Enewsletter--Summer Series I

Now, mind you, Kendall makes this look much prettier for my enewsletter. I give her the words and some pictures; in return, she gives me a beautiful creation we send out as an enewsletter. You can sign-up to receive future enewsletters here.

Summer I
96 degrees?!? Are you kidding me? Okay—like all things temporal, this too shall pass, but the question is will we be able to make it without going crazy? I say, let’s throw a party. You’ll find everything you’ll need for a summer soiree at Hodgepodge—including the free decorating/entertaining ideas!
You can host a farmer’s market free-for-all or a more sophisticated, but easy wine and cheese event. Here are some ideas to bring it together:
If you’re going for the farmer’s market menu, I say start at the Downtown Market—every Saturday, 8 – 1 PM thru October! Go see what the farmers are bringing in and let that dictate your menu. You can also ask Jane at Lovin’ Spoonful Cafe, to prepare some of her lentils and couscous salad or other specialties—just to give you a slight break. Tell your guest to dress in their favorite comfy and cool Woodstock attire. Load some Janice Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix on your MP3 player and hook-up the speakers. Fill a couple kiddie pools with water and add ice! Place them in the seating areas so your guests can keep their tootsies refreshed—it’ll help everyone keep their cool. Hodgepodge can help with some cool Bohemian linens and matching paper lanterns, handmade bubble glass bar ware, appetizer picks, and more.
If you prefer a more sophisticated approach, go with a Provencal theme. Use your good linens (lots of choices at Hodgepodge) from tablecloths to napkins—don’t skimp. Get out your stemware, china and best flatware. Prepare an offering of cheeses, fruits, breads and select some wines to compliment your food. (Pal’s Package Store has a great selection of wines.) Dig into the Christmas decorations box and pull out those white lights—drape them in your trees. Set candles all around the garden—not just a couple—I mean at least 10. Place them in all of those terra cotta pots you’re not using. (Hint: this is a great time to use all of those almost-smell-good candles you receive as a thoughtful gift from someone, but would never burn in the house.) If you’ve got some mood music from the South of France, pop those into the CD player, but if not some of the old standards are great for a lazy afternoon with friends—Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Billie Holiday are wonderful.

Our family friend, Sherry, made this fabulous fruit salad which would work nicely with either event:
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 1/3 cups cantaloupe cubes (about 1/2 melon)
2 1/3 cups honeydew cubes (about 1/2 small melon)
2 1/3 cups watermelon cubes (about 1/4 small melon)
3 cups fresh blueberries (about 1/12 half-pint baskets)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
· Combine 1/2 cup wine and sugar in small saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves and syrup is hot, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes. Remove vanilla bean from syrup.
· Combine all fruit in large bowl. Add mint and remaining 1 cup wine to sugar syrup. Pour over fruit. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
· Spoon fruit and some syrup into large stemmed goblets.
(One more hint: Don’t toss that used vanilla bean—put it in a container of granulated sugar to use for baking or sweetening you sun tea.)

Join us June 30th for our “How Do They Do That?” Americana Banner event. (I think we said the 24th, but we need to push it to the 30th—still plenty of time to get it hung for the Fourth of July!) We’ll meet in our studio space above Hodgepodge. Light refreshments will be provided. Cost for the class (including materials) is $20. Email Paige or call for your reservation.

Don’t forget to add The Andrews Brothers to your summer schedule. This musical not only aptly demonstrates the vocal talents of three amazing actors, it is hilarious! We laughed until we cried. Visit http://www.roxyregionaltheatre.org/ for more information and to book your tickets!

Also--beware, shameless plug ahead--Disney's Mulan, Jr. is playing at The Roxy as well. I hear the kid that plays Mushu is hilarious! You can catch Mulan, Jr.--starring our son, Haedyn--through Jul 3rd, but don't wait until the end.

One last note to this VERY long enewsletter: Hodgepodge and ARTifacts will be changing our Saturday hours to work better with the Downtown Market. We will open at 9 AM and close at 5 PM. New hours are effective June 20th.

Thanks for the indulgence.