Here’s how the last few weeks have been for me: on May 1st, it felt like March. By May 8th, it felt like May. And then on May 12th, I realized… ‘oh fuck it’s practically summer break already and I’m unprepared.’
Most of us with school aged children will relate to the chaotic rat race that is the last month or so of the year, what with the special performances and classroom visits and poetry readings… All wonderful. All logistical nightmares. BUT! Once I recovered from the shock of being just four weeks away from my son’s summer break, I got very excited. More than white jeans and fireworks, I started thinking about the summer produce and afternoons reading in the sun. And the freckles that show up across my nose because I am purposefully bad at SPF.
Eating ripe peaches over the sink and making juicy tomato & mayo sandwiches? Elite. Corn cobs with every meal. Strawberries for every snack. Iced coffees perspiring on my desk in the afternoon, doors flung open. I also get myself flowers every other week once summer starts. (Pro tip: Trader Joe’s flower selection is great.)
Peak summer? A couple years ago, with my good friend (and fantastic, much-loved photographer) Gray Malin, I created recipes for a “kitchen clambake” and a bourbon blueberry pie. And while they may sound complicated, I promise the biggest headache is laying the tarp and newspapers down so that you can toss the whole clambake onto the middle of the table…because summer.
To get us all excited and ready, I’m republishing both recipes below…
Kitchen Clambake
Serves 6+
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
450g small potatoes (red or white)
4 corn cobs, cut in half
450g kielbasa (or other preferred sausage, optional)
1 1/2 lbs prawns / shrimp
2 lbs clams
1 lb mussels
1 lobster or 2-3 crab legs
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bottle dry white wine
2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Fresh parsley, rough chopped
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