Before Summer Ends

When you think “warm-weather recipe” you may think “grill”…but there are ways to make dinner feel light and fresh and summery without breaking out the barbecue.

Mussels, for example. Make some mussels.

I do not eat tacos. I will, on occasion, eat a burrito (and only “on occasion” because if I were to eat burritos as often as I would like to, I would become a burrito myself), but hard-shell tacos aren’t something that’s ever appealed to me. Don’t they, like, break apart into tiny, shard-like pieces which then a) hurt you and b) result in the deliciousness inside getting out, which, as I gather, is not the point?

And then reader Laura sent me this recipe.

And now I eat tacos.

This is the best summer cocktail in the universe. Hyperbole, you say? ‘Tis not. Frosé is essentially a tarted-up slushie for grownups, except instead of Berry Berry Buzz or whatever, it tastes like…wine. Except better.

I have discovered another use for cotija cheese (besides sprinkling it over corn), and this one involves pasta, which is obviously like the joining together of angelic deities for the good of humanity. Cheese! Pasta! An excellent idea in any and all cases. (This recipe also doesn’t make very much sense, because it’s got Greek influences and Italian influences and Mexican influences, but whatever: let’s just label it “fusion” and call it a day, and then get down to the important part, which is Eating All The Cheesy Pasta.)

I’m very particular about my lobster rolls – I need them to be juuuust the right combination of lobster meat and mayo, with very few other ingredients gunking up all that perfect simplicity – and it turns out I’m equally particular about shrimp rolls. Which means that when I tell you that the one that I have been making constantly these past few weeks is perfect, I mean it. It’s perfect. (Did I mention that you can easily make it in large quantities for guests, as a much more swishy take on regular old hot dogs?)

Tequila is not always a good idea, but sometimes it’s necessary.

If you’re going to do tequila, do this. Trust me.

(Apologies for the name.)

For whatever reason having everything to do with luck and nothing whatsoever to do with my abilities, the tomato vines that I plant every summer grow into freaking trees within weeks.

This is how I use them up, and is directly followed by me eating straight out of the pot (in bed, while watching This Is Us).

What’s that, you say?

Pasta and potatoes? Isn’t that a bit…much?

To which I say: “Hello. My name is Jordan. We must not have met before.”

You are seeing this correctly: it is a s’more. And a shot. More specifically, it is a shot made out of a s’more. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that these are the easiest things to consume – they require a sort of nibble/sip maneuver that takes a bit of practice – but oh, they are worth the work.

This recipe came straight from the owner of a little farmstead somewhere in between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.

It’s good for healing a broken heart. Speaking from experience.