Only In The Summer!

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: For those of you broiling in other parts of the US, you’ll be surprised to hear we’ve been having a cold summer in Maine so far. Yes, there was the infernal heat dome last week, and we’ve managed a few days when the temperatures have gotten into the 80s, but otherwise it’s hardly been the kind of weather that inspires lingering over icy drinks on the deck or patio or grilling for guests.

 

Which is why I was delighted the other day when it hit the perfect point of heat (i.e. “Yay, it’s summer,” instead of “65 and drizzling” or “Satan’s bowels.”) It finally felt right to have my first Pimms cup of the summer. To me, it’s the quintessential seasonal drink - I mean, the bottle’s not going anywhere, but I don’t touch it between September and May.

 

There are a lot of foods tied to the calendar and the weather because, well, that’s when they taste best. Strawberries, corn on the cob, home-grown tomatoes. But there are other foods and beverages we could have at any point of the year but… we don’t.

 

An example for me: the grilled hamburger. I like hamburgers! I’ll occasionally order one in a restaurant (there are some great grass-fed-beef places in Portland; hit me up for recommendations if you’re traveling here.) But the ONLY time I make them at home is between June and August, outdoors, and it has to be hot enough that I’m a little uncomfortable standing over the grill (I have the old-fashioned, charcoal briquette kind.) 

 

Or potato salad. I literally make the exact same potato salad summer and winter, but the former gets a mustard-mayo dressing and hard-boiled eggs and the latter gets a bacon-vinegar dressing and no eggs. Why one and not the other? I don’t know! I could serve the vinaigrette cold and the mayo warm, but after 40 years of making this (and more years eating - these recipes come from my mother) they remain strictly, rigorously separated by the time of year and the temperature outside.

 

How about you, Reds? What are your “strictly-seasonal-although-they-don’t-have-to-be” drinks and dinners?

 

HALLIE EPHRON: My favorite seasonal dish is a salad main dish. A corn and basil and Fetah cheese salad. Corn (fresh, boiled and cut off the cob (NOT frozen or canned))  with season’s best cut up tomatoes, a generous handful (or two) of chopped fresh basil, and plenty of crumbled fetah cheese — dressed with a vinaigrette (⅔ olive oil, ⅓ a good balsamic vinegar, S&P). 

 

I confess, messing with the charcoal grill holds no allure for me these days. Though my favorite summer thing used to be a whole turkey roasted over coals. You season the bird as if you were roasting it in the oven. No stuffing. Get a full load of coals hot and push them to the edges so you can put the turkey on a rack with coals NOT directly under it. Let it roast with the lid down. Baste  occasionally with olive oil or butter.

Takes about what it takes to roast it in the oven (use a meat thermometer to test for doneness) and it tastes smokey and sensational and can be eaten hot or warm or cold. 

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, tomatoes! I cannot wait, CANNOT WAIT! For the good summer tomatoes. A tomato sandwich with white toast and mayo and arugula and tomatoes and crazy salt and I am transported. So delicious.

I also love sungold tiny tomatoes cut in half with a tiny slice of mozzarella and topped with fresh pesto.

Or–tomatoes again–capresed with exquisite balsamic drizzle and mozzarella.

Hamburgers cooked outside–yes! We have briquets, too, it is SO much better. 

And salmon grilled outside too, with grilled corn. 

Now I am absolutely drooling.

And you know–I always forget about watermelon. But it is so yummy!

 

RHYS BOWEN:  Summer to me means the farmers market. All that local produce, especially ripe peaches, plums, apricots. Oh, and strawberries. I am not married to a barbecue expert so we only use it if the kids come over but I do love barbecued chicken and shrimp. But a special treat is to pack a sandwich and fruit and take my lunch to a local beach. 

 

LUCY BURDETTE: What the others said–fresh corn on the cob from our favorite local farmer (I never buy grocery store corn out of season), fresh tomatoes, and blueberries. Later in the summer, the Connecticut peaches come in and I buy bushels of them. Here’s one more: a root beer float with sweet cream ice cream from Ashley’s. Oh yum, glad the grandkids will be here so I have a good excuse for that!

 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: This past week we’ve gone from “Oh, yay, I can grill,” to “Oh my God, somebody shoot me if I have to go back outside and it’s still ninety degrees at eight o’clock. That said, I will still grill. I make fabulous burgers with grass fed local beef from our town butcher shop. They also sell the most scrumptious chewy, dark molasses buns from a local bakery.  Tomatoes, however, in spite of the abundance at the farmer’s market, have been disappointing. 

