S U M M E R T I M E
and the livin' is easy....
If only that were true. I love summer, but even if the livin' were easy, it would still most certainly be busy, almost to the point of absurdity, especially for a sun worshiper like me. You see, during late fall through early spring, I suffer from a mild form of Seasonal Affective Disorder, otherwise known as the I hate everyone and everything because the sun went down at 4:30pm and I have to walk home and then walk the poodle when it's 25 degrees outside not counting the windchill, it's too cold to anything fun and tomatoes are out of season, when the EFF is it going to be summer again?! blues. Then, after I spend the better half of a year wishing for summer, it finally arrives, and before you can say sunscreen, I'm practically running around outside waving my hands over my head, shouting Ke$ha lyrics at strangers because THIS PLACE'S ABOUT TO BLOW-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH it's summer! During the 90 glorious days in which sunshine pours from the heavens in copious quantities, I make it my personal mission to eat, drink, laugh, splash, and frolic my way into summer bliss at any and every given opportunity. Yes, it's that serious.
So I decided that the epicurean-focused portion of my quest for summertime bliss could not and would not be complete without a fabulous picnic at the Reggae Wine Festival. That's right, reggae bands+wine+bougie picnic=Awesome. Naturally, I felt that my fabulous picnic spread would be nothing less than uncivilized without a fantastic summer salad, and thought it nothing less than divine intervention when I came across a video of Chef Marcus Samuelsson making a roasted corn salad, and then found the perfect recipe from Williams-Sonoma.
I could say this is an easy salad to make. Easy peasy, as some folks would say. But I think those "easy peasy" people probably have outdoor space and a charcoal grill. Since I currently have neither of those things, I took to roasting the corn in my cast iron griddle, two pieces at a time. Easy? Yes. Time consuming? Certainly. Worth it? Damn Skippy!
I do have to say, I felt very "Top Chef" when I got to slice the corn off the cobb. If you haven't done it yet, you should try it, it's a suprisingly satisfying experience, trust me. This of course also means I'm ruined for eating corn on the cobb for the rest of my life. Whose with me?
And true to form, this salad ensured the civility of my bougie picnic spread. It was sweet and smokey and crunchy and a little salty and pretty much amazing. God bless those geniuses at W-S. Hmm, I wonder if they're hiring....
All in all, a blissful occasion. But I'll dish more on that later.
<3 Summer
That does look good and defintiely worth the time roasting. I wish I were more creative in the kitchen. But I'm so lazy and I usually rely on the same easy favorites. I always say that I'll be a better "homemaker" once I have a place of my own, but I won't hold my breath ;o)
ReplyDeleteHooray for picnic salads with NO MAYO!!! You look fabulous and so does your salad. I, too, am a lover of warm weather and I'm not willing to give up my enjoyment of the outdoors, despite the fact that school buses will start rolling next week. You may find me in sandals through early October... just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteI am really trying to get a pinic in before summer ends. I had one with a friend at the jazz age festival but since we just picked up sandwiches at the train station I will say that it doesnt really count. Im going to add a corn salad into the mix. I actually like this time of year cause its not too hot to stay outside for extended periods of time. I HATE extreme heat and Im usually the crazy lazy at the height of summer who turns into a vampire and feels like if I walk out into the sun i will burst into flames and die.
ReplyDeleteCan you come be my personal chef?
ReplyDeleteI am the queen of lazy, I've honesty cooked maybe 4 times all summer. Otherwise it's been pizza and eggs for dinner, so don't feel bad. As for being creative, i've decided to really branch out of my food habits, and try anything that doesn't scare me.
ReplyDeleteI second that hooray! even if I weren't totally disgusted by mayonnaise, it really has no place for a summer a picnic, especially in July. Thanks to global warming, it will probably be unseasonably warm through early october, so I'll probably be rocking sandals and shorts till then too. and then we'll skip fall entirely and wake up to 30 degrees, and I'll be miserable for the next six months. le sigh
ReplyDeleteYou HAVE to do a picnic before the end of summer, they make for such a good time! Even though I can handle extreme heat, it would be nice to picnic when it's not 97 degrees in july. I wish this summer hadn't excessively burnt up all my money, I would totally do reggae wine again october.
ReplyDeleteSummer up hear is almost over, so I will gladly relocate to florida and cook for you :)
ReplyDelete