I am absolutely, without a doubt, a Summer Girl. It is my favourite season, and I feel like last year I was cheated out of it, a bit, with the move. Everything was so busy and so stressful and so emotional – I sobbed with hopelessness in the parking lot of the library when they said I couldn’t have a card until I had an official identification proving my Kelowna address, as a small example of my mental state – that I didn’t really get to enjoy the season. So, this summer I am soaking up every second of it.
All of this is to say that when I say wow, it’s hot, it is observational, not a complaint. This Calgary girl will never get over the novelty that opening the front door is similar to opening an oven door; after all, it’s a dry heat and I have a shady deck to lounge on and an air-conditioned house to retreat to when it’s too much. As a brief aside, if you have air conditioning, what do temperature you set it on? We keep ours at 24C, which I feel is just enough to take the edge off without having constant cold air blowing. I like to be comfortable in my summer clothes inside.
I’m not sure if this is my body’s way of making sure I can enjoy my outdoor time before it gets too hot to be active, but my natural wake-up lately is in the three’s. I have long been a 4:00 riser, but for the past couple of weeks, when temperatures have been soaring into the late 30s, I have been up for the day at a time that starts with a “3.” I hope this is just a Rhythm of Nature thing, and not a harbinger of things to come, in which I am waking up earlier and earlier until I am not sleeping at all. I guess I’ll see what happens in a month, and in the meantime, it’s nice to be able to see my son before he heads out to work in the morning.
In other heat-related news, my meal preparation changes vastly in the summer; our dinners are light and easy, and I use the oven only rarely. This is despite the fact the oven is new and very well-insulated, and, as I mentioned before, we have air conditioning; between those two factors I don’t worry about the house heating up, but still, I’m all about the low-effort meals.
It’s been a little while since I shared a week of meals; I am inspired by my gorgeously talented friend Suzanne to do so (HI SUZANNE). As a note, half of the meals I made are meatless, but I did use my air fryer to prepare chicken for the guys Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Do you have an air fryer? It’s an appliance that is symbolic of my consumer life with my husband: he wanted to buy it, I said we didn’t need it, he bought it, and now I use it all the time. You would not believe how often this happens in my marriage. Anyway, it’s brilliant for our family because it has two baskets, one I keep pristine for the vegetables, and the other is used for meat only. I cannot tell you how much this has changed my life; I hate hate hate cooking meat, and this has made the process almost painless.
I don’t use a lot of recipes in my cooking; the kids call it “Mom’s Free-Styling Again.” I kind of throw things together until they seem good to me, like the wild thing that I am.
Monday: Asian-Inspired Noodle Salad
I’ve been making a variation of this Asian-inspired noodle salad for years; I cook the noodles and some edamame in the morning, so that it’s nice and chilled by dinnertime, and I add in any vegetables I feel like. In this case, it’s grated carrots with chopped peppers and zucchini from the garden. I added cashews and some sauteed tofu, plus garden green onions and cilantro. The dressing is made up of equal parts sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce, with a little bit less of a part of lime juice. I add a big spoonful of brown sugar and another of chili garlic sauce, plus some minced garlic and grated ginger.
Tuesday: DIY Tortilla Wraps
This is my go-to for a quick and easy meal; I slice up any vegetables that are around – avocado, pepper, tomato, and garden lettuce and green onion, and I set out hummus, salsa, and cheese, along with the aforementioned air fryer chicken breasts.
Wednesday: The Big Salad, With Lots Of Stuff In It
My most prolific garden vegetable, by far, is kale; we have been enjoying kale salads multiple times a week for two months now. I, like Elaine Benes, love a big salad, with lots of stuff in it, and this week I added candied pecans, roasted chickpeas, apple, dried blueberries, and goat cheese crumbles to the kale. I served it with a balsamic vinaigrette, and some crusty bread.
Thursday: Pesto Pasta Salad
I have SO much basil; this is but a pittance of what I still have in the garden.
I made up a nice batch of pesto and added it to cold pasta and peas. I also roasted some asparagus, broccoli, and cauliflower, as an exception to my “no oven” guideline.
Friday: My Big Fat Greek Salad
Friday is my favourite day of the week, which calls for my favourite meal of all time, the meal I could eat on repeat every day for the rest of my life: Greek salad with pita and hummus. No matter what the season, I make this meal on Fridays. I have a little tip for those of you who make your own hummus: add a little soft tofu for extra creaminess, and pulse in some (pitted) black olives. Delicious!
Saturday: The Best Thing To Come Out Of Foods Class
This pasta salad has been a summer favourite since 2018, when my younger son brought the recipe home from his junior high Foods class, a class that was a source of much angst since he and his kitchen group of four friends were extremely unpopular with his teacher. I mean, I am always on my kids’ side, but thinking about five teen boys in one group who constantly were making grievous cooking mistakes and in a state of hilarity about it, well, it’s hard to really blame the teacher. Particularly since I knew all these boys and had them in my house and yard many times over the years, I knew what the, how do I say it, vibe was like. She only likes the girls, my son explained, and I felt like I understood the entire situation. Anyway, one thing he did make without disaster was this pasta salad, and I adapted the recipe for my own preferences. I like to set out a lot of veggies, and everyone can build their own dish.
Sunday: BBQ Day
My husband usually grills something on the barbeque on Sundays; this week it was burgers. After the food-poisoning disaster of Canada Day, I found my favourite chipotle black bean burgers again at Costco, after a long hiatus. We also had sweet potato fries and a kale Caesar salad.
Sweets To The Sweet
I baked zucchini loaf with our garden zucchinis and…
It’s an ice cream cake, sort of. I made chocolate banana ice cream for the bottom layer, pulsed Oreo cookies with fudge sauce for the middle, and topped it all with Cool Whip. I used to love DQ cakes, but one such slice would give me at least as much pain as the expired veggie burgers, so I thought to try my hand at something non-dairy. It was a hit!
Weekly Reading
If last week’s theme was infidelity, this week was male authors. I very rarely read books by men, particularly heterosexual men; out of the 75 books I have read this year, 8 are by men, just to give you an idea.
Wellness. When I downloaded this book, I was stunned. How long IS this, I asked. I looked it up: the paper edition is 611 pages. SIX HUNDRED ELEVEN PAGES. That is, in the humble opinion of this gentle reader, way too many pages. And now that I have read it, my question is where was the editor? Was there an editor? This book could have been cut by a third, easily, with no effect at all on the story. Because it’s a really great story, but there is just so much descriptive backstory and whole chapters that could have been condensed to a single paragraph. SO MANY PAGES.
I did have a Mrs Lynde “Isn’t that just like a man?” moment, because doesn’t it seem like these editor-light tomes are always by men?
Anyway, once I got past my initial despair, I found the first two hundred pages to be relatively quick and easy to read, and the subject matter itself is very interesting: it’s about a marriage gone boring. What happens when the fires of anti establishment youth fade into the ashes of just regular, middle aged family life? There are so many segues and they are mostly quite interesting: the placebo effect, Facebook algorithms, how modern parenting is informed by parenting past, and complex familial relationships. All good stuff. But THIS IS TOO LONG. Again, great story, when the writing is good it’s really good, but it badly needs an editor.
Heaven and Earth’s Grocery Store. This was a good story of a Pennsylvania town in 1936; it centres around the Jewish owners of a grocery store, serving a Black community, and the way they work together to help a child who was unfairly institutionalized. There are some truly moving and heart-breaking parts, and it ends in a clever, satisfying way.
I hope you are all having a beautiful, summery week with lots of yummy things! xo
What a colorful kaleidoscope of salad, Nicole. I feel inspired, soothed, and hungry all at the same time! And I feel all matchy in your summer excitement–I always feel like I want to soak up every moment of sunshine and sticky sweetness.
_Heaven and Earth_ is a bookclub selection, so I will be reading it soon. Despite your misgivings, I think I might try _Wellness_ too–it sounds a bit Jonathon Franzen-y? I like to gently mock JF when he puts on airs in op-eds, but I usually like his stories.
I don’t think I have ever read anything by Jonathon Franzen, so I can’t comment on that. You know my general feelings on male authors!
Nicole, for a while there, Franzen was being lauded at the expense of excellent women authors–so her really does deserve your feelings and avoidance of male authors. https://www.vox.com/culture/22691692/jonathan-franzen-controversy-crossroads-oprah-franzenfreude
GAHHHHH WHAT ELSE IS NEW. Anyway, glad I had no idea who he was.
Alright, that’s it. I’m packing all my things and moving to your house! HOW do you make all your meals seem so easy, yet incredibly healthy and delicious??? I’m definitely going to use your hummus hack – that sounds delicious.
I had to look it up because I STILL can’t convert celcius to fahrenheit, but 24 is 75 and that’s what we put our AC at. I don’t want to be freezing cold in the house, except at night (when I turn it down to 68.)
Hmm, I’ve heard mixed reviews of Wellness but it does sound good! Maybe I’ll have to read it.
Thanks Jenny! I do enjoy having a good meal, that’s for sure.
You might really like Wellness, I thought it was good in parts but so drawn out and long! But maybe you’ll enjoy!
I’m guessing you haven’t read Insomnia (Stephen King) because horror is not your jam, but that’s just what happens in it. Several characters wake up earlier and earlier until they are so sleep-deprived they can see supernatural things rested people cannot see. I hope this is not what happens to you.
I would definitely come to dinner at your house.
I have not read that, Steph – is my life turning into a horror novel? I hope not!
I lol-ed at this, sorry!
We are early morning twins, Nicole!
Your salads look so delicious, and I’m very interested in trying candied pecans on my next big salad. And your cake!! Holy Moly, I’m so hungry now!
I was thinking of you, Michelle – even though I’m getting up in the later 3’s, I thought “Michelle is up now!”
Those are some delicious looking Big Salads! We do Big Salad Sundays here. Yesterday, it was a Greek salad. I’m always on the lookout for new types of salads to make. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, so I will seek it out. BUT, I did read Amazing Grace Adams last week and didn’t like it at all . . . it moved soooo slowly to me and it was just too depressing. Maybe I’m at the point in my life where I can only read pick-me-upper books.
Okay, so yesterday I made chocolate zucchini bread and it didn’t rise AT ALL. My baking powder and baking soda are fresh, so it wasn’t that. The only thing I can think is that I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil (because I won’t buy it anymore). Do you think that could have been the issue?
Bijoux, Heaven and Earth is NOT a pick-me-upper book, so it might not be what you’re looking for right now.
Hmmm, I have no idea about the zucchini bread, that’s so strange. I can’t imagine olive oil would make a difference in the rising, but who knows!
I use olive oil in my baking all the time and I never have an issue.
Alina, do you have any ideas for Bijoux about non-rising loaf? I can’t think of anything if the baking soda and powder are fresh.
I would have to see the recipe to be able to tell. ❤️
I am thinking that one possibility could be that the mixture was too dense (not enough liquid). Another possibility could be that the amount of baking powder and baking soda is too little for the amount of dry and wet ingredients.
Yum! Those meals are all so delicious! Oh to be a guest or descendent in your house! I made chili in the crockpot this weekend and will make Asian noodle bowls when I get back from my Denver trip. The noodle bowls are my fave as they are full of veggies and also shrimp which is maybe my fave protein.
We set our AC around 24C as well. Technically we set it at 76F but that is very close to 24C. I do not like aggressive air conditioning. Last week Phil set it to 74 after our power came back on to speed up the cool down process. I had to use a blanket by the end of the night since it has gotten too chilly for me. I am waiting to board my flight and am questioning my decision to wear a dress but I have a HH and dinner and dresses are my uniform for work. So I will be wearing a hooded sweatshirt over my dress on my flight which is a look but oh well.
I plan to read Wellness but am leery of the length. I am reading ‘Same as it ever was’ by Claire Lombardo which is 500+ pages long. Her debut was equally long but I loved it. So far I am loving this book and don’t mind the length. It’s also about a marriage that is sort of languishing at least in the protagonist’s flashback to the little kid stage. It had a bit of a Liane Moriarty vibe to it although it is solidly lit fic.
