I'm writing this post to you today on the porch of my mom's lakefront cabin in upstate, New York. In the past few years, this spot has come to mean summer to me. Sure, I've made many wonderful summer memories that dated far before my mom started coming here, but these days I feel like summer really starts on the porch here. Time slows. The daily itinerary involves morning coffee, porch-reading, dock-reading, and discussion of what to do for dinner. That's basically it. Sometimes this is punctuated by a swim or a run or a soft-serve ice cream cone. Or a long walk down the road. A most welcome change of pace from what our daily itinerary has looked like in Seattle recently (work, work, work, eat, work). Now we've arrived happily to the land of lingering. 

There are some things you don't question or plan for. They're the things that just happen, that unfold throughout the day or week or month. The things we don't always document or discuss because they don't really seem important enough, but that -- all the same -- so often bring us together in one way or another. Patterns or obsessions or phases. Late-night online shoe shopping. Permission to nap at odd hours. Spontaneous cell-phone photo exchanges. Maybe you can relate. Maybe lately you've been doing something similar. As you do. As we do.

Last summer we chatted about Pimm's Cups and a list of things I wanted to do, feel, eat, and read during those few short months.  But by its very nature, summer shouldn't warrant a list: it's a time when lists should ideally be thrown out the window and a little bit of whimsy should take the reigns. But I know so many of you can relate to the way in which weeks and months can whoosh on by and before you know it, peaches are out of season and the days are getting shorter. And for that reason, I tend to make summer lists.  So here we have this year's version. I so encourage you to make your own and share one or two or all of them here. I'd love to hear yours. Truly.

This has been a banner year for fall cookbooks. There are always some great new releases that I get particularly excited about, but this year's different. I can hardly keep up and I wanted to share some of my new favorites with you. These are the ones that are bookmarked, riddled with post-it notes, and live on my bedstand--the ones I turn to for ideas on innovative ingredients, old-fashioned Southern recipes, and classic chocolate desserts. I've ogled them, baked from them, and recommended them to friends (not surprisingly, most of them are baking books). After chatting about these, I'd  love to hear about any new (or classic) fall cookbooks you've been enjoying lately.

Last week was a whirlwind of flour, sugar, cool fall evenings, early morning drives to the industrial part of the city and some new baking friends. I enrolled in a one-week intensive baking course through San Francisco Baking Institute in methods and ingredient functionality. It was fascinating to learn the science behind what I do and love (the "why's and "how's" lurking behind recipes and formulas). I haven't done the whole commute thing in a long, long time so after a few days of really bad morning radio I gathered up a new play list. And you know what I've found about this particular playlist? Not only is it fabulous for weaving in and out of traffic on Highway 101, it's also great for shaking your booty while you're making butterscotch pudding.

I generally work on weekends. It's something I've come to terms with only because I know it won't last forever. I write. I bake. But those two things don't always pay the bills, so I work retail on the weekends and dream of the day when I'll have a Sunday like this one:

Have you walked into Staples lately? Well, I strolled in right before closing a few night's ago and was struck with a whole in-your-face Back to School extravaganza. Yikes. How is July almost over? Thankfully we're all about Indian Summers  here in the Bay Area. But it did get me thinking that I should do some planning to make sure I squeeze in everything I want to do before September shows its face.  I was inspired to make a Summer List by Molly who was inspired by Maria. Both jotted down things they wanted to eat, feel, and think about while the days are long and the evenings are warm. So here's mine. I encourage you to jot a few things down, too. And while you're at it, have a drink. Isn't that what summer's for? I recently discovered Pimm's and a quick and ruthless obsession was born. If you don't know Pimm's, it's a gin-based liquor that's a little bit citrusy, a little bit spicy, but extremely light and crisp. I sip it straight, I add it to bubbly water and squeeze in lemons from my mom's tree, I throw a bit into ginger beer or iced tea and give it a brisk stir. So in addition to your list, you can mix yourself up a quick Pseudo Pimm's Cup, my version of the original that's a tad bit bubbly, less sweet, and a little stronger. Just the way I like my drinks, as you already know. So here's to making lists, drinking summery drinks, wearing flip-flops every day, reading bad magazines, and not stepping inside a Staples until (at least) September.

Every now and then I like to share with you a few things that are inspiring me. I hope you had an amazing weekend. I worked a lot, wrote a lot, drank a lot of coffee, and packed a lot (more on this soon).

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, we’ve got a day on our hands that signifies fresh starts, Spring, a little color, a little more chocolate. So I don’t have a recipe for you today (although I have a great one coming up in just a few…

I love making lists. It's a sure bet that at any given moment there will be to-do lists in my jean pockets, grocery lists scrawled on napkins by the sink, or post-its with songs I want to download or books I want to check out splayed across my desk. But this one was hard. In fact, I lost sleep over it, arguing with myself about how I could include Saigon Sandwiches but not, say, Nettie's Crab Shack (which is a wonderful lunch spot in the Marina, by the way). But ultimately, I reasoned, this is my list. It's not Zagat's list, it's not my old coworker's list. It's born from my experiences and love affair with a select few places I either discovered or heard about. I got nervous positing this for many reasons: what if it changes? What if, in three months, I disagree with my rankings (yes, I'm a first child and a Capricorn--type-A and anxious)? But ultimately I decided to post such a list because people are always asking me where to go in the city, and I have a few new food blogger friends attending the upcoming BlogHer conference and thought they might appreciate some suggestions. So take them for what they are. It's not the list I'd give to the Prime Minister, but it's a 'down and dirty,' my kind of places list. If you hit them up, let me know what you think.