I hope you are sitting in the shade, with a cool drink at your elbow, and a breeze ruffling through the wind chimes in the back yard. It is fiery hot all over the world as we can see on the news every night. Europe is burning up, there are terrible fires and droughts, and it is a record-breaking summer for high temps. Luke the wonder dog and I have mixed feelings about the afternoon thunderstorms: they bring relief from the heat, but we can’t walk because of the lightning. We compromise by sitting on the front porch, watching the rain drops sizzle on the sidewalk.

Pre-COVID and pre-inflation I thought nothing about buzzing to the grocery store every day or two, mostly to get out of the house since I work from home and it gets lonely. Luke is charming and is a very good dog, but his conversation rarely sparkles. During COVID I rarely left the house, being cautious and wary. Now I barely leave, because of the heat and all the rising prices. Like most people I have been shocked by how much things cost now, and I have been trying to be careful about not wasting food. I just finished reading a book about daily life in wartime Britain, so I have nothing to complain about, really. I’m not dodging bombs by night and surviving on 4 ounces of meat a week. There are 3 kinds of butter in my fridge at this very minute.

I realize how very fortunate we are, and what our responsibility is to the planet. So I’m taking fewer trips to the grocery store in my gas-powered car. I’m going to waste less, and freeze more. And I have been surprised to learn how many things can be frozen in addition to the usual freezer staples of hamburger, chicken, frozen peas, ice cream and tater tots. It is amazing and revelatory what you can pack into baggies, jars and ice cube trays.

Cheese! Did you know you can freeze Cheddar cheese? Also Parmesan cheese and feta. And if you grate the cheese before you freeze it, you can reach in and grab a pinch for a taco, a salad, or your loyal dog. I was always finding little blue, moldy lumps of cheese in the refrigerator drawer before, but now I am reformed.

Garlic! Peel a head of garlic and freeze the cloves – you can grate them straight out of the freezer. No more garlic sprouting green shoots in that little bowl you used to keep by the stove! No more bowl! You’ll have a reliable source of already-peeled garlic cloves and you will be ready for any salad emergency. https://www.marthastewart.com/317822/garlic-vinaigrette

Melons! Don’t freeze them whole: cube them or use a melon baller once you have enjoyed some watermelon or cantaloupe, when you know no one else will touch the remaining fruit. Now you’ll have a smoothie starter. No more excuses. Cut up and bag up a couple of bananas, too. I always have bananas turning brown in the fruit bowl, and there is only so much banana bread one person can bake. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/our-favorite-banana-bread-56389378

Berries! We have learned this summer that it is easy to freeze blueberries at home. Have you seen the price for frozen blueberries at the grocery store? Holy smokes. The next time blueberries go on sale, buy a few pints, wash them and put them in the freezer, flat in baggies. You’ll feel so much better after a healthy breakfast, and so smug that you have saved money, again. The same is true for raspberries and strawberries. They can get a little mushy once they have been frozen, but if you can add them to smoothies, or ice cream, or a fancy Pavlova. https://food52.com/recipes/77123-berries-and-cream-pavlova

Vegetable peelings! Unless you are a religious composter, what do you do with your vegetable peelings? Right in the trash. I know you can’t think about homemade soup right now, but in the winter you will be so happy to open the freezer drawer and see your little stash of potato, carrot, onion, shallots, celery leaves and turnip peelings. You will have the tastiest soup stock around! https://www.seriouseats.com/save-your-vegetable-scraps-make-stock

Herbs! So far this summer I haven’t killed the basil, mint or rosemary plants, so I do go out and cut little recipe-sized bunches. But I also have had to buy $3 bunches of cilantro – from which I use about 45¢ worth of leaves. I’d rather not leave the remaining leaves to molder away in the fridge, again. I now have a little cache of carefully labeled and dated bags of frozen cilantro, sage, chives, thyme and Italian parsley. Before the first frost I will add the homegrown basil, mint and rosemary. https://lifemadesimplebakes.com/how-to-freeze-fresh-herbs/

Bread! I buy good French baguettes at the pricey grocery store, and immediately freeze them. Baguettes are good for sandwiches, croutons, bread crumbs, French bread pizza, French toast, steak sandwiches, bruschetta, garlic bread, French onion soup, and panzanella salad. I also freeze English muffins, when they are on sale. https://www.forkly.com/food/15-useful-recipe-ideas-using-a-single-french-baguette/

Here are some more ideas: https://www.thriftyfrugalmom.com/foods-to-freeze-that-freeze-well/

And: https://www.thisfarmgirlcooks.com/foods-you-can-freeze/

Remember to hydrate, stay in the shade, wear sun screen, wear a hat, and look both ways. And Luke is available if you want to go for a morning walk.

“Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.”

― Harper Lee

In the summertime, for reasons I do not understand myself, I like to do a little light baking in the morning, before the heat of the day has asserted itself. There is nothing like a humble biscuit, slathered with butter, to put a smile on my face. And, yes, normally I prefer to have other people make the effort on my behalf, but a store-bought biscuit, one in a million sold that day, doesn’t taste quite so like my idealized vision of home.

I like measuring the bare bones ingredients of flour, baking powder, salt, and buttermilk then tossing everything together, and assembling the tray of biscuits. Some people prefer drop biscuits, but I roll the dough out lightly, and then use a biscuit cutter that my mother gave me. I like to think it was her mother’s, but I don’t know for sure. It’s a story I tell myself.

Luke the wonder dog and I are just back from our first walk of the day. He’s still panting from the unexpected excitement of stopping at our nine-year-old neighbor’s bake sale slash lemonade stand. (Luckily Eleanor’s mom had the foresight to group text interested neighbors last night, preparing us for the sales event, so I had a couple of dollars tucked in my pocket. Normally I don’t walk with any cash.) Eleanor was also selling carefully pleated handmade paper fans and some beaded creations, but Luke and I had to beat a hasty retreat because Mollie, a poodle he is not fond of, was ambling up the sidewalk toward the sale. Sitting across from me on the kitchen counter now is Eleanor’s homemade blueberry muffin, made with local blueberries, with a brown sugar crumble on top. It is going to be deelish. It’s nice to know a story about the baker.

Biscuits come together quickly, they aren’t as complicated as bread doughs, or even my weekly pizza dough. They don’t need time to proof or to rise or to mellow. They are no-nonsense. Last week, when Mr. Sanders was out of town on a New England sight-seeing tour, I baked biscuits for myself, when normally I barely ever cook when he is away. I even cooked some bacon, because Sunday mornings demand a goodly amount of leisure and self-indulgence. Most mornings I shovel in a bowl of Cheerios while checking social media. On Sunday I slept late (thank you Luke!), laid two slices of bacon on a baking sheet, whipped up enough biscuit dough for two biscuits, and slowly and electronically leafed through the Arts and Leisure section of the Sunday New York Times. I got immersed in other stories, and it was good.

Although not as sophisticated as Proustian madeleines, there are biscuits in literature. Calpurinia, the Finches’ housekeeper, baked memorable biscuits in To Kill a Mockingbird. Here is the recipe: https://booksandbakerbritty.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/calpurnias-butter-biscuits/

There is a lot of cooking and baking in To Kill a Mockingbird: https://www.tastingtable.com/685819/harper-lee-to-kill-a-mockingbird-food-southern-recipes/

I think of Calpurnia using a cold, stale biscuit to polish Scout’s patent leather shoes, too. “She went over my patent-leather shoes with a cold biscuit until she saw her face in them.” Use it up! Don’t waste anything!

Dorie Greenspan is a fount of practical knowledge about biscuits: https://doriegreenspan.com/old_site/biscuits-to-the-rescue/ and https://www.mykitchenescapades.com/buttermilk-biscuits/

Martha has a cheesy, herbed drop biscuit which will be suitable for your next fancy, sit-down luncheon, sometime in the next post-COVID decade: https://www.marthastewart.com/862725/cheddar-drop-biscuits

I learned to bake biscuits with Bisquick before I went the Dorie Greenspan route, and this is still a mighty fine recipe: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/bisquick-rolled-biscuits/3e0c95f0-8aec-4a01-9463-73759b2ce066 Every well-run household should keep a box of Bisquick on hand. And some good butter, please! And then you can cope with every possible situation. Everything will be better when you have a hot biscuit.

