The charms of summer have worn off. It is going to be 94° F here today. Enough is enough. Luke the wonder dog and I are skulking around in what little bits of shade we can find as we try to walk our 10,000 steps every day. He gets a nice bowl of cold water before we climb back into the car to head home to the gelid box of a house where we have largely been confined this summer. I am yearning for a change in the weather. I would just like it to cool down. Just a little.
I realize there is entire month of summer still ahead, so I should quit my whining and start counting my blessings. And one fortuitous aspect of my life is that Mr. Friday is very fond of grilling. Outside. Not inside where we would have to face a lot of clean up. No. He enjoys standing out on the back porch, surveying the north forty, with a cool beer, or maybe even a frosty Martini, as he wields his tongs and spatulas, doing battle with kamikazi chicken breasts or rogue hamburger patties. He excels at judging the feel and temperature of steaks and the relative vagaries of ribs. He is the man of the summer.
Our back yard is the mosquito coast this summer. I have never seen such ravenous mosquitoes. I trotted out quickly this morning to water the half dozen potted plants, and had to slap away clouds of suserating mosquitoes. They even swarmed through the kitchen door as I hastily slammed it behind my shadow, Luke, as he scooted back inside. Seemingly, they are indifferent to Mr. Friday’s charms. He can stand outside without benefit of Deep Woods Off, Skin So Soft, Deet, or citronella candles. It’s a good thing, too, because the citronella geraniums I potted with naive high hopes haven’t repelled a single blood-thirsty bug yet.
This weekend, while Mr. Friday is grilling shirt steak for steak salads, I will make some cooling potato salad, and that cheery Famous Wafer refrigerator cake. And then we will flop down on the sofa, within range of the air conditioner’s blast, and will watch the first season of Street Food on Netflix. Sometimes it is just a comfort to watch someone else doing all the work.
My Red Potato Salad
It tastes best if it has a little time to sit and mellow, so if you can make it in the morning, when it is still cool, and it will be tasty just in time for supper.
Many, many servings…
2 pounds little new, red potatoes
1 cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise thinned with milk (though lately I have discovered Duke’s)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Boil the potatoes until tender. While warm (but not still steaming hot) slice potatoes and begin to layer them in a large bowl – 1 layer potatoes, then a handful of green onions and salt and pepper. Pour on some of the mayonnaise mixture. Repeat. Gently stir until all the potatoes are coated. You may need to add more mayonnaise mixture when you are ready to serve, as the potatoes absorb the mayo.
Famous Wafer Zebra Cake is in rotation, every other week, all summer long. You will never grow tired of it: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/220495/zebra-cake-iii/
Sometimes, the notion of preparing a steak, a green salad and a baked potato is too wearying. Alice would say it is too much of a muchness. These hot nights call for a quickly grilled, easily sliced steak, with the accompaniment of grilled tomatoes and peppers, maybe even some onions or beans. They can be served on a bed of lettuce, or some fragrant jasmine rice. It depends on how hot your kitchen gets. Prepare according to your core temperature.
Keep cool!
https://www.marthastewart.com/337706/grilled-steak-with-tomatoes-and-scallion
“Somehow, it was hotter then. 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 frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer.”
-Harper Lee
Rick Skinner says
Ms.. Sanders: I believe the zebra cake may be illegal in most states . . ., but, fortunately, not in Maryland.