Menus, August 7, 2013

“Do a loony-goony dance 

'Cross the kitchen floor,

 Put something silly in the world 

That ain't been there before.” 

Shel Silverstein

Welcome to August, and the official start of what is officially termed, in journalistic circles, The Silly Season.
No, really. There's

Autumn                                    Winter                             Spring                                    Summer

And

Silly.

First coined on a slow news day by a British newspaper in 1865, the term "silly season" now seriously refers to that part of summer when life's more somber bits just give up and head for the nearest beach. That's August for us Northern Hemispherians, but the term refers to summers south of the Equator too. Which makes Southern Hemispheric Christmases, well,

A double silly sandwich with a dish of freaky on the side.
(Awesome!)

It's a  puzzle to me, the lighthearted fare that we've come to think of as summer entertainment. I mean, it's a little counter intuitive isn't it, that while relaxed summer cinema audiences chill out to stories about

                 Heroes                    more heroes             and bad decisions gone hilarious,

  winter-weary movie goers, who need only step outdoors to be reminded that the world is cold and gray and lonely, are entertained with stories about

                  Loss                          more loss                 and bad decisions gone horrible.

It crossed my mind to compare the recommended book lists that various literary types have compiled for summer to those compiled for winter, and my mind was a little surprised to discover that although Huffington Post, Publisher's Weekly, and the Los Angeles Times all have summer reading lists, winter reading lists are as hard to find as a snowball in August. Another puzzle.

All this lazy thinking about silly stuff has been prompted by a noticeable summer shift in my own reading habits: my half-read stack of biographies and Important Novels lies under a 9-week-old film of dust while I reach for Terry Prachett and Alice in Wonderland.  My normal news feeds no longer show up in my browser history and my time on reddit, which used to be spent on tabs labeled news and worldnews, is now more often spent on tabs called aww, and  funny . As if that weren't silly enough, this week I've found myself idling away my evenings with  the fluffiest, goofiest, silliest excuse for an information website around, buzzfeed! Imagine if you can, my relief when I discovered yesterday that Buzzfeed includes, along with articles like "13 Patented Captain Kirk Moves to Help You Win Any Fight", a large food section with tons of recipes from all over the internet! 29 ways to cook chicken without a grill!  35 ways to use zucchini! With a single mouse click, idling became menuplanning!

So, quickly now, because there's a video of a cat dressed like a shark riding a vacuum cleaner that I haven't watched yet, let's get to what's for dinner this week: 

Wednesday: zucchini ricotta galette and tomato salad

Zucchini and tomatoes are cheap and lovely right now, and I'd like to take advantage of that. The pastry for the galette (fancy word for a sort of panless pie) looks pretty easy, but if you want to make it even easier, use a refrigerated pie crust, or rolled out crescent roll dough.

Thursday: Balsamic Steak with zucchini

The steak may marinate in some sort of something during the day, and I'll probably make a little extra and pop it in the freezer- if I have leftover steak, bell peppers, tortillas and salsa, I have emergency fajitas. And one never knows when one may have an emergency that requires the application of ASAP TexMex, does one?

Friday: Cashew Chicken

Cashews can be found here for not too much money- if they're more per pound than a nice steak where you are, consider using walnuts or roasted peanuts instead. I'll be cutting up and cooking extra chicken for Sunday's Pad Thai. 

Saturday: Zucchini Lasagna and salad

I am determined to keep using zucchini this summer until I can spell it correctly without any electronic assistance. Since that particular vegetable has a home in the (long) list of words that I persistently misspell, it's a good thing that we like it. Some kind of  salad will wind up alongside this- maybe arugula with parmesan , olives and tomatoes. There's a chance that if the day is slow, there may be a gluten free breadmaking attempt  as well. 

Sunday: Chicken Pad Thai

 Anything with rice noodles is a favorite of mine, and if making good Pad Thai is as easy as this recipe makes it look, I'm going to be very excited.
It may be that all the lovely little chicken nuggets from Friday will be gone by today, and if that's the case, tofu, sliced and pan fried, will be filling the role of protein in tonight's production.





Before I go giggle at dressed up kitties, and marvel at the sublime silliness that is "Jaberwocky",
I want you to know that I know-
That there is no edict that confines sorrows to gray days,
and no law that forbids sadness to show its face in sunshine.
But I hope
That this week brings you cloudless days,
inside and out.
I hope this week, you'll be in the company of those
Who get happy when you get silly.
And I hope that under these sunny skies,
in the company of these friends,
you'll put aside some of your serious concerns,
abandon decorum,
and with a giddy sort of freedom,

 join in the fun.