Now Luke the wonder dog and I will share Eleanor’s blueberry muffin.

“When I cannot write a poem, I bake biscuits and feel just as pleased.”
– Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Last Friday night we popped out of our COVID-imposed bubble and ventured into public for dinner in a restaurant. There were people! There were people who had made bad shoe choices! There were people who brought me a tall, sparkly French 75, and would have brought me another one had I been foolish enough to think I had the youthful stamina for a second. But best of all, there were people who cooked for us.

Normally I am a little leery of the fancy, au courant, artisanal places whose menus are heavily reliant on ingredients that are currently in season. I am always sure that I will wander in during lima bean season, or rutabaga season, and then will I will be sunk. But on Friday night we walked smack into the middle of peach season.

We shared a lovely plate of lightly grilled peaches and tomatoes, doused with olive oil and dotted with soft clots of bleu cheese. Yumsters. Such a light and sweet appetizer! And easily recreated at home. Except on Saturday night we grilled the peaches and tomatoes, substituted some fresh mozzarella for the bleu cheese, and drizzled a homemade vinaigrette dressing over plates of crisp arugula. Dining at home can be seasonal and au courant, too!

Emily Nunn’s Perfect Mustard Vinaigrette

1⁄2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (Mr. Sanders prefers it without the mustard)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1⁄2 teaspoon of sea salt (or more to taste)
Freshly ground pepper

Place the ingredients in a jar and shake until it is completely emulsified. If you like garlic on your salad (I often do) start the recipe by mashing together a clove of garlic and the salt in a mortar and pestle (or with the back of a spoon, in a bowl), then whisk in the remaining ingredients. https://a-littlebird.com/culture/the-department-of-salad/

Yotam Ottolenghi can teach us all how to prepare wondrous peach dishes: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/19/peach-recipes-yotam-ottolenghi-galette-shrub-bellini-runner-beans

It’s time to get creative! Summer is the time for juicy watermelon, thick tomato sandwiches and dripping peaches. How can you appreciate a peach unless you feel the velvet skin with your own sticky fingers? If you haven’t had peach juice run down the front of your shirt, you have not had a satisfactory summer experience.

Mr. Sanders sliced half a peach onto his bowl of cold twiggy cereal this morning, leaving the other half for me on the cutting board. I ate it over the sink, because the juices dripped furiously and there wasn’t anyone around who would point out that I should have been ladylike and used a napkin. Don’t neglect any opportunity to just seize the day, and a peach, early, and eat it in your own free-spirited summer fashion.

Perhaps I will have to ditch the usual French 75, and opt for a Bellini the next time we venture out of the Bat Cave. But I think I will practice at home first:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bellini And I will pretend to be sipping it at Harry’s Bar with a crowd of pretentious American ex-pat writers from a previous era. Remembering to limit myself to just one, because they do pack a punch.

“The people that I liked and had not met went to the big cafes because they were lost in them and no one noticed them and they could be alone in them and be together.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Just six months ago I was dreaming of summer sunshine, and now I am skulking around in the shadows with the garden hose, swatting at mosquitoes, as I water the hydrangeas and fill the birdbaths first thing in the morning, before the sun gets high. Luke the wonder dog and I walked at eight this morning, and it was already 81°. Sometimes I ask Alexa what the temperature is in places I’d rather be: London is 65° right now.

I bought some popsicles yesterday. Things are never as glorious we remember them from childhood. I remember sticky streams of orange goo running down my arm to my elbow as I sat on the front steps eating a dripping, sweet and cold popsicle. What a treat! Popsicles were hard to wheedle out of my mother. Money for something from the Good Humor truck was even more infrequent. Sometimes I would find a nice stash of quarters in the sofa cushions to buy a sweet Good Humor confection when that Pied Piper truck tooled slowly down the street, ringing bells, luring the other children out from their back yards. We’d stand on the corner assessing everyone’s budget and ice cream novelty choices: cups, cones, sticks, ices, toasted almond, chocolate eclairs, push pops, creamsicles, strawberry shortcake, ice cream sandwiches. It was an American version of Willy Wonka.

