The 3-Ingredient Dessert of Summer + My #1 Tip to Brighten Up the Next 7 Weeks

Plus, snag packing trips from travel advisors, discover the best cross training workouts and score a 5-second trick to make your tomatoes last longer.

Jul 15, 2024

Welcome to another beautiful Monday, and to the latest edition of What’s Good!

My luggage is continuing to get a solid workout this season, as I’m freshly back from a beautiful vacation to the Pacific Northwest. My dear friends Kim, Matt and I were lucky enough to secure pit tickets for Noah Kahan’s show at the breathtaking Gorge Ampitheater, so we decided to plan an entire week exploring Washington—and nearby gems like Olympic National Park and Victoria, Canada.

Besides the energizing Noah Kahan show and those stunning day trips, my highlights included taking part in a wine tasting at The Walls in Walla Walla, visiting the surreal Chihuly Garden and Glass at the foot of the Space Needle, sharing paella on the rooftop at Terra Plata in Seattle, and cooling off with a cup of Hellenika Cultured Creamery frozen Greek yogurt. (I promise that it’s worth fighting the crowds at Pike Place Market!)

If I had to select just one culinary “must” for your next trip to Seattle, it would be to make a reservation in advance to dine at the landmark family restaurant Canlis. From the warm welcome to the final course, not a moment was rushed, and we felt like we were part of the family.

Our server, Forest, created the Canlis family’s since-1950 salad recipe tableside as part of our menu. We were welcomed into the family warmly: He dressed the dish with a full water glass of crumbled bacon since he knew we were from Iowa. 🤣

What to Read…

We arrived home late last Saturday evening, so I’ve had a full week to get back up to speed with my workouts and work. One huge career highlight: On Wednesday, I attended a magazine cover photo shoot and hosted a panel-style interview that is now the companion feature cover story for that publication. I’ll be counting down until I can share more this winter!

In the meantime, below, you’ll find 20 brand-new food, fitness and travel topics to explore. Don’t miss the Test Kitchen-perfected dessert of summer we landed on after polling 11 chefs from coast to coast, a pineapple piece that was inspired by my trip to Maui last fall, and a guide about tomatoes that might just forever change how you store them. (I fully admit to doing it wrong…until now!)

Better Homes and Gardens: This Heavenly 3-Ingredient Lemon Posset Is the 2024 Dessert of Summer
Better Homes and Gardens: How to Make the 5-Ingredient French Blonde Cocktail That Taylor Swift Adores
Better Homes and Gardens: What’s the Difference Between Muskmelon and Cantaloupe?
Better Homes and Gardens: No, You Can’t Actually Ripen a Pineapple—Here’s Why
Better Homes and Gardens: What Is Processed Meat? Find Out—And See if it Can Be Part of a Healthy Diet
Better Homes and Gardens: Can You Freeze Chicken Salad? Here’s Why We Don’t Recommend It
Better Homes and Gardens: Can You Freeze Cucumbers? Our Test Kitchen Swears by These 2 Methods
Better Homes and Gardens: How to Store Broccoli 3 Ways to Keep It Fresh and Flavorful
Better Homes and Gardens: Can You Eat Salmon Skin? Yes—And Here’s the No. 1 Secret to Cooking it Properly
Better Homes and Gardens: This Trick for Storing Tomatoes Helps Keep Them Fresh for More Than a Week
Better Homes and Gardens: Our Best Side Dishes for BBQ Chicken, No Matter What You’re Craving
Southern Living: Southern Travel Advisors Spill About The 6 Essentials They Pack For Every Single Trip
Southern Living: This State Is Home To The Most Generous Tippers In The South, According To A New Report
Food & Wine: Is Sediment Safe to Drink? Here’s What to Do If Something Is Floating In Your Liquor Bottle
Peloton: Most Fruit Doesn’t Have Any Protein. These 6 Dietitian-Loved Picks Are the Exception
Peloton: The Runner’s Guide to Cross Training
Peloton: How to Throw a Cross, an Empowering Punch In Boxing
Allrecipes: Emily Blunt’s 3-Ingredient Recipe Broke the Internet and Now We Understand Why
Allrecipes: I Asked 7 Chefs for Their Favorite Peanut Butter and the Winner Was a Total Surprise
Allrecipes: This Matcha Martini Will Be Your Go-to Drink of the Summer

What to try…

Build a Summer Adventure List

Once I arrived home from my vacation in the Pacific Northwest, besides diving back into work full-force, I also reviewed my calendar for the next couple months to see what other exciting escapades are on the horizon.

It’s already been a beautiful summer full of “firsts” and “why did this take me so longs?!” here at home, including returning to Rose Farm for their first “Jazz in the Garden” night, making a long overdue trip back to Lucca, trying Hugo’s Wood-Fired Kitchen and The Cheesecake Factory (watch for a story about the latter experience coming soon!), and discovering my new go-to topping for a bowl of berries or sliced stone fruit (5-Minute Mascarpone Whipped Cream).

This brief calendar review made me realize that there are only 7 sweet weeks left before Labor Day arrives. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the fun and novelty has to (or will!) stop, but it did inspire me to brainstorm a few more ways I’d like to savor summer.

If you’ve been hanging out here a bit, you’ve probably realized that I love intentions as a focused way to add more “good” to my life. So I decided to dream up a doable list of adventures I’d like to have before September at a reasonable average cadence of one per week.

Visit at least 1 new-to-me ice cream shop.
Make gazpacho with tomatoes and fresh herbs from my garden.
Dine at Wilson’s Ciderhouse Restaurant & Bar.
Order from 1 new-to-me food truck.
Attend the Valley Junction Farmers Market.
Revisit the Aposto patio.
See at least 1 more outdoor concert.

If this sounds fun to you, I’d encourage you to find a piece of paper or open up a note on your phone and jot down a handful of things you’d like to try this season. Or for a less formal, more community-focused approach, drop one or several of your summer intentions below! (Whipping up that 3-ingredient Lemon Posset recipe could be a good place to start…😉)