Good morning! My Five Faves today with Cindy and Annie are varied but I especially wanted to show you what I’m recommending for my client who is helping a distant relative. She asked for my help in designing her guest room into a bedroom for a Ukrainian boy refugee. I’d like your input.
I also have a delicious twist on gazpacho, a summer dress and a television show that we are enjoying.
1. Gazpacho For Breakfast
While in Puglia, Italy, our group went nuts for the gazpacho served at breakfast at our hotel. So much so that we would order it the day before to make sure they had it (they run out of it). My friend, Mercedes believes that this is a very similar recipe.
The difference that makes this Italian one so special is that they serve it with about a tablespoon of diced watermelon, a few peppery arugula leaves and a drizzle of top quality extra-virgin olive oil. So, I will definitely try to duplicate this!!
Here is the recipe if you are not an NY Times Subscriber:
INGREDIENTS
- About 2 pounds ripe red tomatoes, cored and roughly cut into chunks
- 1 Italian frying (cubanelle) pepper or another long, light green pepper, such as Anaheim, cored, seeded and roughly cut into chunks
- 1 cucumber, about 8 inches long, peeled and roughly cut into chunks
- 1 small mild onion (white or red), peeled and roughly cut into chunks
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar, more to taste
- Salt
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste, plus more for drizzling
PREPARATION
- Combine tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and garlic in a blender or, if using a hand blender, in a deep bowl. (If necessary, work in batches.) Blend at high speed until very smooth, at least 2 minutes, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
- With the motor running, add the vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture will turn bright orange or dark pink and become smooth and emulsified, like a salad dressing. If it still seems watery, drizzle in more olive oil until texture is creamy.
- Strain the mixture through a strainer or a food mill, pushing all the liquid through with a spatula or the back of a ladle. Discard the solids. Transfer to a large pitcher (preferably glass) and chill until very cold, at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Before serving, adjust the seasonings with salt and vinegar. If soup is very thick, stir in a few tablespoons ice water. Serve in glasses, over ice if desired, or in a bowl. A few drops of olive oil on top are a nice touch.
2. What To Watch: The Lincoln Lawyer TV Series
Howard and I just started this and are enjoying it!
3. Easy Summer Dress
Here I am with our son, Tommy on the Italian east coast (I will do a post on that trip’s highlights this week).
This is a comfortable dress by J. Jill. It comes in Misses, Regular, Petite and Tall. I am wearing a petite medium. The fabric is soft and will be perfect for the hot months ahead.
4. Teen Ukrainian Refugee Bedroom In The US.
I helped Marta from Virginia with another bedroom years ago. She asked for my help again with a bedroom for a distant relative, a Ukrainian boy refugee. He’s fourteen years old and is coming here this summer with his 21 year old sister. His mother and father are doctors and staying in Ukraine.
This uses less expensive items from Target and Amazon and of course, I am not charging her for my time.
Feel free to give us your input!
Shop The Room:
5. Home Depot Carpet Visualizer
It would be nice to have new carpeting in the Ukrainian boy’s bedroom. So, I showed Marta this. She’s going to the store to look at samples. Probably more of a tan color will be better but this just shows how it makes things fresher.
Have you tried Home Depot’s visualizer? It’s easy. You just upload a photo.
If you are new here, each Sunday I share my top five favorite things along with my friends, Cindy and Annie. It’s like our weekly “catch-up” phone call. If you would like to receive this series every week, please sign up HERE.
Let’s see what Annie and Cindy’s Five Faves are this week:
Hi Mary Ann,
That dress looks adorable on you! Seems like the perfect thing to wear on a hot day gauze is so lightweight and easy to wear. The soup recipe sounds delicious, I had forgotten about gazpacho but used to make it frequently. I’ll try it with the watermelon (I’ve been adding watermelon to my caprese salads too, yum so good!) Olive oil on just about anything adds so much flavor!
So nice of you to help with the room for the young man from Ukraine. So horrific what he must have been going through, and I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have to leave home, move to another country and do it without your parents. Having a calming space to move into will help him settle. I think a chair and possibly small book shelf as a bed side table would be welcome additions. Maybe engineered or vinyl wood floor with a rug of some sort would work as well as carpet? That visualizer is a pretty amazing tool.Anyway I hope he will be comfortable in his new room.
Hope all is well it’s you!
Xo Heidi
Thanks…there is a bookshelf already there (not shown) and two end tables. I always like wood floors better too…but then we would need an area rug. The homeowner is trying to conserve $
You look darling in that dress. Such a cute picture of you two! How nice of you to help your former client with that teen bedroom. You found some great stuff. I bet she is so appreciative. I am watching the Lincoln Lawyer too but I keep falling asleep!
