Pat Blythe – Here comes summer!!

March 30 was the last column I wrote for this site…..the “Canadian edition” and finale of my jazz series. It’s now been six week since DBAWIS was able to publish due to some serious computer issues. There’s a wee bit of catching up to do. Live music is happening again, the camera seems to have found its way back into my life, the whole England move has been sliding sideways, reviewing photographs (not just Chris’s, but mine too) has sent me down several rabbit holes, and life generally, has been pretty busy. So…..let me just dive right in.

Chef Tom – Upping Your Kabab Skills While You Listen to Mugham

Yes. I know. Upping Kabab skills and enjoying Mugham may not be familiar to most of you, but they will be by the time you finish this column. Food and Music are Life.

Now let us begin ….

Chef Tom – ¡Esta muy caliente!

Aguas frescas, water-based fruit drinks, are a cool way to make your fresh fruit go further—especially in the summertime when you might have a larger watermelon than you know what to do with, or peaches that are starting to shrivel.

Pat Blythe – The weather report….day tripping and music…..

Hot, hazy and humid…..well maybe not hazy…..maybe more like stifling and soggy? How about moist and muggy, or maybe sultry and sweaty? Scorching, sizzling, oppressive, sweltering…..an endless number of adjectives to describe the current heatwave.  July 3-15 would have been a perfect Mariposa weekend running around covering 10 stages and sweating off these extra “COVID pounds”. Somehow I don’t associate “sultry” with weather that has the infinite ability to make one a squelchy, sodden, cranky mess. One short stroll out and I’m firmly planted in front of the air conditioner drying out.

Roxanne Tellier – Summer of Songs Redux

I’ve been overwhelmed, recently, with the events swirling around us. It’s too much. And today, although I had planned a look into trump and Ford’s plans to re-open schools this fall, I’m gonna take a pass, and a day off. Instead of current affairs, let’s enjoy the summer sun, and take a stroll down Memory Lane, to this slightly edited column that I first wrote in August of 2015.

How very different things look now, from the perspective of 2020, and this time of plague! Seems almost naughty to see people gathered together, without masks or social distancing! And I’m not sure if any of the places I mentioned then, are open now. Never mind… Take my hand, come along with me on the wayback machine, and forget about today for a while ….

Roxanne Tellier – Rounding It Up, Heading It Out

Since we DBAWIS scribes are about to go on hiatus until September 7th, today’s column is a round up of ideas and issues that have zipped past us in the last few days.

Have you noticed that, the speeding up of events? In the last few years we have become accustomed to barely accommodating the horrors of a day before awakening to the new atrocities of the next. It’s exhausting, and it’s been taking a huge toll on the psyches of not only Americans, but of citizens in countries all around the world.

Peter Has Band Advice, Festival News, and a Remarkable Young Film-Maker

Summer is finally here….almost. Summer in Canada means barbeques, backyards, balconies, beaches, bathing suits, baseball, beer and badminton. (Enough with the alliteration, already. Get on with it. Ed.)

Summer in Canada also means that the days are growing longer. Gone are the dreary months of only seeing that pale yellow orb in the sky on weekends and sick days. Life moves outdoors as much as possible as we frequent patios, campgrounds and parks, squeezing every possible second of fun that we can out of this fleeting season, for we know that the leaves that shade us in July will need to be raked up and disposed of properly in October. (Mother Nature always bats last.)

Chef Tom Herndon – Summer Yummers

I had this at a new restaurant the other night and came home and put this recipe together. I loved the combination of texture, colors and flavors. The key is to grill or roast all of the ingredients separately, and then combine them on your plate at the end. When I had it at the restaurant, they served it with a sous vide pork chop finished on the grill. But I tried it with a nice ribeye and it was heaven.

The sauce in the photo was some leftover smoky paprika butter (make your own with ½ stick of melted butter, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. Add a pinch of cayenne if you like it spicy)

Roxanne Tellier – A Disney World

The cats and I love spring and summer .. and even some of fall.  Winter is too snowy and cold, and we’re not too keen on rain; cold rain is particularly nasty.

But having so much lovely, balmy sunshine to enjoy in the warmer months … ahhh! that’s the best! By 6:30 a.m. most mornings, Lord Farlsworth, Lady Jade, and I are on the front porch, where I sip a coffee, and they survey their kingdom.

Cameron Carpenter – 10 CC – Summer

Another collection of ten things of late that have transpired, inspired, expired, or, just made me tired.