so it’s the first day of summer [ha! not anymore] and can i just say it was certainly the longest day but i can’t say that i feel like summer is upon us. this morning was one of those velvet [canyon] mornings where the mist creeps in and dwells in the crevices of the hills cloaking everything in delicate mystery and beauty. if it were yellow fog it would, of course, rub its back on window panes but this ain’t the love song of j alfred prufrock, baby.
anyway a morning like this reminds me of barcelona. which i have never actually visited but i feel i have a sense of what it ought to be like from the delicious novels of Carlos Ruiz Zafón. which are really perfect for summer in el ay, which tends at this point to be slightly unsummer like. so here’s what i recommend. first of all, come home and put on big star’s number one record. as you sink into the ballad of el goodo, ponder the genius that is alex chilton. here’s a guy who when he was no more than 18 wrote “the letter” for chrissakes. you know that song. that’s the one where he ain’t got time for no fast train cuz his baby just wrote him a letter. anyway after alex left the boxtops he formed big star which is probably the most genius band of its genre to never gain nearly the recognition it ought to have. i actually saw alex chilton once in concert so to speak — so to speak because it was at some state faire thing in rural illinois with absolutely practically no one there except a handful of other people who obviously heard of him because of the replacements. and i hate to admit it, at the time i just didn’t get it. now i do but that’s probably cuz you have to go through the mill a few times to appreciate him. him and gram parsons.
but that’s neither here nor there. like i said, put on the record. make yourself a cocktail. my current favorite summer cocktail is a bastardized version of the aviator which tastes exactly like a melted grape popsicle. basically lemon juice with a little superfine sugar, gin (i use hendricks), and creme de violette. add water and ice. which makes me think that maybe i ought to freeze one of these in the popsicle forms i just got.
ok so now you’ve got the music going, and your drink all set up. you’re halfway there. crack open “shadow of the wind” by zafon. it needs to be dark when you read this book because it’s super moody and dreamy and ethereal. have you ever seen “pan’s labyrinth?” it’s that mood but in a book. that director needs to do shadow of the wind. this is not a beach book, unless the beach is all waves crashing on rocks and overcast. [if you want a beach book i suggest the Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk which is easy to pick up and put down and pick up and put down. if you're going to read that though you ought to listen to whatever is referenced in the book like the mc5 VU iggy pop television blondie etc etc.]
i assume if you are playing a record (ha! record… who does that?) that you are at home. you should eat something. here are my three favorite summer recipes (which do not involve bbq).
zinc salad
jill and i had this salad at zinc in something beach. super good. i found the recipe online but i’m not going to bother to look it up to give you exact measurements. if you’re tied down to that kind of thing, you can google “chopped arugula salad” and figure it out. “small handful” is an equal amount – for me, about 1/4 cup.
arugula — chopped. baby is better.
1 tomato, chopped into equal sized square pieces about a 1/2 inch square
dried blueberries – small handful
pepitos – small handful
corn – small handful
israeli couscous – small handful
salami – one inch slice of a narrow stick, cut into pieces about a 1/4 inch square.
grating of asiago cheese
ranch/buttermilk dressing
mix all of the above up. eat.
cold peanut noodles
this is a really good picnic / roadtrip type item, as it does not require refrigeration.
chinese noodles
peanut butter – 1/3 c
1/3 c peanuts, chopped fine
soy sauce
sesame oil
fish sauce (omit if you don’t have it, but it’s kinda a thai staple, loser.) to taste
sugar (superfine, to taste)
sriracha sauce to taste
cucumber – diced 3/4 inch big
mix up the sauce — everything but the noodles and cucumber. season and adjust to taste. add rest. if you would like to make this more substantial, add either cooked baked tofu, chicken or shrimp. if you want to make it spicier, add red pepper flakes.
smoked gouda salad
this is super easy. the only keys are this: the better the smoked gouda, the better the result. and mix your dressing in a mason jar – nothing could be easier.
arugula
1 fiji or pink lady apple, sectioned
shavings of smoked gouda
sprinkling of marcona almonds
dressing: shake the following, to taste, in a mason jar: honey. lemon juice. olive oil. salt. pepper.
my latest thing: home made popsicles.
sometimes a popsicle is, unfortunately, just a popsicle