The popsicles I bought yesterday were grimly labeled. 45 calories! No sugar added! Gluten free! That’s what we have come to: worrying about Non-GMO popsicles. We have gone to hell in a hand basket. It is summer, and it is hot, and we are going to find sweet, sticky, sugar-laden relief.

There are so many disappointment in life – like discovering that you cannot freeze a snowball in December to throw at your brother in July. Between evaporation and elemental physics, and a mother hell-bent on keeping a tidy house, that carefully-wrapped-in-foil snowball will melt away before you can use it. Plus you might have forgotten it was there. There go your well-laid summer plans.

Another grim fact is that homemade ice pops just don’t have the familiar mouth feel of store brands. Get over it. We are defying the weather and crass commercialism. Sometimes homemade is a little wonky, but that is the price we pay for creativity. I imagine that the ice cream first served at Monticello wasn’t at all like the pint of Ben & Jerry’s Cherries Garcia you have stashed, but I bet it was still a blessed relief during an 18th century Virginia summer.

Go out and buy fancy silicon molds if you like. I’m going to use paper Dixie cups.

Trigger warning – this recipe uses sugar: https://icecreamfromscratch.com/orange-popsicles/

I suspect that these might be healthy. If you must be that kind of person. https://www.crystalkarges.com/blog/kids-love-these-greek-yogurt-berry-popsicles

Strawberry ice pops can be your summer jam: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a40095287/fruit-popsicles-recipe/

Of course, Martha would weigh in with something for the Fourth of July: https://www.marthastewart.com/907292/red-white-and-blueberry-pops

Here is a veritable compendium of scoopable ice creams: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/slideshow/ice-creams-sorbets-recipes?

Quick! https://icecreamfromscratch.com/orange-popsicles/

We don’t want to relive our childhoods, except the sweet memories. A little ice cream in a bowl while watching dragonflies darting around the sun-dappled lawn might bring us as close as we care to those hot summer days. Enjoy your Fourth, stay cool.

“Sometimes life is just what it is, and the best you can hope for is ice cream.”
― Abbi Waxman

Fine dining when I was growing up meant a trip to Pellicci’s Restaurant. Pellicci’s was (and is) a family-run, red sauce, red and white tablecloth Italian place. We were allowed to order orange sodas, and we learned how to twirl spaghetti with forks in enormous soup spoons there. Sometimes, when my father was feeling flush, he would order an antipasto salad which we shared among us. He would eat the exotic rolled slices of pepperoni and salami, and the olives. My brother and I ate the radish roses and the celery sticks. My mother would sample the rolled cheeses and breadsticks. There was something for everyone; just a little taste to hone our appetites for the enormous plates of spaghetti to come.

These days charcuterie boards are like the old antipastos, except even bigger, with more types of foods. Your family could eat well while sharing one, without ever needing the bowl of steaming pasta and meatballs. I like doing a charcuterie board when I can find an excuse not to cook, which is often: too hot, too cold, too tired, too lazy, out of ideas, running late, ooops, you thought we’d be eating dinner, again? This is when it pays to plan, just a little bit, for any emergency. There is always a little stash of charcuterie treats in the fridge. Cheese, olives, pepperoni, celery, and radishes have long shelf lives. We don’t often have TV dinners, but this is a good one. Add some cheap white wine, a locally crafted beer, or even some orange soda- live large.

“Charcuterie” refers to the preparation of cured meats, like prosciutto, pancetta, speck, salami, summer sausage, chorizo or pepperoni. It is an all-encompassing term nowadays, meats, a variety of cheeses, pâté, crackers, nuts, fruits and vegetables, and mustards, hummus and dipping sauces. Some people prepare beautiful charcuterie boards. https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/charcuterie-board/

There are guides you can find for pleasing arrangements of comestibles. Please promise me that you can figure this out for yourselves, that you don’t need to send $1.50 through PayPal for this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1164392348/charcuterie-png-jpeg-file-charcuterie? I have even seen manufactured charcuterie boards with designated, labeled areas for each food type. Heavens to Betsy!
https://www.sophistiplate.com/products/waiting-on-martha-build-your-own-cheese-charcuterie-board-16-x-12-maple-wood?

Do not spend your hard-earned money on that. If you need ideas, and you want to spend money, go to your favorite independent book store and buy a cookbook or two.

And decide what foods will appeal to your audience. The under-12 set will not notice your carefully-arranged-by-region array of imported meats and cheeses. They’ll be gobbling the pigs-in-blankets and grapes and Goldfish. Your book club might care if you have recreated a spread from Eat, Drink, Pray, Love, but they will be drinking your wine, too. Mr. Sanders likes fancy hams and sausages and nicely toasted rounds of garlic bread, good Kalamata olives and and shaved Parmesan, or maybe a little bruschetta, with crumbles of feta cheese falling to the floor to the absolute delight of Luke the wonder dog. I like rolls of pepperoni and Provelone cheese, with a little swipe of Colman’s mustard. Plus every variation on a cheese straw that I can find. Sometimes I take the time to make my own Parmesan crisps. Yumsters! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/parmesan-crisps-recipe-3381387

You can add anything and everything to your charcuterie board. And you don’t even need a board. I’ve used cookie sheets, cutting boards, Thanksgiving turkey platters, and even an old pizza pan. Then rummage in the fridge, or take a slow walk through the deli department. I’ve noticed that Boar’s Head has an over-priced package of “Charcuterie”. https://boarshead.com/charcuteriepairing? Bosh. Get the deli to cut some fresh slices of meat and cheese for you. Buy a stick of pepperoni. Wander though the cheeses and buy some nice Parmesan or Jarlsberg. But I have had some very tasty chunks of domestic Cracker Barrel Cheddar on top of Triscuits, with pepperoni coins and have been perfectly happy. Throw in some peanuts, grapes, strawberries and maybe some chocolate. Oh, don’t forget veggies. They are not just for the children.

I do love using little bowls and dishes that I have collected over the years to hold the olives, radishes, chocolates, crackers, etc. Nothing speaks of a John Cheever WASPy cocktail party like a tiny silver bowl holding half a dozen potato chips.

Find an excuse not to cook tonight, and concoct a practically labor-free charcuterie board. Relax for a change of pace. It’s going to be a long summer.
https://www.bhg.com/recipes/party/appetizers/how-to-build-a-simple-charcuterie/

“It’s so beautifully arranged on the plate, you know someone’s fingers have been all over it.”
-Julia Child

I didn’t learn about Juneteenth when I was growing up. I was taught that Lincoln freed the slaves, and we all lived happily ever after. I learned later in life that Juneteenth is named for the day in the middle of June of 1865, when the Union Major General Granger announced the end of slavery to the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. The first Juneteenth celebration was held the following year, and the celebrations have spread to every corner of the country since.

I want to be careful about writing about Juneteenth. I don’t want to appropriate the significance of this Black American holiday which is only being recognized by the government as a federal holiday for the first time this year, 157 years since the actual event.

As a food writer and home cook it is easy for me to wander the halls of history and culture and pick up a soupçon of French style, a dollop of Greek passion, a nibble of Middle Eastern angst, or a taste of British class conflict. I am a mongrel American, but I am a white American. I grew up in a household of bland food, where garlic was considered exotic. My mother relied on convenience foods like boxes of frozen vegetables. We had cubed steaks for dinner, and bologna sandwiches for lunch. Pizza was exotic. I was 18 before I ever saw a Brussels sprout, and 25 before I tasted okra. Now we are lucky enough to sample foods from all over the world through the heritage of many cultures who live in our country. Life is richer and more flavorful here in the inclusive 21st century.

This Juneteenth I will be doing some home cooking to honor the legacy of the Black Texans on the anniversary of Emancipation Day. I will try to honor the memory of enslaved cooks who brought African cooking to America. I’ll remember their pain and suffering, while cooking some of their traditional recipes which have enriched and enlivened Southern cooking.

A good place to start is with okra. Enslaved West Africans brought okra seeds to America in the 1700s. They also brought watermelon, yam, black-eyed pea, and pepper seeds. You can find okra in regional varieties of gumbo stew, or breaded and fried. Of course, almost anything tastes better fried.
https://www.foodfidelity.com/southern-fried-okra/

Here is a tasty salad that will feed a holiday crowd: https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7916898/okra-greens-salad-from-brazil/

Always popular are okra stews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3dl8rlBBzA&t=1s

If you have a lot of okra on hand, and those CSA boxes are often packed with it, Food52 can help you decide what to do: https://food52.com/recipes/okra

But if you are squeamish about okra, there are many other foods served at Juneteenth celebrations: fried chicken, barbecue, tomato salads, red beans and rice, and strawberry pie. There is something for everyone: https://www.seriouseats.com/juneteenth-menu-5189136

Spread the joy of freedom and emancipation, of equality and fairness this Juneteenth. Liberty for all.

“Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory or an acceptance of the way things are. It’s a celebration of progress. It’s an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history, change is possible—and there is still so much work to do.”
— Barack Obama

I was hustling through the grocery store the other day, picking up last minute essentials for dinner, when something new caught my eye in the cracker aisle: Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish. Holy smokes! This was a news-worthy discovery. And they were Limited Edition Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish Crackers, which might might be bigger news than “The Crab Chip” Utz potato chips with Chesapeake Bay Crab Seasoning (although my all time favorite remains Utz Sour Cream & Onion potato chips).

As you no doubt know from personal experience, Old Bay seasoning enhances everything it touches: crabs, French fries, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, Bloody Marys, hot chocolate, vanilla ice cream, chicken, pizza, popcorn – all of the major food groups. I imagine there are folks who have concocted their own homemade Old Bay-seasoned Goldfish. Which is probably a good thing, since the store-bought, Limited Edition Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish sold out in hours. The next time I went to the grocery store that shelf was empty. Wiped out. Ignored Cheddar-flavored Goldfish bags sat forlornly. Pizza-flavored Goldfish are passé. I hope I remember to swap out the Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and use Old Bay in my Chex Mix next Christmas.

Now that I have done a little snack research I find that I missed last year’s smash Goldfish hit: Goldfish Frank’s RedHot Crackers. What was I thinking? Why wasn’t I paying attention? This Old Bay Seasoning on Goldfish is such brilliant idea that the news has been covered not only in Food & Wine Magazine: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/old-bay-goldish-crackers but in the hard hitting, take no prisoners Washington Post, too: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/05/17/old-bay-goldfish-baltimore-history/

The price of these Goldfish has soared! Normally I can get two bags of common, garden variety Cheddar Goldfish for $4. One 6.6 ounce bag of Limited Edition Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish Crackers on Amazon will run you $9.16, as of Thursday morning, May 26. https://www.amazon.com/Goldfish-Crackers-Limited-Seasoned-Snack/dp/B09SVT866G?

The folks at McCormick have Old Bay recipes for everyone: https://www.mccormick.com/old-bay/products/seasonings-and-sauces/old-bay-seasoning They will even answer your questions: “Hi Mac. You can use 4 1/2 to 5 cups of Old Bay Seasoning for 40 quarts of water.” Of course they even have an Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdd6JBNpGri/

For your own homemade Old Bay-seasoned Goldfish, here is one recipe: https://www.cookingismessy.com/2017/12/23/old-bay-goldfish-crackers/

Now that I have merrily fallen down the Old Bay rabbit hole, and sent you on a wild goose chase to the grocery store, let’s not forget that this is Memorial Day Weekend. Once you have whipped up a batch of homemade Old Bay-seasoned something snack, because for love or money you won’t be able to find the Limited Edition, you’ll need to get down to the matter of the beginning of the summer season. We are sticking close to home, Covid not having truly departed, so we will be flipping burgers on the back porch, and watching the fireflies dance. Heat up the charcoal briquets, enjoy your crab feast, fry up a batch of chicken, spike a cold watermelon, melt a batch of s’mores, enjoy the Chestertown Tea Party, wave your flags at the parades, and remember the brave souls who gave their all.

