Susanality

Hello to everyone on this last official summer Friday (or is it unofficial?)! Thanks, as always, for being here.

Hello from sunny (but sometimes foggy) Calistoga! I’m technically on vacation right now—we rent our house each August (if we can), which makes it a good time to go somewhere. The three weeks pass much faster if we spend at least a week away. Despite having been to Napa and Sonoma many times before, especially in the Martha years, when we often traveled here for photo shoots, I have never come as far as Calistoga nor even been in the area strictly for leisure, so this is a real treat.

My husband, Steve, and I have been making this chicken together for years now. It’s one of our go-tos for summer entertaining, because, well, roast chicken. Everyone seems to love it, and it goes with everything. We buy local farm-raised chickens from a wonderful farm called Iacono in East Hampton. I swear these chickens are juicier and tastier than all others.

Fresh corn is one of the distinct pleasures of summer, and unlike some of the other treats we enjoy this time of year, it’s not quite as ephemeral. It’s in season for a good long time, from about July 4th straight through Halloween (at least around here). It is also thankfully easy to preserve, i.e., freeze, to be used in the cooler months. The recipe I made for you today stars the aforementioned corn and the other mainstay of summer farmstands: zucchini.

I am not normally one to celebrate National (fill in the blank) Days, but I am making an exception for National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day (August 4th). That is really something to celebrate! Since cookies have been topmost on my mind for the past two years (have you preordered my new book yet?), I seized the opportunity to create a brand new recipe just for you, my dear readers.

To me, a cold noodle salad is one of the best summertime foods. It’s a blank canvas for whatever you have in your crisper. I am the first to admit that I scroll on Instagram way too much, and I have a number of folders where I save things.

Hi everybody! Hope you’re having a lovely Sunday. I know you’re not used to me popping in on the weekend, but I have something special to share with you. As you know, my new book, Cookie Queen, comes out on November 3rd. I am so proud of this book, and I am pretty sure you’re going to love it if you love cookies. And if you don’t love cookies, who are you even? Of all the books I’ve written, this one is the most personal to me.

I first met Grace Elkus in 2021, when she was working for The Kitchn. I had been hired to do a recipe for them, and when it came time to test it, I had the pleasure of working with Grace. I had to look back to remember the recipe I had created for them, and it was a large-format grain bowl, which is right up Grace’s vegetarian alley.

Summer cooking is stunningly simple. Just go to the farmer’s market or farm stand, grab whatever looks freshest and most tempting, and do as little as possible to it. The same goes for proteins, whether it’s fish, chicken, shrimp, or the occasional steak. I marinate briefly or not, so it’s ready when I am, then turn on the grill, and the meal lands on the table with a minimum of fuss and mess. Leaving the kitchen nice and cool (and clean) is a bonus.

I have to admit that until I read Kendra Vaculin’s treatise on the Hugo Spritz in last week’s New York Times, I was blissfully unaware of its charms. It’s true that I don’t spend much time in bars, or even drink very much, but I do enjoy a spritz in the summertime (or anytime?). I will often order an Aperol spritz, but they are almost always a bit cloying for me unless made at home with proportions I choose, which always include less Aperol and more spritz.