Holy smokes. It is practically summer. I know I should have been paying better attention, but it was so hot this week I could barely set foot outside, except to water the garden in the morning. At eight o’clock, when there is still dew on the grass blades, and the spiders are darting away from the hose spray, I have not been considering the impending heat dome that comes in the afternoon, as we tilt closer to the sun, and time speeds up like the cheesy special effects in a low budget sci-fi film, and suddenly it is summer.
Memorial Day is Monday. There is a three-day weekend looming ahead. Does it matter that I have worn white trousers already, ahead of the season opener? The neighborhood pool opened last week – that should have been my first clue. It’s hard being new in a community – we haven’t got any invites to Memorial Day picnics, let alone entreaties to go out on anyone’s boats. I am available, btw.
I will bring some very tasty and portable food, too. There are many ways to have a Memorial Day cookout. You can go fancy, or you can take an effortless route. Guess which I suggest? There is no need to get fancy: traditional and manageable cobbler, hot dogs or sausages and hamburgers are swell ceremonial American foods and are great for any Memorial Day picnic. I usually whip up a batch of potato salad, but a bag of Utz sour cream and onion potato chips is never out of place!
For picnics and cookouts we like made-ahead and cool foods. If you are hosting a gathering, or are asked to bring something to a holiday event, made a nice, simple salad: corn, fruit, potato, Caprese, pesto, green salads are easily prepared ahead of time, and can be a side dish or a main dish if you have pesky pescatarians lurking:
The Kitchn’s Corn Salad – no cooking required!
We are always big fans of Caprese salad – it is so delicious and such an easy supper to whip up when it has been a frantic day in the Spy test kitchens. We tend to have a line up of tomatoes on the kitchen window sill all summer long and with the basil growing like kudzu on the back porch, there is no excuse not to invest in tomato futures. I plan to indulge in a fresh ball of mozzarella every couple of days to help keep our basil plant well-trimmed and feeling useful.
Caprese Salad
(For which you don’t need precise measurements.)
Eyeball what you have in the fridge.
1 cup grape tomatoes
1/2 cup small mozzarella balls
3 to 4 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 generous pinch Maldon salt
Arrange the basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella on a plate or in a Tupperware container and drizzle the olive oil dressing over the top. Add salt and pepper as desired.
Go for some fresh, sweet peas, radishes and mint leaves – pink and green for springtime! Pea Salad with Radishes
Berry Salad – good for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or at midnight when you just can’t sleep yet
I am a big fan of Panzanella salad, and usually make it with fresh mozzarella cheese, and since I am loathe to waste any food these days, so I’m going to try it with chicken. There are lots of ideas here: Chicken Panzanella Salad
And here is the very popular Greek salad, as interpreted by the New York Times. Everyone on the boat will hail your contribution to the holiday feast: Greek Salad
There is no going back; cool, limpid spring is about to sail into hot, humid summer.
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald
