Summer Break

 One of the things about going back to school is that all of a sudden, after seven years of spending time in offices, only having time for beach trips on weekends, summer break becomes a thing again. I've always been pretty big on summer, but this year, there is something about the sudden freedom from classes that prepared me to really seize the adventure in a way that I hadn't in a long time. This year, I'm making lists and buying passes to Walden Pond and Crane Beach because even if I'm working almost full time, I have flexible hours and dammit, I want to spend all my time outdoors and maybe go to the beach on a Wednesday because I can.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I had to work on Sunday*, but that meant Saturday and Monday were free. James and his fiance, Aaron, and I all piled into their little red car and took to the mountains for a hike. I made sandwiches with rotisserie chicken, cheddar cheese, avocado, and mayo even though it freaks me out a little, and at the last minute I bought a pound of cherries. Less than a mile into the hike, we got to a fork in the trail and decided to take the less-direct path, which turned out to be exactly the right choice: beautiful views almost all the way up, plus far fewer companions on the trail, which meant we could stop for instagrams or water breaks whenever we wanted, without worrying that we were getting in someone's way.

We got to the top, where we tried really hard not to get blown over by the wind as we admired the view. We snapchatted a selfie to the friends who stayed home (learning to unplug is a work in progress), then scooted back down a little ways for our picnic. The mayo was a good choice. The cherries were an even better one. We took the popular route down, where we saw many college students who think it's cool to wear Greek letters on your sweatshirt or your butt. I felt a little bit old when I remembered that ten years ago, I used to think that, too. On the drive home, we stopped for ice cream cones as big as our heads.

There's something about adventures, I find, that beget more adventures. Having spend Saturday on the mountain, when I found myself with a free Wednesday afternoon, I hopped in my car (I got a car! and it's been a surprisingly transformative experience) and booked it to the Crane Estate to explore. This weekend, I'm going to the Jersey Shore, of all places.


Here's to a summer break positively filled with adventures.

*you're not supposed to write about your job on the internet, but just to clarify, I love what I do- I get to drive all over Massachusetts and talk to moms about their lives and their kids for research purposes, and it's the sort of thing that I'd happily do on a Sunday even if they weren't paying me.

A Trip to the Seagull

I have mixed feelings about the end of summer. While the weather for the last couple of weeks has indicated that Fall is clearly on its way, and I do enjoy the fresh start that comes with the beginning of the school year, I'm also not inclined to willingly give up any days of the short warm season we get here in New England. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 91 degrees, so I'm inclined to believe that summer hasn't left us yet. Which means that the trip we took to the Seagull Inn last week was more just a summer trip than a "goodbye to summer" trip.

My mom wanted to have a trip with Dewey and me, and since Dew's about to marry Will, we invited his sister, Kathryn, along, too. We were at the Seagull for less than 24 hours, but it was long enough to feel like a vacation. I took two beachy novels out of the library, and I read for hours; first on the lovely lawn, and the next morning, on the steps up to the roof deck with a cup of tea. We had fried fish sandwiches and paper cups of pink wine on the beach at dinnertime, and the next morning, we took full advantage of the generous breakfast the BnB offers. I may have had second breakfast ten minutes after finishing the first one.

The Fisherman's Feast

Festivals in the North End are one of the highlights of summer in Boston. This past weekend was the Fisherman's Feast, so when Manoli emailed to say that he would be in town, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see some of my favorites and eat Italian food from a street cart.

There were a gajillion people there, which just added to the festive atmosphere. The temptation at any of these festivals is to buy the first food item that looks delicious, but we knew that the tastiest arancini and sausages would be somewhere in the middle of the crowd, so we pressed forward, looking at all of the stands before we made our decision. At the edge of the celebration, we found a stand that made absolutely the most delicious sausage with peppers and onions that I have ever had. We all got them, and we at them while admiring the Madonna statue at the center of the feast and being a little jostled by the crowd and dancing to middle-aged Italian-American singers, and they tasted like summer in a sub roll.

Lakes and Oceans

Anna recently wrote about how you are either a lake person or a beach person, and while I lean in the direction of ocean, I have a foot pretty solidly in each camp. Last weekend, Elizabeth and I decided to confirm that hypothesis.
 

We started the day at Devereux Beach. We loaded up on rasberry-lime rickeys, fish sandwiches, and blueberries, and mostly succeeded in dissuading the seagulls from eating our lunch. We read books and got sunburns and I jumped in the waves.

In the late afternoon, we traded ocean for lake. Chris joined us and we grilled steak and bread and corn and drank pink wine and ate the first tomatoes of the season. We jumped off the high platform and slid down the slide and watched the sun set.

I'm still not ready to make a commitment to one or the other, but any opportunity to spend a day in both salt and freshwater is a perfect day in my book.

Summertime

Summer is in full swing round these parts, which mostly means that when I'm not working, I'm doing everything I can to ensure that I am either swimming or eating ice cream.

When I was little, I hated summer. My birthday in August was pretty nice, and I liked being on vacation, but being hot made me so miserable that those other things just couldn't compare to more moderate temperatures in the spring and fall. Now, though, summer is my favorite. The heat is still a little uncomfortable, but mostly it's an excuse to alternate between swimming in every body of water I can and parking myself in front of a fan with a novel.
I'll take it.

Strawberry-Rhubarb

I am relatively new to the whole rhubarb craze. I didn't grow up eating strawberry-rhubarb pie, and my mom never stood over the stove, stirring a pot of bubbling compote. Instead, a couple of years ago, a coworker requested a strawberry-rhubarb pie in place of a birthday cake, and I instantly fell in love. Now, it doesn't really taste like June unless I've had a rhubarb fix. I like mine in all of the ways that food bloggers suggest- with a spoon, on top of greek yogurt, or over ice cream. For my mom's annual St. John's day/Midsummer bonfire and strawberry party tonight, I'm going to fold some into whipped cream to make a fool.

I don't really write recipes, but I happened upon exactly the right proportions when making compote the other day and I thought I'd store them here in case you were looking for a little taste of June, too. (And also so that I never run around my kitchen screaming about putting too much sugar in the compote again, too.)

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Frozen Strawberries (one bag of organic ones from whole foods- about a cup and a half)

three mediumish stalks of rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup sugar

healthy pinch of salt

half a vanilla bean

Add everything to a pot with about a half a cup of water- just enough to make sure nothing sticks. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture, then toss the pod in, too.

Cook on medium-low, stirring much of the time, until everything kind of disintegrates into strawberry-rhubarb mush. There might still be some chunks of strawberries; that's fine, just smash them with a spoon. Let it cool, then pour compote into a jar (vanilla bean, too) and refrigerate.

Happy summer, friends!

A Weekend in Vermont

Last week, I went up to Vermont for the most glorious weekend.

Chris, Betsy and I were going to run a half marathon, which we did in the 85-degree heat (it was a little messy and a lot slow), but mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed a weekend with our friends. 
 

Elizabeth likes cooking even more than I do, so we ate well. We also explored and swam in a river (it was FREEZING, and I was a little worried about getting swept away by the current). I took a million and a half pictures and read almost all of this book.

I feel like now that I've been on that trip, I'm really ready for summer to begin. I plan on swimming a lot, reading even more, and spending plenty of time on my porch.

Devereux Beach

Work has been crazy busy this summer. It's mostly a good thing; I have the best coworkers ever, and I also get to work with many adorable children every day. It does, however, mean that I somehow made it to the middle of August with only one beach trip under my belt. This past Sunday, my mom and Dewey picked me up from work and we drove to Devereax Beach in Marblehead. It was a little too cold to swim, but we got plenty of sun and I went up to the water to my knees. It was the perfect thing to do on a Sunday afternoon.

August Diet

For as long as I can remember, all I want to eat in August is corn, tomatoes and peaches (June and July are all about watermelon and ice cream). This year, for some reason (especially considering how little meat I normally cook), I've added steak on the grill to that list.

The August diet is my favorite.

Gentlemen of the Road

This past weekend, Emma, Elizabeth, Betsy and I went to the Gentlemen of the Road stopover in Portland, Maine. It was so. much. fun. We got into Portland around noon, and spent the entire day on the Eastern Promenade, listening to really great music, eating delicious food (and drinking delicious, specially-brewed beer), and looking out on Casco Bay. At the end of the night, Mumford and Sons played a set, then they brought every single one of the day's artists on stage and played The Weight. (Which, sidenote: I had no idea that that song was called The Weight or that it was by The Band. Now I know.) At the end, there were fireworks. 

Highlight of the summer, for sure.

Last weekend, I went to visit Emma in New York. In addition to plenty of fun New York-y things (bagels were eaten, runs were taken in Central Park), we had a little barbecue in her back garden. We grilled steak and veggies we bought at the farmer's market along with plenty of corn and tomatoes. For dessert, we had farmer's market fruit salad and cookies from Levain. It was the perfect way to celebrate summer- I can't wait to do it again.