housekeeping

blogging, i think,

should be an up-to-date

process, and sadly,

for the past

few months,

not lazy. rustic.

has been tardy.

in some respects its

fine. if you have a

potato salad that you've

been making all summer,

and you don't exactly get

around to posting the

recipe the first time it

shows up on your kitchen

table, but the second time

you think,

this really is good,

i should talk about it,

i think you've found

your loophole.

but otherwise,

i think you (ok, i) should post

in a reasonable amount of time.

especially, if the season is

changing and a bunch of

the recipes are on their way

to losing their relevancy.

and so, in the spirit of

sharing with you our

last bits of summer before

these ingredients completely

disappear and you become much

more interested in stews

than watermelon (for instance),

the next couple posts

will be a peek backward.

after, it will be a new slate

(or maybe we'll get

lucky with a few hot days

and some bumper crops

of summer veggies and fruits).

years ago (yes, this was the last

of the four recipes that i've

been wanting to make forever),

i saw a recipe in one of my cookbooks

for grape and marcona almond gazpacho.

very weird that i even stopped to look,

because i typically flip the page

fast when i see gazpacho

(unless it's this gazpacho) -

i think it has something to do with

all the chunks of peppers.

but, i stopped and read it

and decided that it sounded

delicious and unique and that

when summer came around,

i would have to make it.

of course,

it took years.

and, of course,

because i finally decided to make

a batch this summer,

i could not remember

which book it came from

in the first place.

i searched for a while

and finally gave up,

deciding to just go my usual route -

the internet.

in the end,

i took my favorite components

of several recipes that i found,

adding bread as one recipe indicated,

soaking it briefly like another said,

switching marcona almonds for the regular

and using cucumber to temper the sweetness.

by the time i was done,

adding garlic,

scallions

and

sherry vinegar,

it was my own.

(at first, i was resistant to

the cucumber, wanting a soup

that was purely grape and almonds,

but one sample spoonful made the

veggie's use clear - without it,

you could serve the soup with cookies

and drink it for dessert.)

i prepared the mixture one day ahead -

in about 15 minutes, perfect for a

hot day - and kept it in the blender

container until dinner the next night.

i'm glad i did - the mixture separated

a bit in the fridge and benefited

from the second whirl.

garnished with whole almonds

and slices of grapes, which i

absolutely loved - this soup

was the definition of summer.

just slightly sweat,

very light,

full of flavor

and delicious

without an oven.

hopefully,

you still have time

to make some of your own.

green grape and marcona almond gazpacho

this soup can be made at least one day ahead (possibly longer, but we didn't have leftovers to experiment with). the only part of this gazpacho that i wasn't in love with was the texture - the nuts never fully smoothed out. next time i would probably do one of two things: strain the mixture or only process it a bit so that the entire lot is still a bit chunky (more like a traditional gazpacho). also, a word of caution: this soup is so light, that some of your dining companions may not view this as a full meal...consider serving it as an appetizer, with a salad or alongside a creative sandwich.

3 ounces day old bread, crusts removed and cubed

1 cup water, at room temperature

1 english cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and chopped

2 cups grapes, plus more for garnish

3/4 cup marcona almonds (not oil-coated), plus more for garnish

4 scallions, white and green parts, sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

place bread in water; let sit a couple of minutes. squeeze bread to remove some of the moisture. transfer bread to blender. discard remaining water. add remaining ingredients to food processor. process just until combined. taste soup and adjust ingredients; season with salt and pepper to taste. chill in container at least 2 hours, or overnight.

to serve: whirl again in blender, if necessary. divide soup among bowls; garnish with sliced grapes and marcona almonds.