Our hot season is so short so I try not to complain. It is pretty humid here, though. But it’s fine since it lasts for a brief period of time.
Well, Lisa, if you ever come north I DO have a guest room available! You must have lots of air miles with all your travel – just saying!
I have been on the hold list forever for that Lombardo book – I did read her first one but can’t remember a thing about it. I’ll have to go back and see what’s what.
The saving grace for the heat here is that it is very dry, humidity is a killer!
Oh heavens, that’s early! But I’m secretly jealous.
We set our AC to 24.5C. I can’t stand – as Lisa puts it above – aggressive air conditioning. But 24.5 has felt BLISSFUL lately since it has been so dang hot here. The car is the worst. We have leather seats which sounds nice, but they burn my backside in the summer and freeze my tush off in the winter.
Your food always looks so fresh and so delicious. I never make pasta salad, but was at a potluck last night and there were THREE pasta salads and one was so good. Why do I never make pasta salads?
I also have leather seats and yeowch, not great, Bob, if the car is sitting in the sun. Remember the metal slides of our childhood playgrounds? Actually I don’t know if they still had those when you were a kid.
Pasta salad in all its iterations is a huge summer staple around here!
Our neighborhood park STILL has metal slides!! So we can only go there in the morning in the summer! Every other park seems to have been modernized except ours!!
Such delicious looking meals! I am on a salad kick but need some inspo before they get too samey.
It is finally starting to get dark(ish) at night here in Northern Sweden, I am still waking up at 4am everyday. Still I guess I can catch up in a few months, aaargh!
On the editor dodging, I nominate JK Rowling as a female exception to the rule; although right now she could probably use an editor 24/7 not just for her books 😉
Have a great week!
Hahahah I laughed at your JK Rowling comment! I have not read a single one of her books, but my kids have. They do seem long. I do agree that she’d probably benefit from a life statement editor!
We had Greek salad last week too. Did you try the iice cube trick with your hummus yet? And we had a delicious pesto dinner last night. It’s been a good year for basil here too.
I did try the ice cube trick and it worked well! I don’t always remember to do it though.
All of those meals are right up my alley- I could eat like this all the time!! Calgary is ridiculously hot right now and I don’t think anyone is used to it. Of course the smoky haze is back as well so it’s not the best. I think I’m middle aged for sure now – years ago I’d sit outside and bake in heat like this, but I’ve become
a bit of a wimp. My 14 year old daughter is happy to be as I used to however!
I’ve heard Calgary has had heat! And actual heat, not Calgary 25 degree heat! Hope you can stay cool!
I am going to make the Asian noodle salad this week, and a pasta salad bar! Why have I never thought of that? I made a chocolate zucchini cake for my cake-hating nephew years ago that turned him into a cake lover, according to my sister.
I like my air fryer, but my dad LOVES his – he has back issues and does a lot of their cooking, so the fact that it’s a little oven on the counter is amazing for him.
I am loving the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store so far.
The salad bar thing is something I have been doing forever, because J doesn’t like tomatoes, but likes everything else, and I LOVE tomatoes.
I cannot understand the cake-haters, but I am happy he got on board the cake bus.
The only thing about the air fryer is because it’s a double, the baskets aren’t huge, which means I can’t really make the massive quantities of, say, Brussels sprouts!
I do love me some pesto and a good pasta salad! We keep our ac right about 75 degrees (I think that’s close to yours?) but I do like it chilly when it’s time to go to sleep.
Regarding your waking up in the 3:00 am hour – my mind also immediately jumped to Stephen King’s Insomnia. Although, I wouldn’t technically classify that novel as “horror;” in the event you have any interest in reading it. Unless, of course, your consider insomnia horror (which, yes, I would).
I won’t read that book BUT I am amused that it exists!
Your cooking is inspiring me as everything looks delicious! Also the hummus hack is timely as my husband and I were just talking about how to get more protein into our picky vegetarian son. But he does like hummus and tofu so that’s a good option.