 

But peaches and blueberries are in season here and they have been fabulous. The one thing that absolutely says SUMMER, though? Watermelon! I cart a quarter melon home from the market every Saturday!

JENN McKINLAY: Cherries and peaches mean summer to me. I recently found the absolute best cobbler recipe I have ever had so there’s been a lot of cobbler kicking off this summer season! It’s so hot here in AZ that we try to avoid using the oven and do most of the cooking outside (by we I mean the Hub), so it’s a lot of grilling or crockpotting until the temperatures drop. 

JULIA: What are your fave seasonal foods, dear readers? And are there any, like potato salad and Pimms, you ONLY have during the summertime?

 

 

Debs' June Garden Round Up

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We started our summer with a bang on Memorial Day. A huge storm in the early hours of the morning brought down two limbs on our old elm, one on the power lines, one on our very old and decrepit fence. We spent the day without power, ugh. The humidity was close to 100%!

If we had been on the fence (sorry, couldn't help myself there) about replacing our old fence, that certainly decided us. We now have 206 linear feet of brand new cedar fence, and it's a good thing I wasn't planning a trip to London because I wouldn't have been able to afford it! 

You'd better believe I admire that fence every time I step out the back door! In spite of the heat, the garden is a little oasis, a tiny bastion against the ills of the world, and I do my best to remind myself of it daily.

Every day there is something beautiful. This morning I went out to find a lovely surprise, the first bloom on our perennial star hibiscus. 

So pretty!

Things are in full bloom in the front as well, although I'm sad that the coneflowers will be finished soon. The nice thing about a perennial garden, however, is that that means something else will be coming along to add some brightness--in this case, black-eyed Susans, flame acanthus, and Turk's cap, all the things the hummingbirds adore, and all those will last until autumn, when the native asters will bloom.

That's my David Austin Heathcliff rose adding a splash of red in the center!

Photos never convey how pretty this is.

We've had more things going on in the back, too. We have struggled mightily with grass here over the years, mostly due to the roots of the big trees, but last year we replaced some of it with zoysia and it did really well, so this year we've put down more in a couple of bare spots. (This means I am out watering sod twice a day.)

This is the grass we put in last year (photo bombed by dog.)

Here's one new section. Fingers crossed it does well, too. That's the big elm with a gap now in its center, and you can admire part of the new fence!

It's been too windy to put up the patio umbrella, but the pots on the patio are so cheerful.

We have tomatoes. too.

And our fig tree is covered with baby green figs. I check it every day, hoping to beat the birds and squirrels to them when they begin to ripen.

I love our outdoor mantel.

And I love this view of one of the front perennial beds through the gate.

Thank you, dear Reds, for indulging me, but it's cheered me up just to write about the garden and share the photos. 

Where do you find little bits of joy in your day?

How to Chill in a Heat Wave

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Before we get started I have a

REDS ALERT!

Our next Reds & Readers LIVE event will be July 30th, 5 p.m. EST, celebrating the launch of Rhys's MRS. ENDICOTT'S SPLENDID ADVENTURE August 5th and Lucy's THE MANGO MURDERS August 12th! Mark your calendars now and be sure to join us!

And now back to our regular programming!

I have been watching all the forecasts for extreme heat across parts of the country and worrying about everyone in places where air conditioning is not the norm. (Map courtesy of the National Weather Service.)

Yikes! So check in, dear Reds and readers, and tell us what's happening where you are, and what you're doing to stay cool.

It is hot here in north Texas, but it isn't anything we're not accustomed to as we approach July. We had a very wet and cool spring--we didn't even set out plants until almost the end of April, which is very late for us--so I suppose we shouldn't be complaining now.

Meanwhile, I suggest a cool drink, a good book, and your favorite summer relaxation. It's cool on our shady patio in the mornings, so when I've finished the morning round of watering, I've been allowing myself a few minutes in the hammock.

This is what I see when I look up.

This is only a fraction of the huge old native pecan tree that grows right up against the back of our house. For the last couple of months I've been hearing a Great Crested Flycatcher (thank you, Merlin!) but I have yet to see it. I thought if I just took a few minutes every day to look, I might get lucky. Alas, not a glimpse so far, but this has reminded me how much I've always loved looking up into the trees, and why I have the hammock! 

I watch the leaves moving in the wind and the sun glinting through them, and I try to empty my mind of all the busy-ness--my to-do list and my chores and the daily awfulness of the news--and just be for that few minutes. It's amazingly settling, and now I find I'm looking forward to that small break in my day.

Dear Reds, what are you doing to stay cool, and what summer pastime would you like to revive?