"I had not notified to Mrs. Fairfax the exact day of my return..." ~ Jane Eyre

The siesta from blogging may be over, but my own personal summer siesta is far from over. I have three weeks left to enjoy the bounties of summer on Long Island, and I plan not to waste an hour of them. I hope that many people are glancing at their calendars this week and are becoming inspired to revel in the last few weeks of summertime. My siesta this past week was divine; the components would make Papa proud:

Wine
Thanks to Martha Stewart, the best sangria was served at my sangria party this past week. In her latest Living, she gives a wonderful recipe for Rose Sangria that I shall reprint for all to make and sip.
*Rose Sangria - serves 4-6*
3 cups rose wine (one bottle)
1 1/2 fresh pink grapefruit juice, strained (I used the juice from two grapefruits and it was fine)
3 ounces of contreau or triple sec (I used triple sec)
3 ounces of brandy or gold tequila (I used brandy)
1 small lemon, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I did slices)
1 orange cut into wedges (I forgot oranges at the supermarket, but will add them next time)
4 pounds cantaloupe or honeydew, seeded and cut into wedges (I used one cantaloupe because I prefer it and melon-balled it)
3/4 cup lemon-lime soda
Stir all of the ingredients together and refrigerate it for at least an hour. Do not add the soda until you are ready to serve it! Make sure you serve it over ice, but do NOT add ice to the sangria! Enjoy! Love, Amy and Martha

Water
The ocean has been beautiful this week; it is a dark blue beneath a cloudless light blue sky. I went to the beach both days this past weekend. My beach buddy Saturday was T; we had a lovely time and she was quite a trooper considering she is recovering from a broken foot! Yesterday I went to the beach with Robin. We had a great time together; she has lost so much weight and looks amazing in a swimsuit. Ironically, I was reading the New York Times Book Review as we sat side by side in the sand, and the last review was about two separate novels about conjoined twins. She and I agreed that we would want to kill each other if that were us, but then killing one meant we both died. The other piece of irony here is I used to joke with J. Sarah about she and I being conjoined at the hip. Anyway, there are more beach days to come over the next three weeks, and it is my hope to take Jack for a few hours!

Books
Thanks to David ( http://nakedmanatee.blogspot.com/), I read one of the best-written novels I have ever experienced as a reader: Bastard out of Carolina. As disturbing and difficult as it was to read, the voice of Bone, the protagonist, was one of the greatest voices of a protagonist I have read. I realize now that characters like Lily from Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees and Susie from Sebold's The Lovely Bones are more than likely modeled after Bone. The next book on my reading list is Papa Hemingway by A.E. Hotchner. I took it from my father's collection last weekend. My first unit with my American Lit Honors class this fall is Hem, so I am going to take excerpts from the book to introduce Papa's biography.

Food
J. Sarah, Cassie, and I dined at LeZie in Chelsea this past Tuesday evening. I don't remember the last time I visited the city for dinner before this night. For those who truly know me, they would comment that this is not good for my well-being. Eve bit into the an apple thinking it would feed her soul, and I bite into this big apple knowing that it feeds mine.

I arrived early to the city, and I swear the moment I stepped onto 7th Avenue, I had a grin on my face. I wondered what others were thinking for a moment, but after that moment I didn't care. I thought I would hit Lohmann's to shop, but my how times have changed. I went to the huge Bye Bye Baby (Jack's first birthday is in three weeks) on 7th Avenue instead.

How apropos that the restaurant is named LeZie. Zia in Italian means "Aunt." The dish I had was amazing! It was ricotta pasta with herbs, fava beans, and asparagus. I learned that ricotta pasta is basically gnocci, but substituting ricotta for potato. I think I sense a Sunday this fall trying out a ricotta gnocci recipe now that I am the gnocci queen! This is the recipe I found so far, but I am going to search for others.
*Ricotta Gnocci*
1 lb. Ricotta cheese
2 cups Flour (or enough to fill the Ricotta container)
1 egg
Pinch of salt
Mix all ingredients, kneading to finish blending. Let stand for 15 minutes. Roll into ropes about as thick as you thumb using hands and a floured surface. Cut into one-inch pieces. Roll with fork to impress lines, press with thumb to make indentation. Drop into boiling water and cook until they rise to surface, about 10 minutes.

Family
I am glad I spent a good deal of time with my family this week. I saw a great deal of Missy, Ed, and Baby Jack. Jack has a new swing set in his yard and he loves the baby bucket swing. Missy and Ed goaded me to take him down the slide since I was small enough to fit, but I think Jack was a little startled as we slid down together. He had many visitors this week, including cousins, my aunt, and my grandma, so I got to see all of them as well. The beach with Robin was so much fun, and last night I had my parental units over for some grilled fish, mashed potatoes, and corn. I made my daddy a margarita and he said it came out well! I almost cried when grilling the tuna because my mom has this thing when it comes to raw fish. No pink in the middle. Sigh. Clearly I am still not over the sin I committed against the beautiful tuna steak. Still, I would do anything for my parents.

Friends
I am a bit sad this morning because summer rec is over and I am not with my friends there, including my counselors in my class: Boz, T, and Ems. Thankfully I got to see T on Saturday and spoke to Boz via text messaging. I am in withdrawal from them, but not from my kindergarteners! The sangria party turned into one big drinking game of "Never Have I Ever," and I realize now that we were so loud. I joked I would be banned from my neighborhood after what was said.

Activities
Thanks to Ems and her mother, I am now addicted to crossword puzzles. I never, ever did them in all of my 28 years of life, but this past week of rec, it got intense. T gave me a New York Times Crossword Puzzle book as a gift, and I got crossword books for her, Em, and Boz. Great minds think alike? I can't stop. Its an addiction. I have been doing them morning, noon, and night.