The Cicada's Where Singing In The Tree Tops

I love summer nights, tunes playing on the stereo and dinner on the porch.    Ina Garden says, "when your visitors enter the music should be playing," I agree!  Stone and I danced to the beat, while waiting for our guest Leann and Kevin to arrive.  

At the sound of the door bell, Lucy quickly ran towards the door, barking (her way of saying hello).  I sometimes think Lucy assumes the visitors are here to see her.   She even wore a dress this evening. Prancing on all four legs, she lead the way to the porch for drinks and appetizers.  

It was the perfect evening as the sun was setting and the cicada's where singing in the tree tops.  We gathered around the table as I quickly lit the candles and served the main course, Individual Beef Croustades with Boursin & Mushrooms, while Stone poured the wine, 19 Crimes.   

With stomachs filled, but not to full for dessert, I served slices of Fresh Blueberry Pie, topped with fresh Stabilized Whipped Cream.  With sated stomachs, coffee was served and the evening came to an end.  

 I rarely buy flowers, trying mostly to use what is in my yard at the time.   This Monad fistulosa (bee balm or wild bergamot) blooms late in the summer and attracts numerous butterflies and bee's.

 Orange Dream Cycle Martini

Serves:1

Ingredients:

1 ounce pinnacle whipped vodka

3 ounces orange'n cream soda (or any flavor soda)

Directions:

Rim glass with sugar and add an orange slice.

Mix above and pour into glass.

Optional: top with whipping cream.

I've made this Roasted Shrimp Cocktail many times.  It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe.  Roasting the shrimp is by far the best way to prepare it for this recipe.  

 The fondest memories are made while gathered around the dinner table.

 A simple red, white and green, Italian salad, the Caprese Salad, the colors was made to resemble the Italian flag. I drizzle some Balsamic Reduction on the saucer prior to assembling.

19 Crimes

Proclamation:

EACH DECLARED BY HIS MAJESTY to be punishable on Conviction by Transportation.

NINETEEN CRIMES turned criminals into colonists.  Upon conviction, British rogues, guilty of at least one of the 19 crimes, were sentenced to live in Australia, rather than death.  This punishment by "transportation" began in 1788, and many of the lawless died at sea.  For the rough-hewn prisoners who made it to shore, a new world awaited.

As pioneers in a frontier penal colony, they forged a new country and new lives, brick by brick.

This wine celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built.

Crime #13-Assaulting, cutting, or burning clothes.