I haven’t had sangria yet this year or gone to the beach or found that summer song that’s really mine. On the flip side, I’ve toasted and danced under the stars, watched our youngest take her first steps, swam, and traveled the familiar east coast loop de loop we tend to do. And Brian and I are looking forward to a couple more really exciting things to come. After a few summers with work problems and lack of work problems, and the arrival of our baby last year, we’re finally having a summer with a little more calm and ease, filled with friends and family and fun and travel and nature and great food. Pretty much all of my favorite things. Since this summer’s been all about simple pleasures with people we love, it felt appropriate to share a simple recipe that captures the flavors of summer and is perfect for sharing – a smoky cherry tomato salsa. [Read more…]
now in season: sweet corn
Sweet corn season in New York is usually an annual disappointment for us, but not this year. Coming from Virginia, where the local corn is sweet and tender enough that you can almost eat it raw, corn in New York usually feels bland and mealy to us. But this year at the farmer’s market and in our farm share, we’ve gotten the kind of corn we’ve longed for–wonderfully sweet kernels that are so big they’re nearly bursting. It’s the best corn we’ve had in years. I’m not sure if it’s because of the mild winter or all the rain we’ve had, but this corn is fantastic. In fact, summer produce in general has been superb this year which is really welcome after last year when Hurricane Irene put an early end to a lot of summer’s bounty. [Read more…]
simple summer pizza with tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella
The inspiration for this summer pizza was actually the mozzarella. Last Monday at the Union Square Greenmarket, Brian and I stumbled on a stand with a cooler of the fresh stuff, and that was that. Tomatoes and basil are the kind of things we start to take for granted this time of year, and that’s fine with me. After months of pining, I love nothing more than just eating a tomato. You know, no big deal–I have at least 50 more where that came from. But fresh mozzarella? Ever since the Williamsburg mozzarella lady retired at the very respectable age of 90, I haven’t had any really good stuff, until now. [Read more…]
now in season: hardneck garlic + slow-sautéed garlic
Garlic again? Yeah, totally. Late summer is when the good stuff comes into its own, and the fresh, bracing flavor makes everything from bruschetta to greens so much better. [Read more…]
right now
Right now I’m sitting in my apartment. The baby has just drifted off, the air conditioner’s humming along, and in the distance there’s an ice cream truck–the new kind with the annoying voice that says “HELLO!” periodically. And as my afternoon fluctuates between stillness and chaos, I’m typing, breathing, and enjoying this moment just as it is.
As I mentioned in my last post, I spent last weekend in paradise, or my version anyway. I attended the Big Summer Potluck, an intimate food blog conference in rural Pennsylvania. [Read more…]