Saturday morning's post:
The heat is blasting today—the heat index this afternoon is expected to be 108 degrees. Kitty and I plan to head over to Marty’s Fine Wines and Foods for a special tasting of Spanish wines, something I know nothing about. But I think we’ll be doing “wee sippings” as opposed to gusty swallowings because of the heat. I also need to stop at Volante Farms in Needham to buy fresh basil for tonight’s tomato and fresh mozzarella bruschetta.

I’m hoping that Kitty and I will have time to make peach ice cream before we take off. We’ll puree the peaches, add the lemon juice and vanilla, then mix it all with the sugar and cream, and pour it into the Donvier ice cream maker. Fifteen minutes of talking while we occasionally turn the handle, pop the cylinder into the freezer, and it’ll be ready when we get home.

Sunday afternoon post:
The Spanish wines that Marty's was sampling were all very dry and highly acidic. Perhaps these are common characteristics of Spanish wine, I don't know, but based on this limited sample, that would be my conclusion, although I'm sure I shouldn't be making one. For nine dollars, I did buy a bottle of Tinto Alba Liza 2004, which is 65% Tempranillo and 35% grenache. I think I'll save it to accompany a spicy beef dish--I wonder how it would go with tacos? I can hear the coast-to-coast groan of wine connisseurs.

After our excursion, we couldn't wait to tear into the peach ice cream. Ken came up from his workshop, and the three of us talked in the kitchen. Too bad Sid had a family reunion, because of the three of us, he is the craziest about ice cream.

I was thrilled with how the bruschetta came out. I used the recipe in The All New Joy of Cooking, including fresh basil and fresh tomatoes from Volante Farms, garlic, Whole Foods olive oil, fresh mozzarella, and basalmic vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Oh, and the Tuscany bread came from a bakery in Walpole, but Volante's is the only place we know of that sells it.