Do you recall that episode of The Simpson’s when poor, clumsy Homer somehow manages to make the barbecue pit explode in a violent flash of flame? Naturally he’s freaked out because the only “summer food” he can wrap his brain around comes from the grill.

The look of sadness that crosses his face as he realizes his precious red meat burgers went up in flames is classically Homer! But, there are even bigger laughs ahead as little Lisa Simpson waltzes in carrying a great big bowl of something cold, red and soupy-looking– while merrily announcing: “Good news! You don’t have to eat meat! I’ve got enough gazpacho for everyone!”

Good laughs, I say. But little Lisa’s gazpacho imagination seems a bit limited. I think the soup she presents to the assorted gathering of Springfield’s oddball population is the rather generic Andalusian-style gazpacho. It is chock-full of tomatoes and cucumbers and is thoroughly associated these days with Spain.

Now I am not knocking Lisa’s gazpacho – I'm sure it's a wonderfully flavored, cold soup full of fresh healthy vegetables. I bet it tastes like a “chunky liquid salad”, just as it should.

But if we look at the roots and origins of gazpacho I think we'll find that originally gazpacho was neither Spanish nor made from tomatoes and cucumber.

Default recipes. We all have them. I often feature a default pasta night here on Sippity Sup. It’s different every time and that is sorta the idea behind default recipes.

Default recipes are great when you just feel like opening up the fridge and making something from whatever is on hand at the moment. As I said pasta is a great candidate, as are frittatas, quesadillas and even crostini. I swear I could make an interesting tapenade from the leftovers of your fast food lunch, don’t laugh I bet I could.

Another topping closely related in spirit to a tapenade is salsa.

My default salsa is typically made with chopped tomatillos, white onion, salt, pepper, and a little heat. I also like the addition of limejuice and cilantro. When I want to get fancy I add roasted peppers. Sometimes mild one like Anaheim or poblano. Other times something with some fire– like serrano. When I decide to add peppers to my default salsa I prefer to roast the peppers first, and if I am already roasting the peppers it’s no bother to roast the tomatillos too. See how default dishes work?

This may sound like I am tooting my own horn (toot-toot) but there are times when I have made a particularly good batch of tomatillo salsa and I think: “Man this is so good I could eat it as soup”.

The classic lime Gimlet is a pale yellowish-green gin cocktail of near perfect proportions. It's sweet and tart with a slight herbal quality that comes from good gin.

It is typically served shaken with ice and strained into a stemmed cocktail glass. Most of the "old-school" versions are made with Rose's lime juice which is a super sweet ingredient with an interesting history all its own. But I like them less sweet and usually use fresh lime juice sweetened to taste with a bit of simple syrup.

The classic version of this cocktail got its name from a small tool that was once used on board British naval ships to tap into spirits barrels. It was standard for the sailors who spent many months at sea to mix their rations of gin with the mandatory daily dosage of lime juice as a way fight scurvy. I have an entire post dedicated to the classic Gimlet. It can be read by CLICKING Here.

But today I am feeling a bit creative. So I am transforming the classic Gimlet with a bit of basil simple syrup. It makes this version into a super summery cocktail, ideal for poolside entertaining in some warm weather location like say, Palm Springs. Which is where I am and what I happen to be doing at the moment.