Life is simpler in the summer, or maybe it's being in Maine, or this smaller house, or it could certainly be the sunshine and the milder weather, no school stresses on my teenager, or the promise of family visitors. My daughter and I arrived last weekend, and even though we have been working our behinds off opening up the house, cleaning, gardening, etc., our moods are light.
Summer food is always simpler, too, right? I only have a couple cookbooks here and a notebook of summer-easy recipes and Maine-related cuisine (read:lobster!). I can't run to Wegmans to pick up a weird ingredient.
Yesterday, Liza and I were active from 7 a.m. right up until dinner time, playing tennis, sailing, filling pots with bright flowers and herbs. (It wasn't all glamorous: Liza swept and cleaned the entire spidery basement, and I shopped for deck-garb and scrubbed the bejesus out of the mildewed and lichen-crusted deck.)
I had planned on making barbecued chicken for dinner when lo and behold it was 7 p.m. Plan B ensued as Liza had after-dinner sports plans (excuuuuse me, sorry to hold you up, dear). So into the pantry I forged. I cooked half a bag of orecchiette, rinsed it cool, and tossed it with half a can of rinsed cannellini beans, one can of Italian tuna in olive oil (undrained), a handful of cherry tomatoes (halved), a bunch of baby romaine lettuces, slivered basil from the new herb pots!, the juice of 1/2 lemon, and a few swirls of olive oil. Served with a bit of sea salt and pepper, we devored it.
Was it delicious, or were we just starved from exertion and fresh Maine air? We will never know.
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