I think I would like wellness and it’s on my list although definitely those lengthy books can be a bit daunting.
We keep our AC around 22 when it’s stupid hot like it is now 😆, when it’s cooler outside we set it to 24, not sure why but the contrast of lower inside heat feels needed when it’s a sauna outside.
Thanks so much Leneigh! I also love hummus and tofu, they are staples in our house!
Wellness was good, and it was a faster read than you might think, given its length. But it desperately needed an editor!
I hate summer so much, but I really believe that if I had a house with central AC I too could enjoy it. (24 seems reasonable but let’s be real I’d probably have mine at like 19. 😂) Instead I have a 94-year-old house with original windows. 🥵 We have four portable AC units and a window unit and it’s still barely livable once the temp is over 30. I weep for the environment.
I think you could too, Ariana, it makes such a difference to be able to retreat into a cool house. With an older house and no AC, well, I can imagine how hot and unbearable it would be. So hard to sleep in the heat!
HI NICOLE!!!!! Love love love seeing your dinners and how they shift a bit in the summer months. I am practicing No to Low Oven Usage over here as well, although I think our oven really DOES heat up the kitchen; other members of my family disagree, though.
We keep our thermostat at approximately the same temp as you — closer to 23C, though. (Our basement naturally hovers around 20C in the summer, and my husband has our thermostat programmed to TURN THE HEAT ON if it drops below that point, which I vehemently disagree with for so many reasons. BUT, he DOES spend a lot of time in the basement and he hates to be cold, so… I don’t know. It still feels bonkers to me.)
This line is so true for me as well: “he wanted to buy it, I said we didn’t need it, he bought it, and now I use it all the time.” Some things you don’t NEED, but still turn out to be essential, I guess.
Wellness is on my list but maybe it can wait a bit longer.
Our basement in Calgary was so cold all the time and in the summer, when the AC was on to cool the upstairs, it would be just crazy cold. It would not be unusual for it to be 12 degrees on a winter morning before we turned the heat up for the day.
Your Asian-inspired noodle salad is something we’d like. I’ve never thought about cooking the noodles early in the day so they can be chilled by dinner. Your zucchini bread looks wonderful. We haven’t quite hit peak zucchini season here, but when we do…
I love doing the noodle prep early, then when dinner rolls around it’s so easy to just add veg and dressing!
Your summer meals look so yummy and colorful.
Our summer here has been unusually humid and hot, but we had such a lovely winter. I feel like that is typically the trade off. I’ve often thought of waking up earlier to do things when it’s cooler.
Thanks Kari! I do like the early mornings.
We keep our AC set about the same as you do – around 74-76F, which is 23.3-24.4C. If it gets much cooler than that, I will start to wear sweatshirts inside. If it gets much hotter, I will not be able to exercise without passing out. It’s the compromise. It frequently gets cooler than that at night, so we’ll open the windows and air the place out.
We also run the oven just as much in the summer as we do the winter, so I guess we’re the weirdos for that. We also regularly eat soup during the summer. *shrug* We do what we do.
Cold air blowing constantly is just so uncomfortable to me! I don’t eat soups in the summer – and truly, we don’t have them too frequently even in the winter – but I love a salad in the winter, so I guess we are the same but opposite!
I love summer too – however admittedly it does get trying at times as we certainly do not have a DRY heat, rather more like 85% humidity that immediately sucks all the air out of your lungs. Same for us with the thermostat temp; I was discussing this with colleagues lately and this temperature is apparently very warm – there are people setting their inside temps to like, 70F, which is downright frigid to me. I want to feel like I’m in the season I’m in – a little hot in the summer and a little cold in the winter.
I think women certainly can write some chunkers too – basically any book by JK Rowling, The Love Songs of WEB DuBois, Great Circle, The Gilded Hour, most books by Kate Quinn, Rosamund Pilcher, all of those huge fantasy novels that are popular now, etc. etc. I love the idea of sinking into a long book but truthfully I always get bored after the length of a regular book.
