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Hello dear ones! Welcome to today’s Stories from Catbird Cottage. I’ve been up to my eyes in prep for what is shaping up to be an amazing afternoon, this Sunday. In a typical week it’s a lot to switch gears, turning away from event-prep or hosting momentum, garden upkeep and processing the bounty, to put my writer’s brain on and craft this newsletter... This week I’ve been finding it especially challenging, with so much heavy and dreadful stuff going on in the world. As I’m typing this, a haze hangs in the air from the Minnesota and Ontario wildfires. Our air quality borders on hazardous - for my parents in Michigan, it’s among the worst recorded on the planet. The descending smoke lays thick over everything, but not enough to obscure my vision to other equally distressing events - escalated ICE violence, the spreading Cyclospora outbreak, the insane expansion of drilling into Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. While trying to draft a cohesive sentence, my thoughts turn to whole communities displaced by the fires, and then to the domestic and wild animals fleeing the wreckage of their habitats... it is too much for anyone to absorb. The least we can do is lend support to the firefighters, here, the Ontario SPCA animal rescue efforts here, and the Namaygoosisagagun First Nation community, who only had minutes before having to flee on water. To donate to their temporary shelter and other essential resources, go here.
Things being what they are, I am trying to stay focused on the work in front of me. In a brief dialog with a fellow Substacker, we commiserated on how air and water know no borders. Everything is everything - the ‘body’ of the Earth and our bodies… We are all connected!
I also committed to a raincheck for my birthday. For now, I will keep crossing off the long list of tasks until it’s time to shower guests with 9 courses of wonderfully delicious food that celebrates summer, be present to everyone coming, and after that, celebrate my day!
In previous years I’d string together as many ways to celebrate my day - 3, 5, as many as I could convince friends to take part in - and stretch it out for a whole month. After all, celebrations are joy-filled experiences. They give us excuse to get dressed up, bring out the “good plates”, splurge at a restaurant, or make the extra effort with foods at home. While I am most certainly making the extra effort with foods, this year it is to feed others on my hillside.
So today, birthday day 7/17, I’m sharing 7 personal favorites - dishes I’ve made countless times, all which give that feeling of extra. Sometimes, it’s labor (the focaccia) which totally pays off when brought from the oven. Sometimes it’s bringing together all my favorite ingredients, whereas on a regular day, I might be more frugal and combine just one or two. Every dish is a kind of celebration, and taken together they are epic. Make them for yourself or someone you love - they will 100% look at you starry-eyed with gratitude.
I am so grateful for all of you! Whether you’ve been here for years, or perhaps by way of “the rabbit hole” found this newsletter, I love that I get to play a part in your lives. Perhaps week after week, you benefit from things I share, making practices, techniques, and recipes part of your own lives… Or, maybe the storytelling brings a smile to your face. I’d love to hear anything you enjoy about my newsletter in the comments. 😊
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Food that centers the juicy textures of right now. Dishes that deliver huge flavor and joy, and with any luck, I’ll make again before summer is over. Dip into the luxury of bursting-ripe local tomatoes, just-picked berries, edible flowers, buttery wild fish, and more.
Rye focaccia (→then panzanella with it)
I know I told you not to turn the oven on recently, but doing so to make this focaccia is totally worth it: earthy, pliable, with a salt-speckled puffy crust. Once you’ve made this fantastic bread, make a mean sandwich, or this, this, or this version of panzanella, the perfect summer dish. In each of these panzanellas, the bread soaks up the marinating oil and vinegar, then once pan-fried all the torn edges turn crispy. The juicy soaked centers are amazing in contrast - outrageously good, paired with sweet and acidic tomatoes, crunchy corn, peaches, pickley elements, and always, a shower of herbs.
Salmon with asparagus, beans + tarragon Dijon mayo
It takes just a few minutes to both sear a beautiful fillet of salmon (or other fish, like steelhead trout, or halibut), blister snap beans and asparagus, and whip up the mayo, a luscious addition to drag everything through. The extra-good part is, the method is versatile to what you have available - use wax or Romano beans, (do or don’t) cook them, and pile the buttery fish on top. Fold any soft herb you like into the mayo. Be sure to make extra so you can add to salads, slather on toast, and generally make everything you eat more fabulous.
I’ve talked about this salad on numerous occasions. It is another that offers flexibility to what mood you’re in, or what’s freshest when you gather ingredients. A punchy umami-infused dressing makes simple-seeming noodles quite the opposite, serving up a refreshing counterpoint to super hot days.
English + Snap Pea Salad with Preserved Lemon + Whipped Ricotta
This juicy-crunchy-creamy dish is a revelation! It also comes together in just a few minutes. I love when a dish can be both easy to create and hugely enjoyable to eat, and this one has it all. Because it is such an enlivening a dish, you could easily devour the whole thing yourself - I nearly did.
For everyone who loves kettle chips or great French fries, this crispy snack is for you. The shattering crunch of an easy tempura-style batter pairs beautifully with easy-to-love squash blossoms. There are many versions out there that stuff the blossoms - and while there’s nothing wrong with that - I crave just chomping one-after-the-other of these crispy flower treats. Maybe dunked in a little mayo from above, for ultimate decadence…
Another dish that comes together easily, this is as versatile as it is speedy. I recently whipped up a batch and tossed it through pasta. New winner. Sauce gribiche would be excellent spooned over crisp farmers market lettuces, or to drag radishes through, or alongside grilled shrimp or chicken. It’s also an excellent sandwich pairing with that focaccia you’re going to make… ;)
Berry-bourbon-mascarpone tartlets
Yes, you’ll need to make a pastry dough and then blind bake it, but the adorability factor of these tartlets in all their layers makes an extraordinary summer dessert and is well worth it. Each time I’ve served this to guests, there is a chorus of ooohs around the table. Add fistfuls of your favorite wild or market berries, then enjoy bites of flaky, buttery pastry, the crunch of a rough praline, and lofty dollops of whipped cream.
If you have good wishes or wisdom to share for another year around the sun, I’d love to hear!
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