Menus, June 19, 2013

“My father taught me to work, but not to love it. I never did like to work, and I don't deny it. I'd rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh -- anything but work.” 

― Abraham Lincoln

It's no secret that some of the men I find most interesting aren't especially... lively. Yeats, Eliot, Carroll, Lincoln, Churchill, Lewis...in a vernacular past, I could've called them gone, man, real gone, and been correctly assessing both their coolness and their state of aliveness.

Though sometimes, a great mind ages well
even after it's dead.

One of the things I find most fascinating about these guys, besides the fact that they all walked around with their pockets full of pretty words, is that they all accomplished so much stuff- even when there wasn't much stuff they felt like accomplishing.

The ability to work hard when you don't want to. It's a quality that I'm a little in awe of, whether it's possessor is dead or alive.

 Because I am not (often) like that.

You know the amount of intense effort required to inhale a really thick milkshake through a straw?

I think that should count as exercise.

And I spent this morning mentally inventing a teeny teeninesie set of weights

no, even tinier than that.

small enough to connect  to the back and forth muscles of my eyes, so that I could get in a good workout by curling up and reading a novel.

No, darling, nothing's wrong.
That's just my eyeballs working up a sweat.

 Summer in Texas kicked  into high gear just as our air-conditioner temporarily conked out, causing all my natural laid-back lassitude to ratchet up, er, down a notch or two. One result has been inevitable- a sort of heat induced langor.....

"Well, let's see.... No, I haven't moved much...
But from 9 til 12, I was fabulous. For lunch I was awesome,
Then from 1 til 4 I was mildly amazing.
And of course all day I've been super hot.
Golly, it's exhausting being me. I need a rest."

Another result of addition of swelter to sluggish? The arrival of summer salad days- a few weeks earlier than I'd planned, true, but it's the thermometer, not the calendar, that dictates these things. From now till the temperature returns to the friendly side of ninety, salads and grilled goodies will dominate our weekly dinner line up.

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken breast and  sweet potato salad

I'll be use the old reliable honey salt chicken brine here and pound them to an even thickness before throwing them on the grill. The salad shares this virtue with most salads: it can be prepped in little bits throughout the day or even stirred together in the morning, while everything's cooler-ish.

Thursday: Salmon and summer squash in parchment 
I'm absolutely smitten with these fun little cooking parcels, and there are more combinations of parchment wrapped goodness clicking through my mind than I can count. Williams-Sonoma was kind enough to include  a whole page of ideas in their summer magazine. (Don't be put off by the words 'en papillotte', ok? Sometimes I think recipe writers memorized the Red Queen's advice in 'Through the Looking Glass': "Speak in French if you can't think of the English for a thing".) I think I may spoon on a little of this amazing seasoned butter too-

Friday: Asian Salmon cakes and Tomato and Basil Salad

The leftover salmon will turn into these lovely little morsels, and I'm hoping to find a farmer's market and score some tomatoes deserving of a starring role. The orzo in the salad recipe is rice shaped pasta, so in the interest of gluten consciousness, I'll be using actual rice shaped brown rice. Tortellini would be great too, or couscous or quinoa.

Saturday: Shrimp and Avocado salad and Gazpacho
If I buy avocados on Wednesday, they should be ripe in time for this cool and delicious salad. Both the soup and the salad will be prepped first thing in the morning and tucked in the fridge- though I'll keep the avocados pretty by waiting til the last minute to peel and dice them. That way, dinner's waiting for us in case we decide to check out some cool Summer Saturday thing.

Sunday: Steak Gyros and Greek Salad

I've some leftover grilled steak in the freezer, and the salad is a snap, so I might use up some creative energy and the week's wheat allowance by seeing whether or not the legendary no-knead bread will make the sort of knock out pita wraps I think it will. Hey! I wonder what will happen if I bake those glorious little dough circles on the grill? This is an idea worthy of experimentation! Who knows? I may even give a gluten free batch another go.

As I gear up to get groceries, I want you to know-
That I hope by some summer alchemy
the things you must do this week become
things you want to do.
And that whether you're lost in the woods
or lost in wonder-
Whether you're chasing fires or chasing fireflies,
Whether you're busy mending or busy making,
I hope that once or twice this week this week you'll realize
(with a happy surprise!)
that the work engaging you is exactly everything

you'd rather be doing.