz with white truffle oil; sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Honey-basil salmon: Chop fresh basil; mix with honey, butter and a little olive oil. Chill. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper; grill on foil. Before serving, top salmon with honey-basil butter.
• Garlic green beans: Saute fresh garlic in olive oil; set aside. Steam beans for a few minutes in the microwave, then toss with garlic, oil, and pine nuts. Tuck into foil "packet" and toss on grill with salmon.
• Grilled bread: Save a little of the garlic and olive oil from the beans to drizzle on slices of ciabatta. Top with a handful of chopped fresh herbs. Grill until toasty.
• Fresh blueberries-plus: Whip together equal parts light cream cheese and sour cream, along with a tablespoon of amaretto. Chill. Layer in wine goblets with fresh blueberries and slivered almonds. Garnish with fresh mint.

Mmmm!

RSSIMHRN, August 9

After reading the NYT's review of the B.B. King/Al Green show at Madison Square, which culminated in a description of Rev. Green's take on "Amazing Grace," the Blind Boys of Alabama are gracing my inner soundtrack this morning. Their version of the hymn -- with the traditional lyrics layered over the chord progression to "House of the Rising Sun" -- has long been an iPod staple for me, particularly after we were lucky enough to hear them perform the song live when opening for Peter Gabriel a few years back.

RSSIMHRN, August 7

One of the things we really like about Netflix is access to TV shows that we'd otherwise miss because they're on cable. There's been quite a bit of positive buzz about HBO's "Big Love," so we Netflixed it and watched the first two episodes the last couple of nights. I wasn't sure at first how much I'd like it, given the ostensible creepiness of subject matter, but it's incredibly engaging -- starting with the opening credits. They're beautifully shot and introduce the main characters and their relationship(s) in a very dreamy and slightly trippy way-- all set to the happy harmonies of Mssrs. Wilson et al. So that's the source of today's RSSIMHRN, which is fine: I could do a lot worse than having "God Only Knows" in my head for a couple of hours.