Summer Days

In Florida's summertime most of the cooking is done outdoors on the grill but I was in the mood for linguini and white clam sauce so I rounded up some friends, lowered the A/C and cooked entirely in the kitchen.  In addition to the the white clam sauce, we had a refreshing salad with a mango/lime dressing that was so summery.  The garlic bread was on a great crusty multigrain loaf.  I made sure to have a vegetable- broccoli and garlic but most people just went for the good stuff, or the bad stuff depending on how you look at it.  Dessert was homemade chocolate biscotti and watermelon slices sprinkled with lime zest.  Limes are falling off the trees here now,  so I use them alot in the summer.  I juice them and put them in plastic ice cube trays and enjoy fresh lime juice all winter.
   The centerpiece was very summery as well.  I found these green fuzzy balls in Costco and I surrounded the container with these glass pieces which reminded me of ice cubes. They really made the table come alive.      
So I adapted the menu and made the decor very 'outdoor and summer' in feeling,  even though we were all very comfortable indoors in with the A/C down low.