Marnie Hanel - Summer: A Cookbook: Inspired Recipes for Lazy Days and Magical Nights

Marnie Hanel & Jen Stevenson

Illustrations by Emily Isabella

Contents

preface

Ah, summer! The season when worry steps aside, delight takes over, and every day is as good as the amount of time spent outdoors. Its a chance to swim past the breakers, take outdoor showers, hold court from a pool float, or rely on nothing but your wits, a pineapple, rum, and a blender to make the most of an afternoon. When the only imperative is to unwind, unplug, and open up to a day of possibilities, you know youre going to have fun.

In the summer kitchen, the glasses are filled early, and most nights call for a cook-by-feel sort of supper that comes together a little later than intended, the kind where whatevers in the CSA box gets tossed with a vinaigrette, topped with something off the grill, and very likely eaten directly from the salad bowl. Accordingly, youll find that many recipes in this cookbook are designed to be made, saved, mixed, and matched into myriad lunches and dinners. There are also one-dish meals, although we always consider two dishes the minimum, since were devotees of dessert. (Youll find some real showstoppers here.) So much of summer cooking is about enjoying peak produceweve yet to end a summer satisfied that weve eaten enough peaches, melons, little lettuces, or corn on the coband we hope youll read through the book with an eye to whats in season. You wont find a tomato sandwich in this collection only because you already know how to make one. (And yes, well wait right here while you do.) What youll find instead are recipes that pull you into the kitchen during a season that mostly calls for being away from it.

In these pages, youll discover surf-trip-fueling breakfasts, snacks to nibble by the pool, salads for lunch on the porch, sandwiches for beach picnics, mains for dead-simple dinner parties, and many menus for raucous celebrations. If you find yourself with a fennel bulb and wonder What now? or are searching for a dish to bring to a barbecue, theres something here. There are recipes for drinks both classic (including an entire rainbow of margaritas) and elaborate (like a Scorpion Bowl), and also many options that require only what booze you can carry from the liquor store in one hand, since, in our experience, many a beach house bar is open for one weekend only. When its too hot to lift a finger, youll find enough no-cook ideas here to get through a week without turning on the oven. If its your dream to live on chilled breakfast bowls served in coconut cups, arctic appetizers, ice-cold poke, frigid fros, and six variations of the inimitable ice cream sandwich, were in.

We hope youll find a nod to your own hometowns hits here, as well as a ticket to a tropical escape. (We find vacation vibes can readily be summoned by the whir of a blender.) Since we envision you tucking this cookbook into your suitcase when you head off to the beach, weve noted any required special equipment in a checklist on the recipe page. (Youll find it under In the Summer Kitchen.) We assume only that you have basic pots and pans, a charcoal grill, and a blender, which we consider essential (see above). You know best what type of vacationer you are, so whether youre seeking a clean-eating yoga retreat or a full-on beach bacchanalia, youll find the recipes to set you up for any getaway scenario.

All these dishes have been summer-kitchen-tested (using Diamond Crystal kosher salt), and when we make them ourselves, were transported to sunset-angled beach chairs, bare feet in the sand, and friends gathered under twinkle lights in the backyard. More than anything, this cookbook is a nudge to gather; the only wrong way to use it (unless control is your cocktail of choice) is to shoulder all the summer cooking yourself. We hope to inspire a communal kitchen, where one person makes the salad, another readies the grill, others set the table, more run to the fish shop, and someone dozes off on the beach and emerges around dessert time with renewed enthusiasm for margarita making. (Thats an important role, too.) Now go forth and summer! And be sure to invite us along on your cooking adventures as you do. You can find us at #SummerACookbook.

xo,

Marnie and Jen

Whether youre summering on the bluffs of Block Island or the shores of San Diego, its essential that you step onto the sand with sunny spirits, ample firepit fodder, a cleverly concealed beach bar, serious sandcastle-crafting acumen, and a pineapple-shaped floatie or four (if not pineapple, then pizza). This practical primer will steer you toward the perfect patch of sand (then help you keep it between your toes and not in your shrimp rolls); brief you on building a bonfire with all sizzle, no fizzle; school you in how to tie a fail-safe bowline knot; and explain the (not so) intricate rules of Beach Blanket Bingo and Popsicle Stick Pictionary. For those prone to forgetting the sunscreen and the aloe vera, the packing list at the end of the chapter ensures that your boat tote will be fully equipped with towels, toys, and tiki torches.

A day at the beach seems deceptively simple: sand, sun, surfwhat more could you need? But a little planning can go a long way toward warding off vexing swimsuit, sunglasses, and snorkel shortages, not to mention the ever-dreaded hike back to the car to get the SPF 300 out of the glove box. Follow these coastal commandments for an easy, breezy day on the bay.