Summer will inevitably come to an end. Not today. Today the temperature in unpstate New York will rise to 89. And we will have more of that kind of weather heading our way. But classes begin Mondays at our local universities and a couple of days after labor day, the secondary and elementary schools will also start up again. Summer will end, no matter what the weather is like.
The last tomotoes and flowers will be picked, the grass won’t have to be mowed as often, and the days will continue to grow shorter. Something always tugs at my heart when the seasons change. Maybe it’s the fact that they remind me time is passing and I’d like to hold it still for a while. But for me, summer is my hardest season to let go of.
In order to hold onto summer, I try to cram in all the things that I haven’t yet done. First, I try out the recipes that I promised myself I would get to. I love to cook. That’s probably why characters in my books usually have some talent for cooking. Reese Brightman, the heroine of my August Blaze, “Twice the Temptation,” is a five star gourmet cook who just got her own TV show and is working on her second cookbook. (Reese may be who I want to be when I grow up! And when I factor in the hero of that story I think I definitely want to be Reese).
One of the recipes that I’m going to make for Labor Day is one that I haven’t made in several years. (It’s not even in Reese’s cookbook–though it should be). It’s a great salad to take to a family gathering. I first experienced it (and experienced is the right word) at a pot luck dinner and I had to have the recipe. Almost everyone present took the recipe home, so I thought I’d share it with you.
I head Napa cabbage sliced
5 green onions sliced
Topping:
2 packages Ramen noodles crushed (omit seasoning)
1 small package slivered almonds
1 small package sesame seeds
1/4-1/2 cup butter
Place topping ingredients in large pan and saute until brown.
Dressing:
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup soy suace
Mix dressing ingredients in a jar.
In a large bowl, toss cabbage and onions. Add topping and pour dressing over. Then toss again.
This salad tastes better than the sum of its ingredients–really yummy–and it’s a great way to hold onto summer for a little longer.
The other thing that I’m going to do to hold onto the waning days of my favorite season is to finally read the books I haven’t gotten to yet. One of those will be a book that has been highly recommended to me by both a colleague I teach with and by my optician. He was raving about it while he fitted me for a new pair of glasses. The book is Stieg Larrson’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo,” and it’s part of a trilogy. My copy is on the way from Barnes and Noble. Have any of you read it? I also intend to fit in Nora Roberts’ “The Search.” The nurse at one of my doctor’s offices said she stayed up all night reading it.
I tried to think of the last time I stayed up all night reading a book. Both Bronte sisters’ books did that to me when I was 14 or 15. “Gone With the Wind” and “Rebecca” also kept me up reading into the wee hours. “Silence of the Lambs” made me miss the whole first day of a vacation in Hawaii. And Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot” made me miss most of a weekend I spent visiting friends. I simply couldn’t put those down. And in Stephen King’s case I couldn’t sleep with a window open for about two years!
Oh, and the last thing I’m going to do to hang onto summer is to walk everday. It’s a habit that I’ve tried to build up over the summer and I’m not going to let it go. Even if I eventually have to do it on my treadmill.
Do you have some things you’re still going to fit in before summer ends? Do you have a favorite summer resipe or a book that’s going to keep me up all night (before I have to get serious about getting enough sleep to teach the next day). Let me know.
And most of all, enjoy the last days of summer.
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I love that recipe! Around here, we add chicken chunks to it. Always a fav! (Y)