STAY-HOME SUMMER < In partnership with @everdurebyhestonblumenthal > What has been your favorite experience, activity, or adventure this summer?? This is the first summer since 2004 that I’m not on the road. I’ve spent the last 16 summers traveling, both for work and for play, but this year—for obvious reasons—is different. Instead of blaming Covid for canceling my 2020 plans (which, YUP: IT DID), I’m doing my best to appreciate the opportunities that are now available to me instead. One such opportunity: settling into my new home in Portland, Oregon! This is my husband’s and my first time having our own yard, so we’re having a grand ol’ time making it home. We’ve planted veggies in our raised beds, built a gallery wall of heirloom mirrors, introduced climbing roses and perennials, and—thanks to my summertime partner @everdurebyhestonblumenthal—had a bunch of date-night cookouts on the coolest grill I’ve ever seen. Everdure’s 4K can grill, roast, low and slow smoke, *and* bake, and actually comes with a pizza stone for those at-home pizza nights you’ve been dreaming of having. It’s a charcoal grill, which allows for that gorgeous smokey flavor, but it also has a touch-glass digital controller with Fast Flame Ignition, which means that lighting the 4K is as simple as pressing a button. (WELCOME TO THE FUTURE, YON FOOD ENTHUSIASTS.) I opted to get the 4K in “Mint,” but it comes in five great-looking colors. In this turquoise-y blue, I think it looks like a Jetsons character. My husband, on the other hand, thinks it should be called “Char2D2” since it looks kinda like a droid. Whatever your futuristic reference preference, this baby is handsome. For our first new-home cookout, we opted for locally-sourced lamb chops with serrano-mango chutney, grilled veggies, and corn on the cob. We used the 4K’s temperature probes to get the meat juuust right, and the airflow control system to control the temp inside the grill. Swipe all the way right to see what I think of the final result. 😄 #everdurebyhestonblumenthal #everdure #ad (at Portland, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/CD6oqpeDqbd/?igshid=19y28uq8pvoy