Top Ten Favorites: Summer Foods

 “Woods are filled with the music of birds, and all nature is laughing under the glorious influence of Summer.” (Charles Lanman)

 

Hello, my lovely friends! 

    Summer has a way of tricking us into thinking that living on cold fruit, smoky meats, and carbs coated in mayonnaise is a perfectly reasonable lifestyle. Honestly, who are any of us to argue with that logic? When the weather gets this warm and the days stretch out until forever, nobody wants to stand over a hot stove or pretend that a sad little leafy green salad is going to cut it. We want real food, the kind that reminds us of backyard parties, sticky fingers, and sitting on the porch late at night talking about absolutely nothing until the sun goes down.

    If we are going to talk about real crowd-pleasers, lemons have to sit right at the top of the list because they basically carry the entire season on their backs. They are the unsung hero working behind the scenes, whether you are squeezing them into a massive pitcher of sweet iced tea, drizzling the juice over fresh seafood, or baking a lemon loaf for a late-afternoon snack. Right beside them is watermelon, which is less of a food and more of an event in itself. Buying a giant watermelon, lugging it into the house, and praying it is actually sweet when you slice into it is a high-stakes gamble we all willingly take every single July.

    Then you have strawberries and peaches, which are the absolute stars of the fruit world when the sun is out. A strawberry actually tastes like a strawberry this time of year, instead of that crunchy, sour version we get in the middle of winter. Peaches are even better, provided you eat them over the sink because there is no physically possible way to eat a perfectly ripe peach without getting juice all over your hands and forearm. It is messy, sure, but that is half the point of eating good produce in the summer anyway.

    When it comes to the heavy hitters on the side dish table, potato salad and pasta salad are running the entire show. Everyone’s family has a very specific, highly defended recipe for potato salad, and no matter how you make yours, it is the one thing that instantly makes a meal feel like a real cookout. Pasta salad is its equally delicious cousin, perfect because you can throw whatever random vegetables and cheese cubes you have sitting in the fridge into a bowl with some Italian dressing and somehow it turns into total comfort food.

    Of course, the grill is where the real summer magic happens, and nothing beats the smell of charcoal drifting through the neighborhood on a weekend afternoon. Grilled hamburgers and barbecue ribs bring everyone out to the patio in a hurry. Hamburgers are classic and dependable, but ribs are for those nights when you just give up on being neat and embrace the sticky barbecue sauce smeared across your face. Throwing some grilled chicken into the rotation keeps things easy, especially when it gets those nice charred edges that make simple marinated chicken taste like a feast.

    Finally, we cannot overlook corn on the cob, which is practically mandatory from June through August. There is something deeply satisfying about slathering a hot ear of sweet corn in way too much butter and salt, getting it stuck in your teeth, and immediately wanting a second piece anyway. It rounds out the plate and completes the whole summer eating experience.

    At the end of the day, these foods are less about the actual ingredients and more about the memories we make while eating them with the people we love. Whether you are hosting a chaotic backyard gathering or just eating a slice of cold watermelon by yourself in front of the AC, this season is all about keeping things simple and delicious. Drop a comment below and tell me which of these is your absolute non-negotiable summer food, or let me know what crucial staple I somehow managed to leave off the list.

Top Ten Favorites: Summer Foods
1. Lemons
2. Watermelon
3. Strawberries
4. Potato Salad
5. Peaches
6. Grilled Hamburgers
7. Corn on the Con
8. Barbecue Ribs
9. Grilled Chicken
10. Pasta Salads

Thank you for sharing a moment of your day with me. I hope the hours ahead treat you kindly and bring you a sense of comfort. Warm wishes, and see you next time!