amanda mcclements

{{   for more ideas and inspiration, head on over and follow along on Pinterest    }}

We made it to the home stretch of summer, people! It's steamy, it's stormy, and pretty much all I feel like doing is, well, nothing. So I'd like to offer up some pleasantries to help August pass with a bit more panache. Happy dog days, y'all. Cocchi Aperitivo Americano instructions: Gather friends. Pour over ice with an orange peel and sip. Or add a splash of soda for equal parts heat-beating hydration. Teak petanque set Design Within Reach, $310 instructions: Find a grassy (or sandy) spot. Pour a drink (see No. 1). Challenge your friends to a game of petanque ( keep those feet together! ), and channel the sun-drenched south of France. (This would make a killer host gift, too.) Pleasant Pops instructions: Track down the local pop pushers and go for a cooling flavor like cucumber chile or pineapple basil. And don't mind the drips. It's August. You can't help it. Wicker picnic basket Target, $46.89 instructions: Check out my recs...

I can be a huge sap and I love "Sleepless in Seattle." Movie buff I'm not, but the Nora Ephron film is one of the few I can quote. The precocious, acronym-happy little girl in the movie provided plenty of obnoxious quote fodder. Like MFEO. Made for each other. Which is what pops to mind when I'm faced with a blissed out food pairing.

I joined the lovely ladies of News Channel 8's Let's Talk Live to talk about easy resolutions for making your home a little greener. Check out the video and add these resolutions to your list: 1. Frequent the farmers market. And start now. It's cold? So what! Bundle up and get out there to support the local farmers who are growing all kinds of delicious winter produce and humanely raised meats. Plus, learning to make a meal with what's available, not what's on some recipe list, will make you a better cook. Year-round markets include the Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market and the Arlington Farmers Market . Find a market near you . 2. Recycle. Obvious, I know, but did you know in DC you can recycle plastic bags, aerosol cans, wide-mouth plastic containers, plastics labeled #1-7 and aluminum foil? Here's a full list for DC . 3. Start composting. Thanks to Compost Cab , there’s really no excuse. The service provides you with an odor-free, rodent-proof bin for your...

Making Brazilian brigadeiros last January. See the recipe . Cook, eat, drink, travel, repeat. To mark the passing year (and my occasional photography triumphs), here's a look at 12 of my favorite food photos I snapped during all that cooking, eating, drinking and traveling in 2011. Here's to more deliciousness in 2012. North Carolina oysters with an oyster crab nestled inside. All down the hatch. Marzipan piggies. Nice, France. Doctoring up a bowl of pho with plenty of tripe. From Pho 14 . Spicy pickled watermelon rind. You must try it . Backyard crab boil.   The fantastic hotel welcome: fixings for a Dark n' Stormy at Tucker's Point in Bermuda. p> Champagne tasting in Champagne, France . Paul Bakery 's massive macaron. Rhubarb puff tarts . Making an emu egg omelet . Midnight feast at Full Kee .

It's never too early to start planning your New Year's Eve toast. Here are a few great sparkling cocktail recipes from the Metrocurean archives: Holiday “à la Parisienne” courtesy of PS 7's "mixtress" Gina Chersevani makes 1 drink 1/2 ounce St-Germain liqueur 1 ounce fresh squeezed grapefruit (must be fresh!) 3 dashes of Angostura bitters 3 drops of orange bitters (you can also use Fee Brothers or The Bitter Truth bitters)  4 1/2 ounces of cava or Champagne grapefruit peel In a champagne flute, layer all the ingredients starting with the St-Germain, the grapefruit juice, and follow with the Angostura bitters and orange bitters. Add your favorite Champagne or cava and twist the grapefruit peel above the glass to release oils. Add the peel to the drink. Farmer's Fizz courtesy of Jon Arroyo, executive bar chef for  Farmers and Fishers  and  Founding Farmers makes 1 drink 1 ounce Plymouth Gin 1/2 ounce St-Germain liqueur 3 dashes of orange...

Who doesn't love cake? And who doesn't love having a friend who makes great cakes? Down South, they're called cake ladies, and a very sweet new cookbook pays tribute to the multi-generational tradition. In " Cake Ladies: Celebrating a Southern Tradition ," Jodi Rhoden, a cake lady herself and owner of Asheville, NC's Short Street Cakes , profiles 17 women across the South who are relied on for their pound cakes, mud cakes, buttercreams and even vegan cupcakes. (Check out my little brother's New Orleans roommate on page 92, part of how this book came on my radar.) The pages are filled with mouthwatering photos of beautiful confections, recipes and touching life stories of the women behind the cakes. A perfect gift for anyone with a sweet tooth or the cake baker in your life. Click on over for the book's German chocolate cake recipe.

Postcards from summer (clockwise from top left): Mom's muffaletta, a spicy cocktail recreated, raw New England clams on a boat, home boiled peanuts, steamed NC clams, a sandy afternoon in Martha's Vineyard (those are not my feet, thank you) It feels like the first day of school to me. My summer vacations are all behind me (boo!), and instead of a backpack full of new school supplies, I have a brand new site (yay!). I can almost smell the freshly sharpened pencils. In the spirit of back-to-school show and tell, I'm reminiscing over the especially tasty moments of summer when I managed to escape the heat of the concrete jungle and eat well. Very well. And sing " I'm on a boat ." A lot. Here's what was good: • My mom's muffaletta with  Central Grocery olive salad  on fresh baked focaccia, eaten by a swimming hole at my sister's place outside Durham. • The spicy Clementine Kicker cocktail at Top Chef contestant  Kelly Liken 's Vail restaurant, ...