Burrito Night!

For as long as I can remember, I knew that summer was finally here once "Burrito Night" began. It is a tradition at our neighbor's Heather and John's house to have their friends and a few neighbors over on Monday nights in the summer to eat burritos and other delicious treats together. Heather is an AMAZING cook, and was also my babysitter when I was younger. I remember when my parents went to Italy and Heather and John watched me while they were away...she would wake me up with heart shaped pancakes every morning! Needless to say, Mom and Dad coming home was kind of a bummer...

Anyways, Burrito Night is a great time to decompress and spend time with family and friends. Julia, my blogging muse, usually joins me as well. We love wandering around the house looking at the enormity of creativity be it food or crafts.

This week I experimented with Belgian Baking Chocolate and made Katharine Hepburn's Brownies with a little twist of my own. I substituted whole flour for the white and also swirled in Organic Peanut Butter.

They turned out pretty yummy and the whole wheat flour makes me think I'm almost being healthy!

There are so many delicious things to savor at Burrito Night that it's nearly impossible to not try them all. Heather cooks beans all day, Mexican rice in this darling heart-shaped pot, and steak. Plus there are a variety of salsas, corn casserole, and Heather's famous Cesar Salad that has a homemade lemon dressing. My other favorite dish is Sue's hot carrots, they are the perfect blend of spice and crunch!

And now, in a dramatic cliched finish, I'm going to tell you what the best part of all about Burrito Night is....cue to the drum roll.

Burrito Night is the one of the few places I know where everyone is accepted, and everyone is loved. It is a group of highly genuine, gloriously brilliant, and majorly creative people who all get together for the sole purpose of enjoying each other's company. We talk about books we've read, recipes we love, swap meets we've scored at, and anything else anyone wants to bring up. In an age of social networking, this sense of community can be hard to find beyond the walls of facebook and I am so grateful I have it a few houses away. Right around the corner is the house where I, and everyone else, is free to be celebrated as the creative and wonderful human being they are. Ideas and love are plenty, as is the food.