Tastes of Summer

Unfortunately, I've still no art to post; though I'm on to dioramas this week which has been fun. More about that later- I promise. What I do have, however, is a photo record of all the summery treats in which I've indulged for the past few weeks. (I'm in the habit of photographing my food-especially desserts- on the chance I want to paint them later!!) So on the chance you're looking for something cool to eat or drink- (or something cool and sweet to paint!)- here are some pretty, yummy pictures to inspire you!
To begin: Summer-y treat #1: Dark Chocolate Cherry Sundae
Inspired by the cover picture on my Bon Appetit magazine, I designed my own chocolate-cherry ice cream creation (cherry vanilla ice-cream with chocolate syrup, dark chocolate-covered almonds and a cherry chocolate chip cookie!) and served it to dinner guests last night. It was a perfect after-grilling dessert and was just the dessert to be served in my Cherries Jubilee sundae cups!

If you haven't tried these Archer Farms smoothie kits yet, you should. You'll find them in the freezer section at Target. They come in several different flavors and each packet contains everything you need to make two 8 oz smoothies (fruit puree, frozen fruit and a powder packet) save 1 cup of water and 1/2 a cup of ice. They're amazing...and incredibly convenient. The hardest part of making this smoothie is getting out your blender!

While you're in Target's freezer section you can pick some of this up, too. It's Blueberry Lavender Sorbet. I'm way into sorbet and so far I haven't met one I didn't like, but this is by far a favorite. It's refreshingly fruity and fresh with this subtly calming lavender undertone. It's light, it's creamy and it's gorgeous in a dish! Plus, it's got blueberries in it...and blueberry's a superfood, right?Next pic: a grapefruit margarita. The best of both worlds if you ask me- plus, it turned out a beautiful shade of light pink! I rimmed it with Sugar In The Raw (the big crystals make for a pretty and tasty rim for sweeter cocktails...and it's usually cheaper than rimming sugar.) The mix was made by Stirrings.

No summer is complete without at least one pitcher of lemonade. A wise woman once said, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade and better yet, make it pink!"

Here we go with the sorbet again. Haagen-Dazs makes 7 different sorbet flavors. I've only tried five of them, but those are all delicious so I feel I can vouch for the other two as well. Like all Haagen-Dazs products, their sorbet is a beautiful thing. It's smooth and intensely flavorful. The featured flavor on their website currently is mango which is what I happened to have this week, though raspberry is my favorite. I added some raspberry sauce to my mango sorbet (actually it was just raspberry preserves heated until runny and poured over the sorbet!) and I very much enjoyed it.

P.S. that Vanilla Honeybee on the Haagen-Dazs homepage is incredible...grab a pint of it, too. Do your part-save some honeybees. :)

Here's an old standby I found myself craving a couple of weeks ago. Neapolitan. I just like that word and the colors alone are adorable together. I think you can count on me using them in the near future in some artwork! Want to know more about the popular 3-in-1 icecream? Click here: Neapolitan ice cream.

Last, but certainly not least, I must tell you of the Giant Latte Bar. Those of you who don't like coffee can skip this, but those of you who, like yours truly- LOVE coffee, would do well to stay tuned. This delightful (and aptly named) soft popsicle is just REALLY REALLY good. It's made by Weight Watchers, believe it or not. (See here: Weight Watchers Giant Latte Bar ) One point per bar if you do the point thing- 90 calories, if you don't. That's great either way you look at it. And I just told you it tasted phenomenal. It's not icy like some of those fat free fudge bars you know are mostly water. This thing (besides being, like, twice the size of your typical little fudgesicle) is very soft and creamy, doesn't melt overly fast (I take my time and I've never had it drip down the stick or anything), and has a pleasantly strong coffee flavor with just enough sweetness. (I know I'm comparing it to a fudgesicle, but there's no cocoa in it; if you want chocolate they also make a Giant Fudge Bar and a Chocolate Mousse Bar). Fellow coffee lovers- go get some of these, you won't be sorry. It's like a frappucino on a stick...and it costs less than an iced latte!

With that I'll conclude my mid-summer musing on must-try summer sweets. Go have a refreshing, soothing snack. Enjoy, be happy and stay cool.

sweetly, happily, and artfully yours,

randi