“O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; / Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills.”
-Walt Whitman

Last weekend we were preparing a festive Saturday dinner, just for the two of us, and Luke the wonder dog, who is forever hopeful. Weather-wise, it was finally warm enough to sit outside at the little bistro table on the back porch. It was breezy, with plenty of bluebird comings and goings to keep our conversation lively. We had a modest bottle of grocery store red wine and a few fluttering candles. There were grilled beef filets, asparagus, and a baked potato to split. I tore open a bag of greens and made a lively, tangy vinaigrette. But I had almost completely forgotten about dessert. Which would have been very sad. Luckily, a quick dive into the internets saved the night.

I hate recipe writers who promise that you can make their clever dishes with ingredients that you have on hand. As if we all live with well-stocked, gourmet-level larders at every moment. They’ll presume that you will have fresh shrimp, or expensive whole vanilla beans, or a bag of semolina flour in the pantry.  And unlike Dorie Greenspan, I do not have a basement, nor a freezer in the basement, full of high fat content butter. I actually had all of these cake ingredients, but I do bake a chocolate biscotti recipe every few weeks, so I have a ready stash of unsweetened cocoa powder. Go out and get a tin of cocoa powder to have for chocolate cake emergencies. One day you will thank me.

There is always a reason to bake a cake – like a nicer-than-usual Saturday night dinner, when it feels like spring has finally sprung, and you’d like to celebrate, just a little bit. COVID was hard for all of us, and it’s still not over, so we aren’t splurging with a dinner out, but something on the back porch, with dessert, for the novelty, seems fitting. This cake was quick and simple, and just enough for the two of us, unlike the lemon cheesecake that I baked for Easter, which served 12. We are still enjoying slim slices of this cake, here on Thursday.

This is a recipe for a simple single-layer chocolate cake, that doesn’t even need butter or eggs. It is amazing. You can gussie it up with ganache, like we did, or dust it with a sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar, or a scoop of ice cream, or a handful of strawberries. I added a tablespoon of espresso coffee just to make the chocolate taste more dense, but you don’t have to. It’s your blank slate. Go forth and enjoy.

As always, our clever friends at Food52 bailed me out.

Margaret Fox’s Amazon Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons neutral oil (like corn, canola, or vegetable)
1 cup cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon cider or white vinegar

Heat the oven to 350° F.

Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Sift. In a separate bowl, whisk together the water, oil, vanilla, and vinegar.

Whisk together the wet and dry mixtures. If lumpy, whisk until smooth, or pour through strainer in to a bowl and break up lumps, pressing them through.

Mix again, and pour into a greased 9-inch round cake pan. Tap the edge of the pan against the edge of the counter, or drop from 6 inches to the floor several times to pop air bubbles. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top springs back when pressed gently. 
Cool before removing from the pan and dusting with confectioners’ sugar, or frosting if desired.

https://food52.com/recipes/24484-margaret-fox-s-amazon-chocolate-cake

My favorite part was dropping the pan onto the counter to let the air bubbles out. That was fun.

This is my standard ganache that I use on flourless chocolate cakes and Boston Cream Pies:

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
 (chocolate chips in a pinch)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon brandy or bourbon or whatever you have in your desk drawer for emergencies

Melt the chocolate and butter together, slowly, in a saucepan, stirring until smooth. Add the generous dollop of bourbon and stir some more. Now pour the glaze over the cake. You will have a beautiful, shiny, super-rich, super-deelish chocolate cake, fit for a beautiful Saturday night.
The fireflies have emerged, so we are well on our way to summer and more back porch fine dining. Like Luke, I am ever hopeful.

“Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.”
— Audrey Hepburn

Thank goodness this is the new golden age of television. We have an assortment of goodies to watch as we sidle cautiously into the post-COVID world from our cozy little winter cocoons. While Mr. Sanders like to gobble up the epics with dragons and swordplay, I’m happier helping to win World War II with the plucky Brits. Together we compromise on a few food shows.

Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy, on CNN is perfect for these armchair travelers. We get to drive through Italy with him, trying the local fare, gazing at impossibly beautiful landscapes, and virtually tasting Italian foods. Last week it was finanziera, an ancient Piedmont stew. It was made with the veal brain, kidneys, testicles and the middle of the spine. The other moments of the show, spent savoring local cheeses and risotto, outweigh those incidents of unimaginable horror. Tucci is a charming fellow, who gamely and cheerfully eats anything and everything, never gaining an ounce. He waxes ecstatic about every local delight that is presented to him. “Wow. I was afraid of the testicles, but I’m not now,” Tucci said. “They’re absolutely delicious.” Of course. Luckily, there is wine.

