IT’S HOT ENOUGH IN NASHVILLE to fry an egg on the sidewalk, as old-timers used to say. And in four days we will be celebrating America’s big birthday with fireworks, hot dogs, and humidity.
I know for certain we’ll be sizzling at these events because an insane heat wave has swept through the South.
And while it might not be on the tragic scale that Europe is experiencing, it’s enough to send me to a fainting couch with a large paper fan and a glass of lemonade.
Yesterday as I was wrapping up today’s newsletter, I got up from my couch to walk into the kitchen and bake bread, but stopped short. I had interviewed the most fascinating historian who has researched the bread that fueled the American revolution. But with the heat outside approaching 100ºF, “Who wants to read about George Washington’s bread when it’s suffocating outside?” I muttered.
(I’ll be sharing that bread post very soon.)
But for now I’m pivoting to cool and refreshing salads from the archives. One is Panzanella and another an old-school marinated cucumber salad that still feels new today and the third a cold blueprint corn salad that goes with everything. God love a salad that goes with everything.
Eat them cold. Better yet, eat them cold standing in front of an open refrigerator. Life is a bit of a pivot in a summer kitchen.
Because of this important historical week, I asked two historian friends if pivoting had any role whatsoever in the founding of America.
My friend Annette Laing of Non-Boring History reminds me that pivoting has been a thing since America began. She said the Revolution was more complicated and fluid than people think.
“None of the mainland British colonies ever abandoned Team Patriot. However, many individual people of property, especially when the war moved into the South, changed sides depending on who was winning, and who they thought would best protect their property, including their right to enslave people, and defend them from Native attack,” Annette said.
“The people of Georgia at first supported the Patriots, then the British when that army captured Savannah, and then most became Patriots again when the British left. To remain Loyalists would mean leaving, and abandoning everything (and everyone) they owned.”
She said most enslaved people, especially in the South, rooted for the British, “in the hope they would be freed, so not so much a pivot as a pragmatic choice. That said, most were abandoned by the British at the end of the war, with desperate people trying to swim after the ships as they left Charleston.”
And the American history teacher, Merrie Alexander, provided even more context:
In 1777 the Continental Army (the army of the 13 colonies) decided to stand and fight the British Army at Saratoga. Americans under General Horatio Gates shifted their strategy from defensive retreat to direct confrontation forcing a decisive surrender. “This American win convinced France to be an ally and to supply the Americans with money, troops, and weapons leading to the success of the American Revolution,” Merrie said.
Pivoting continued after the Revolution. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to buy New Orleans and a small part of Florida for up to $10 million. At the last minute, Napoleon offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory, and Monroe made an on-the-spot decision to buy 828,000 square miles for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States.
More recently, in the 1960s, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had a prepared speech for August 28, 1963. “Over halfway through, his friend, singer Mahalia Jackson, off to the side, shouted ‘Tell them about the dream, Martin.’ “ King paused and went off-script saying, “I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”
It became one of the most memorable speeches in America’s history.
We were visiting with dear friends in England via What’s App over the weekend and you could see in their flushed faces how they were braving the heat wave in a home without air conditioning. They were talking about supper and how they were having a lovely “to-mah-to” and onion salad and how when it’s hot, they can’t stand the idea of food swimming in mayonnaise.
Mayonnaise is a controversial topic here in the summertime, too, not only because we were schooled not to serve mayonnaise-based salads in hot weather, but because we can’t agree if the mayo on a tomato sandwich should be Hellman’s, homemade, or Duke’s.
To me, the American South is fixated on mayo, and that may be true for the rest of the country. Mississippi novelist Eudora Welty wrote nostalgically about standing on a kitchen stool trickling in the vegetable oil drop by drop while her mother whisked, and together they made the perfect mayo in Jackson. I’m sitting at a brunch last Sunday and next to me an old friend pulls out his phone and proudly shows me a photo of his mother’s 1930s “mayonnaise maker.” You can still find these contraptions on ebay.
In spite of the heat, we chattered on about mayonnaise. Most everyone at our table said they preferred Hellman’s, but that didn’t stop me from giving my endorsement of Duke’s. (For the record, I was raised on Kraft mayo, moved to the Hellman’s camp as an adult, and now Duke’s tastes more like homemade.)
The heat, the garden, mayonnaise—they’re safe table topics this Fourth of July.
Even with America’s red-hot political climate, I would wager Republican vegetable gardeners dislike squirrels more than they do Democrats.
I’m trying to keep squirrels out of my garden and away from ripening tomatoes by blaring a battery-powered radio on the most obnoxious talk channel 24/7. Eight batteries in, and so far, so good.
I’ve got star-spangled navy placemats on the dining room table, bought blue and white gingham cocktail napkins for the bar, Wimbledon has begun, and tomorrow hubby will hoist the American flag onto the pole attached to the sweet gum tree in our front yard. Let’s get this party started.
Happy 250th, America. Keep cool and carry on.
- xo, Anne
My friend Lisa texted in a panic. She’s been told to bring dessert this weekend for three nights for up to 24 people. “Should I cheat and buy a sheet cake from Publix?”
Yes, I answered, but scrape off the deli frosting and replace it with real whipped cream and then decorate it as a flag cake, photographed above.
“We’re eating outside,” she replied. “Scratch the whipped cream,” I said. “Just add berries.”
For the other nights…a massive fruit cobbler using Trader Joe’s frozen pie crust sheets and a mix of berries and peaches. An ice cream sundae bar with a gazillion little bowls of fresh fruit, chopped cookies and brownies, candies, and real whipped cream. And when all else fails, cold watermelon.
THE RECIPE:
This is the perfect side for grilled steaks or fried chicken. It’s best in the summertime when you’ve got garden cucumbers but works year-round with the small Persian or long European cucumbers. To liven it up, reach for fresh herbs—dill, mint, basil—and toss them in. Add a dash of fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, even fresh jalapenos, too.
Makes 6 servings
1 pound small, fresh pickling cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups halved yellow or red grape tomatoes or chopped big ripe tomatoes
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion or sweet Vidalia onion
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 cup rice wine or white balsamic vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
A dash of something…fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, or soy sauce
Stir together the cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions in a medium serving bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, celery seeds, vinegar, and olive oil. Season with a dash of something. Pour the marinade over the cucumber mixture and gently mix. Cover and place in the fridge to chill at least 3 hours before serving. This keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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