summer thoughts, mostly on food

I have a special love for summer rain showers.  It's stormy outside right now and it feels like the perfect prelude to the weekend after a busy, busy week.  

The good news is, I'm caught up on orders.  The good news also is, we barely have any plans for the weekend, except for the plan to sneak away for some hours while Arthur enjoys my mom's company.  I'm feeling that kind of ease that comes with summer- playing outside until the last bit of daylight, making ice cream, reading magazines just because.  I'm claiming a summer break, even though I have a business and a toddler and there is no real break to either of those items in sight.  

Cooking in the summer is my favorite thing, even though I miss the soup.  But I love preparing our food early in the day while the kitchen is still cool and then serving meals just warm or at room temperature.  I don't feel like everything needs to be hot and somehow that takes a lot of pressure off.  

I've been craving meatless meals more often with the hot weather and have tried out some fantastic new recipes.  If this were 2012, I'd have lovely photos of each of them.  As it so happens, I have exactly zero photos of any of them, but I'm not going to let that stop me from sharing the recipes- 

        -Zucchini-Potato Casserole: really more of a tian than a casserole and absolutely delicious.  The thin slices of potato and vegetables melt together into something magic.  

       - White Bean and Artichoke Salad: Steve and I actually can't figure out what makes this salad so good.  We also can't figure out how to stop eating it.  I make several adjustments to the recipe: switch green pepper for yellow or orange, and skip the olives and mint.  

      - Grilled Mexican Street Corn: This recipe is from Shauna Niequist's book Bread and Wine, which was recommended by a dear friend.  I loved the book, have loved every recipe that I've tried out of it, and love that I think of my friend every time I flip it open.  It is like a novel with recipes- honestly, I can't think of a better literary genre.  I'd love to do a whole book review sometime... we'll see.  But the corn!  Sweet and savory and just what I want to be eating on a hot day.  

So that's what we've been eating.  We're growing herbs and cherry tomatoes on the patio and lots and lots of rosemary in the surrounding beds.  Arthur is slowly learning the patience of a gardener and we've actually had a handful of tomatoes make it to orangish-red before being picked.  

Happy weekend, friends.  I hope that you find yourself in a lounge chair with a cool drink!