Ah, summertime, the season of baseball, watermelon, sweetcorn, and wine-gnats. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. You pick up your goblet to take a sip and there, floating on top is a gnat. Sometimes, if I see he's still alive and flailing around down there, I'll run and get a paper towel and stick it into the wine, close to where the gnat is struggling. Usually, he'll step right on the towel and then fly off on his merry way. And I feel like a Good Samaritan. But sometimes.....I just drink them.



Well, wow, what a July it has been, Blog Readers. On the fourth, Bob and I went to Rome, Italy! We took in the Colosseum, the Forum, Vatican City, The Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. Then we took the train to Florence to see Michelangelo's David, and the Basilica di Santa Marie del Fiore, and Bob's cousin, Elaine. Then we went on to Venice, then back to Milan, where we caught a flight to Paris. This was our second visit to Paris, so we'd been to some of the major spots. This time we enjoyed a concert at the beautiful Sainte Chappelle, and went to Julia Chld's favorite kitchen store, E. Dehillerin. I got a huge pack of paper doilies there for nine Euros. 250 count - I thought it was a real deal. We also went to La Closerie de lilas on the Blvd du Montparnasse, the bar where Hemingway is supposed to have written most of The Sun Also Rises, and where Lenin and Trotsky played chess. Here I am in front of the Duomo in Florence.




On July 30th, we hosted a baby shower for Lindsey at the Propylaeum in Indianapolis. Twenty-seven people showed up for lunch and a swell, baby shower kind of time. It was so nice to see her and so nice for her to get to see all her old friends, co-workers, and family members. Here's a picture of Lindsey and two of her cousins, Megan and Baleigh. I bet you guys won't even recognize Little Baleigh. What'd I tell you?









Finally, if you're my Facebook Friend, you know that the last two Sunday evenings in a row we've hosted Ribfest in the Hood, the Hickory Hill Hood, that is, swimmin' pools, movie stars. Both weeks we used a dry rib alone on some of the ribs, dry rub and barbecue sauce on some, and plain barbecue sauce on the others. On week one, we were joined by our dear neighbors, Cathy and Mike. Week two, we added more guests. Here's the group, sans Rob, who is off taking a test online, and Bob, the photographer.






And, here's the dry rub recipe:


Rib Dry Rub
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper.