Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’ve gifted myself the last two weeks of our summer work-free – and I’m pretty excited about it. We have a fun trip planned with friends and then a whole week of hanging out with my youngest before he starts high school. (I can hardly believe that I just wrote that sentence – my baby is starting high school this year!)

I’ll be back with new recipes to share in a couple of weeks and in the meantime, I’ve already shared thousands of recipes here, and here, and here – check them out and find something new to try!

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Blueberry Pancake Syrup is a quick and easy way to make your pancake or waffle breakfast deliciously special. You won’t believe how simple it is to turn 4 basic ingredients into a showstopping, vibrant purple feast for the eyes and mouth!

Watermelon Arugula Salad starts with icy cold watermelon cubes in balsamic dressing with red onions, peppery arugula, fresh basil, and feta or goat cheese crumbles. Sweet, savory, super fresh, and incredibly satisfying, this salad should be a standard at your summer table.

Old Fashioned Coleslaw with vinegar is a tangy, sweet, crunchy slaw that will keep you coming back for more. With a dressing made from vinegar and oil, it is better suited to picnics and parties in the hot summer months than the perhaps better-known mayonnaise-based versions.

Chunks of potato and hard-boiled egg mingle with salty bacon, tangy dill pickles and onions in this creamy potato salad. Bacon Potato Salad is a terrific side dish for any barbecue and will pretty much guarantee happy smiles around the table.

Gloriously tart but sweet and endlessly refreshing, this cheery, ruby-hued Cherry Lemonade is what summer memories are made of. Whip up a batch of this refresher, sit outside with your feet up, and relax!

This cheery Cherry Milkshake is so full of cherries it is sure to make you smile. With nearly equal parts frozen cherries, ice cream, and milk, this is a sweet treat that brings some goodness to the party as well!

Chips Ahoy Ice Cream is a buttery brown sugar ice cream generously filled with cookie pieces and mini chocolate chips. It’s a whole new cookies and cream ice cream and I’m loving it.

What I’m CRAVING: All the refreshing cocktails and mocktails! Have you tried making ranch water? These are super fun, light cocktails to mix up for friends and the flavor variations are endless.

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are these super handy little pill organizers. They are crazy cheap (less than $2 each!) and they’re the coolest little travel thing ever. They easily hold just about every medicine we might need and the little box takes up almost no space.

What I’m READING: The Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age by Mark Hyman M.D. and Gladys T. McGarey. Listening to Gladys’ interview earlier this year was great fun and I immediately placed a hold on her book through my library. Her life story is truly amazing and her sense of humor comes through in the book as well. She’s an inspiration.

What I’m LISTENING to: The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathon Stroud. This is the first book of The Bartimaeus Trilogy and it’s a lot of fun. The narration is fantastic and even though it’s written for ages 9-12, this is a hilarious fantasy series for all ages.

“You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.” Psalm 119:114 NIV

Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile!

Mary

The post The Little Things Newsletter #428 – Life, laughter, and lots of great food! appeared first on Barefeet in the Kitchen.