A quasi-fictional Julia Child is equally as game, in Julia. Julia brought good food to 1960s Boston and, eventually, all of America. She storms rarefied WGBH television with her revolutionary cooking program, charming the reluctant, converting the uninitiated, bending the aesthete will of public broadcasting with fresh herbs, simple ingredients, and continental techniques. She also introduces wine and feminism. Sarah Lancashire who plays Julia Child with joie de vivre, and some pathos, is a woman of a certain age who has finally found her métier and passion. Her loving husband, Paul Child, played by David Hyde Pierce (played also by Stanley Tucci in Julie and Julia, the 2009 film directed by Nora Ephron) is another complicated creative, but he’s more of a dilettante than the dedicated, professional Julia. All will hail Julia, eventually. Here is a sneak peek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KK-UEwy-VE

The other end of the streaming spectrum is Is It Cake? On Netflix. Heavens to Betsy. I had listened to an NPR review of this show, and although they found it fluffy and silly, they thought one episode was just about enough fondant for anyone. They did not reckon with a 7-year-old with an iron will, and the only person in the house who knew how to operate the TV remote control. For 3 nights last week we were glued to a sofa, watching episodes of a competition where professionals had to bake cakes that looked just like sneakers, sand buckets or handbags. The cakes had to be indistinguishable from the real things, and they had to be delicious. The veal testicles started to become a viable option to me. And after Julia’s savory Chocolate Soufflé and whipped cream, I didn’t want to know how sweet the double fudge peanut butter elderflower fondant Hermes Kelly handbag cake would taste. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_It_Cake%3F

That said, watch Julia, watch Stanley Tucci in Searching for Italy. Protect your aching fillings and your sense of propriety, and avoid Is it Cake? Unless your 7-year-old controls the remote. And try some delicious of this fettuccine.

I have been making fettuccine the same way for years. I boil a pot of water for the pasta. While the pasta is cooking I swirl garlic around in a non-stick pan, in a little oil, just until it is fragrant. Then I take the garlic out, and add a cup or so of half and half cream. Add a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg, a pinch of cayenne, and stir the cream for a few minutes as it reduces. Grate a cup or so of good Parmesan cheese. Drain the pasta – reserving a cup of the pasta water, just in case. Add the pasta to the pan of hot cream, with a handful of cheese, and stir again. Everything should get nice and thick and creamy. Add a little more cheese. If the mixture thickens too much, add a little of the reserved water. Scoop the pasta onto warm dinner plates, tossing on a little more cheese, a scattering of parsley for contrast and interest. Serve with bread and good butter, a green salad, and yes, Julia and Stanley, some wine.

I tried a game changer this week, though. This fettuccine Alfredo is from the Elaine’s in New York, and was supposed to be one of Jackie O’s faves.

Elaine’s Fettuccine Alfredo

Salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
1 pound fresh fettuccine
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Bring 6 quarts generously salted water to a boil.

While the water heats, melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; saute until fragrant and sizzling, about 2 minutes. Whisk the cream with the egg yolk in a bowl until blended; pour into the garlic butter. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir until hot but not boiling. Keep warm over low heat.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta, partially covered, until al dente. (The pasta will float when it’s done.) Drain in a colander, shaking out excess water, but reserve a little cooking water. Pour hot pasta into the cream mixture and toss to coat (still over low heat). Add the cheese and keep tossing gently until cream is mostly absorbed. Season with salt and pepper. If sauce is absorbed too much, toss with a little pasta water. Serve in warm bowls. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/9025-elaines-fettuccine-alfredo?

The egg yolk made a huge difference to the creaminess of the mixture. I am going to add egg to my old fave recipe, but continue to add the nutmeg and cayenne. We like that little kick.

Good luck with your own offal and beef bourguignon and Hermès handbags.

“A party without cake is really just a meeting.”
– Julia Child