It’s only during this time of year that I remember just how much I love the fresh food and flavors of summertime. The rest of the year has it’s own charm with cozy flavors and smells of fall produce, spices, warm soups, and hot drinks, and in all honesty I’m usually somewhat ready for those things to take over the kitchen once the weather does start to change. But summertime…it just truly is the best. It’s like everything becomes so much simpler in the summer season. Meals can be made fast and easy and tasty with all the fresh garden vegetables, and there truly is nothing better than sinking your teeth into a perfectly ripe tomato or cucumber right from the earth.
I think it’s fascinating how certain foods can give us feelings and transport us back to another time and another place. It can make us remember what it felt like to be young and free and without the cares of adulthood, remembering the days of playing outside all morning, running through the sprinkler in the yard, bouncing around the field in the four-wheeler, building a fort, or spending the day at the lake.
Food can do that to you. I associate so many sensory details with certain events or seasons of life.
Fresh peaches take me back to the days we would spend at my grandmom’s house during the summer. If we were there during peach season, we would eat our way through bowls and bowls and bowls of fresh peaches. My grandmom has always been an excellent cook, and would whip up a tasty treat for us anytime we wanted one. I remember her slicing up many a fresh peach to eat plain, or with ice cream, or making us peach milkshakes. Peaches will always remind me of my grandmom, and I love that.
Bologna sandwiches make me think of all the summer days we spent at the lake with our best friends…swimming and floating on rafts and building little cities in the sand. I was always so scared of fish (or other things!) nibbling my feet, and I was always so careful to keep my feet moving all the time if I was standing in the water or laying on a raft. If something did happen to nibble at me, I would go dancing and splashing out of the water as fast as I could. It’s just little fishes, but in my childhood mind, it was some sort of scary monster trying to get me. We would always pack a lunch with us, and would always eat heartily when noon came around because there is nothing like a day in the water that gives you a ravenous appetite.
Green beans make me think of the many hours we would spend each summer picking, cleaning, snapping, and canning. I would groan every time the harvest came around, for what could be worse than spending hours in the hot sun picking beans. I’m sure I gave my mom a fair amount of complaining and resistance when it came to helping with this chore, but strangely enough, now that I’m grown and gone and away from home, sometimes I would just love to help with green beans again.
Cucumbers remind me of hot, southern summer days. We would always have several cucumber plants in the garden, and most days our lunch was a simple sandwich with mayo, cucumber, turkey bacon, and salt + pepper. Or we would just slice one up with some salt for an afternoon snack. My sister in particular loved eating cucumbers, so I guess in many ways I will always think of her when it comes time to dig into a garden fresh cucumber.
But my favorite summertime dish is a simple squash, zucchini, onion, and turkey bacon dish that mom would make during the height of the garden season. It’s the easiest and tastiest side dish, and it transports me back to another time in life every time I eat it. It’s so easy and simple that you almost can’t make a recipe out of it, but I’ve found that the simplest foods are often the most pleasurable. I love to cook, and the kitchen is truly my happy place. But I like simple and uncomplicated recipes. I also like my food to taste as good as possible, because I always say that you have to eat, so make it good.
I’ve eaten this dish for lunch two days now, and I’m planning on running to the little produce farm stand a few miles down the road to grab me some more zucchini for today’s lunch. It’s that good and fresh and summery.
Summertime Squash & Zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
2 strips turkey bacon
1/2 red onion
salt and pepper
Slice the onion thinly, and saute for a few minutes in a pat of butter. Slice the turkey bacon into thin strips and add to pan. Cut the squash and zucchini into slices, and add to saute pan once the onions and bacon are partially cooked.
Saute until bacon is fully cooked and squash/zucchini are slightly soft. Salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
What about you: do you have favorite summer flavors or dishes that take you back to another time and place? What’s your favorite thing to make in the summer?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
