"happy happy birthday merica ..."

things i love about america:

- diversity! in people, in culture, in food. i love living in a salad bowl. 

- the cities, the plains, the mountains, the hills ... i love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills ... oooooooooooo beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain!

- we've got some great songs ^^^

- the art! warhol, hopper, rothko! fitzgerald, sinatra, dylan! the other fitzgerald, steinbeck, twain!

- 64 ounce drinks, burgers & fries, cronuts!

happy birthday america!

i'm glad to call you home.

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image via.

sweet land of liberty.

via fashionisareligion.tumblristhebible.

my country, tis of thee

sweet land of liberty, of thee i sing;

land where my fathers died, 

land of the pilgrims' pride,

from every mountainside let freedom ring!

my native country, thee,

land of the noble free, thy name i love;

i love thy rocks and rills,

thy woods and templed hills;

my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.

let music swell the breeze,

and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song; 

let mortal tongues awake;

let all that breathe partake;

let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.

our fathers' god, to thee,

author of liberty, to thee we sing;

long may our land be bright

with freedom's holy light;

protect us by they might, great god, our king.

- samuel f. smith

i really like that song. it says all i feel about my country.

plans for today include sleeping in, swimming, firework watching, and making lavender honey custard.  while in philadelphia last year, we went to longwood gardens, or heaven, as i like to call it. i bought a lavender cookbook while i was there and have yet to use it. a shame i know. this weekend i'm changing my ways. 

here's my fourth of july gift to you, the recipe:

lavender honey custard
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender (english lavender is fine)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise
10 large egg yolks (10! i know! but it is custard)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
in a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, honey, lavender, and 3/4 cup of the cream. add the vanilla bean. heat, stirring often, until small bubbles start to form around the edge; do not boil. set aside to cool slightly.
in a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar. beat with an electric mixer for 5 minutes, or the misture is a light lemony yellow and forms a slowly dissolving ribbon when the beater is lifted.
slowly beat in the milk mixture. pour back into the saucepan. use a paring knife to scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the pan. cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the misture thickens and reaches 175 degress on an instant-read thermometer (don't go above 180 degrees of the eggs will curdle).
strain into a medium bowl. place over a larger bowl containing ice cubes and cold water. stir often until cool. stir in the vanilla extract and the remianing 3/4 cup cream. transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.

happy 4th!

i realize i never wished you a happy 4th of july.

sorry.

i will now give you a briefing of how i celebrated our nation's birthday. there was none of this, as in previous years, but it was still swell.

saturday
-wake up early, too early for saturday
-go to farmer's market
-have the time of your life
-especially enjoy ruby snaps' almond white-chocolate chip cookie
-go to bikram yoga
-feel as though you might die
-feel as though you are the shiiiiiiiiii because you finished bikram yoga
-feel great, but really sweaty

-all of the sudden, feel as though you might die again
-blame it on the fact that you didn't drink enough water before you perspired half your body weight
-sleep it off
-wake up just in time to party with the woods
-party with the woods
-sleep

sunday
-go to church
-get really important things accomplished there
-eat a delectable meal afterwards
-lounge for too long
-drive 100 miles to the spiral jetty



-be afraid that aliens might abduct you in this strange land, far from civilization



-get home safely despite your fears
-skype mama walt for an hour
-laugh the whole time
-try to watch 500 days of summer
-stop watching 500 days of summer because your computer shuts down voluntarily
-be happy that you just bought an imac
-fall asleep
-dream about your new imac

monday
-sleep in too long
-think that it is probably because you went to sleep at 2am
-help mom with her blogging masterpiece
-be persuaded by paige to put on your swimsuit
-drive to grandma's to go swimming
-dance around in your new swimsuit for a while
-decide to jump in
-decide it is too cold to jump in
-jump in anyway
-regret it
-jump in again
-get out of the pool because it is raining on the 4th of july!
-go to the indoor pool
-go see the most abstract film you've ever seen
-love it because 1) it's pretty 2) it's at the broadway
-admire the sign at the concession stand that says "edamame: they make an independent film better"
-think about the movie that you just saw for hours on end
-eat a fitting meal for the 4th - texas roadhouse
-love that
-get home just in time for the circle firework show

was that long?

hey, happy 5th of july.