I have been waiting soooo long to post this photo. It came from reader Abby with a note that read, in part:
Just wanted to say thank you. I’m sure you hear this a lot, but wow do I love your blog and your book even more. I have four children five and under (just turned 5, just turned 3 and 16-month-old twins.) I have always been totally committed to sitting down as a family to eat dinner without articulating it as a philosophy or, really just articulating it at all. It was just something we did and boy is it hard. Your book makes me feel so proud of myself and, as I’m sure you can tell from my family set-up, I need some of that good feeling every once in a while! So thank you for that.The dark n’ stormy’s have inspired me too. Attached is my beachtime innovation – drink to go in an empty jam jar. Life changing. With four kids it doesn’t take much.
I can’t recall the exact month she sent me the photo, but it had to have been cold because I remember taking in not just Abby’s genius beachtime innovation, but the tall pines and the blue sky and the water and her swimsuit and sunglasses….and man oh man summer seemed so far away. Like it happened to people on other planets.
And yet! Here we are about to kick off the first big weekend of summer grilling season. In addition to those Dark & Stormies, here are some suggestions for what to make:
Chicken: Option 1
BBQ Chicken
Grilled Vegetables with Haloumi
Cornbread
Apple Coleslaw with Yogurt
Chicken: Option 2
Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken or Shrimp
Campfire Potatoes (tossed with chutney instead of creme fraiche)
Shredded Kale Salad
Steak
Tony’s Steak
Macaroni & Cheese
Asian Slaw with Peanuts
Lamb
Grilled Lamb Chops or Grilled Leg of Lamb
Fava Bean Crostini
Wild Rice Salad with Feta and Cranberries
Fish
Grilled Whole Black Sea Bass
Sorrel with Mint, Peas, & Parm
Oven-baked Fries (from my book) with Spicy Mayo
Happy Long Weekend!
That is not me in the picture, but the dark and stormy has changed my life too. I had never heard of it before I read how to make one on your blog. Now I long for a dark and stormy day just so I can have an excuse for drinking one. Okay I also drink one on a sunny hot day too just to…well they are so darn good who can resist…tehe!!
Here’s a fun little anecdote I just learned from a local bartender while down in the Caribbean sucking back Dark and Stormy’s like a fiend: the name of the seal on the Gosling’s Black Seal Rum rum bottle is… Stormy! Supposedly you’re supposed to use Goslings Black Seal Rum. (Though lets be honest, rum… mmmm.) So that’s where the name “Dark and Stormy” comes from. Happy memorial day!
Great post and great idea for a ‘traveler’.
That’s not me in the photo, but I wish it was!
OMG, is that a “caipirinha”?
The picture makes me happy (blue skies..), the drink makes me happy (come on.. rum) and I totally plan on yogurt marinated chicken- YUM.
Genius!
I have 10 chicken cutlets sitting in your lemon pepper yogurt marinade – going on the grill this afternoon!
If anyone needs some summer entertaining tips, I had fun putting this list together: http://a-life-from-scratch.com/easy-breezy-summer-entertaining/
Where’s the vegetarian recipes? 🙁 Love your site, but I do wish there were more veggie-friendly entries.
Made the yogurt marinated chicken for dinner tonight, total hit and soooo easy! thanks again for sharing.
I love that it’s in a Bonne Maman jar, which always trigggers memory of scene in “I Don’t Know How She Does It” when Kate boils the label off the jar to make it seem like she set up preserves for her daughter’s French food day, thinking “je suis une Bonne Maman!” while doing so. Cocktailing on beach with four kids = Bonne Maman territory.
I made the steak, mac & cheese and asian slaw for the fam on Memorial Day and it was all a BIG hit! Everyone loved their meal. Thanks!