Yes, Cindy us too! Especially with the jetlag after Italy.
Mary Ann, Love that dress on you. So pretty and chic for summer. I love that you are doing this for the Ukrainian boy. The carpet looks cozy. I have to say, my boys really love carpet and when I put in hardwood they both complained they missed just laying on the floor and hanging out. f it’s wool, it should be easy to spot treat. The lamp and maps are cool. What about a bookshelf or table to put things on? I hope he has a safe journey. So many families have been torn apart by this war. xo kim
I wondered about that, Kim. Thanks for your input as a mom of two boys!
MA … that visualizer is amazing. As is your client providing a home for her Ukrainian relatives. Love what you designed and I’m sure this boy will be comfortable and comforted in his new space. Gazpacho for breakfast … look delish. And I loved the Lincoln Lawyer. Hope it gets another season. Welcome home! xo
Mary Ann,
I love the simple changes that make the bedroom for the young boy welcoming and fresh. You’re always the best at updating a space for any budget. I hope this horrible war in Ukraine will end soon.
The dress you showed us from J.Jill is so cute and looks like a perfect lightweight dress for summer.
I’m sure your trip with family was a great one filled with wonderful memories.
Karen B.
Love the soup recipe and will keep it for our summer here in New Zealand. Watermelons – currently out of season but imported from Australia – hit our TV news this week with an eye watering price tag of $100 ($60-USD). Definitely the time to eat with the growing season.
Wow! Angela, that is crazy. Better plant some watermelon if you can. Hey…that’s not a bad idea for us too now that we have a garden.
I’d love to go back to New Zealand. We were only in the capitol.
So great of you to help your friend with this project! My son loved having an indoor, over the door Nerf basketball hoop/ball and room darkening curtains always good for teens ( wonderful quality from The Company Store). A comfortable upholstered chair would be nice with the floor lamp you selected.
Great ideas, Karen!!!
Love your ideas and neutral colors for the room for 14-year old, especially the world map! Karen’s suggestion for a comfortable chair and Nerf basketball/hoop would be great additions. The ball/hoop have been one of the best-loved sources of entertainment in our home for our son and grandsons.
Hopefully my tomato plants will cooperate and I’ll be having gazpacho this summer! The recipe sounds great.
I would add a desk to the boys room.
Carol H.
We talked about a desk and computer but Marta says there is a study space close by. Good luck with the tomatoes!!
My daughter has taken in a family of Ukrainians. The daughter (15) speaks good English and has been tested to see what grade she will be in come September. She’s currently taking a couple of summer school courses. I hope the young lady and her brother settle in nicely. It must be scary crossing the ocean to another country, far from home and family. I like your plan for the teenage boy’s room but are white walls not too sterile for a 14 year old?
I’ve started adding olive oil to more foods recently but never soup. I’ll have to try your recipe once you attach.
I’ve added the recipe instructions, Joanna.
Love your content Mary Ann, always lovely and practical at the same time. Having raised three teenaged boys, maybe I have some experience with how they “live”! The carpet is nice and fresh, but I would opt for some luxury vinyl wood look flooring. Carpeting and boys is not the best mix. I would also keep the decor as simple as possible. Let the young man add his own things without competing with too much existing decor. Let us know how the room turns out. Prayers for that Ukrainian family! So unimaginable.
Love all your advice, Marg. My sister thought luxury vinyl would be good too.
Happy Sunday! We are enjoying “The Lincoln Lawyer” too! Love seeing Los Angeles and all the changes since we once lived there. Thanks for the Gazpacho recipe too! Pinned it for the upcoming hot Southern California days ahead. Have a great week!
Thanks, Holly. IT’S nice to have something on television to watch!
The visualizer is a great idea… question, does that type of carpet catch and snag?
I am not sure but you could go into your Home Depot and find out. This was more to just show how fresh it looks with new carpeting. I also like Carpet One.
The gazpacho sounds great for breakfast, unfortunately the recipe did not open.
Can you send it another way?
Love your blog, always learn something interesting about what to wear, travel and
fun recipes.
Judee
Oh thanks. We are headed to the airport but I will cut and paste the recipe.
Recipe is behind a paywall so cannot be accessed.
will cut and paste soon. Thank you.
I love your posts, but wonder whether you could choose a larger, bolder font? I find it difficult to read with my older eyes! Thanks!
Thanks for commenting, Becky. I already made the font larger once. I have older eyes too 🙂 Let me check into it!