With the exception of one Kate Quinn, I haven’t read any of those (I don’t like fantasy). And…it’s an unpopular opinion but I did NOT like the KQ book I read, not at all. I think most long books could easily be cut because there is so much repetition and unnecessary backstory – not all, mind you, but most.
Ugh on the humidity, it is not something I have to deal with and I’m so thankful!
I cannot even fathom getting up at 4, let alone 3. -something. Well, to each their own. My A/C temp is 24. I do not like living in an icebox.
Love all your salads; I’m going to try some of these! I made a cherry tomato and cherry salad last week. It was so good and a little different.
Well, the flip side is that I never see 10:00pm! Not willingly, anyway.
soy sauce + vinegar + sesame oil is my answer to everything. I put it on noodles, I use it as a dressing, on stir fry, it’s my go-to dipping sauce for dumplings. It is so versatile!
I like our summer thermostat set at 77 F/25C – I don’t like things to be too cold. My Husband would set it at 73F/22.7C if he could. And when I’m not home, her does.
I would love to be an early riser, but I stay up way too late. I wish I could flip it somehow and get up early and go to bed early.
I don’t see how you could possibly become an early riser with your job, Diane!
That is such a good flavour combination – we just had it again last night. So good!
I’d love to eat your meals, full of colors and veggies, and adapted to individual preferences!!! Great tip on the hummus, will try it when go home. I’m saving this post as meal plan idea as I can see the family will like it too.
Thanks so much, Coco! I hope you enjoy some of them!
Your description of your son’s cooking class made me chuckle. It’s good that you were able to see the whole picture. Your food prep and meals look wonderful. I wish I was half as gifted as you were at preparing all the veggies.
Coach bought me an air fryer for Christmas a few years ago. It’s like yours – 2 baskets, which is nice, but I’m still a such a novice at using it, that I just don’t use it often at all. He uses it more than I do. We stuffed it in the pantry for Reg’s grad party over a month ago and it’s still in the pantry. Hmm.
I can completely understand how your summer felt less summer-ish last year and so happy for you that you are enjoying the heck out of it this year.
Thanks Ernie! At first I was annoyed about the teacher, but after thinking about it…well, that woman deserved compassion! After all, a junior high foods teacher, that feels like hell on earth.
YES to all of this foooooood. Pasta salad is on my radar for next week, especially because it is so customizable, and I have big plans for chocolate zucchini cake— as soon as my giant zucchini are finally ready to pick. We have cartoon-fat rabbits living under the slide in our backyard and not a lot of veggies in the garden.
Pasta salad is such a winner of a meal!
I love the term Lisa coined – aggressive air conditioning – and let me tell you, I AM A FAN. Give me an icebox. Make me bundle up in blankets. I want it COLD. I keep my AC set at 72F during the day and 68F at night. I’m also in a third-floor apartment; I didn’t need to keep it AS cold when I was on the first floor.
I also don’t really change my eating habits from summer to winter. Probably because winter is so short here, ha. Like, I just had chili last week!
Brrrr…that’s chilly! But then I keep it probably around that temp or cooler in the winter…
24C is a very reasonable temp for the AC… my husband sets it to 22C but that’s almost a little cool for me, I don’t need to sit in an ice-box.
Your meals are mouth-watering. I am all about kale salads! I just found a new recipe that I am trying out this week (with roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas) and if it’s a winner, I’ll share the recipe!
22C is very chilly!! Especially if you’re dressed for summer.
Heaven and Earth Grocery store is in my downloads waiting for me to have time to listen; glad you liked it.
We keep our a/c at 72 at night, 73/74 during the day. Girl, it’s about 100* today and the humidity is killing me. 🙂
I love ALL your salads. As long as the olives stay away.
The humidity!!! We have none, essentially, I think I would die in Florida summers.
Other than the kale (yes, I am One Of Those People), these sound amazing. I’ll be inviting myself for (your) dinner (not the guys’). 🙂 Quick question – have you shared your hummus recipe, the whole thing? I would love to see it! The tofu trick is a great one!
I haven’t, Anne, but it’s easy-peasy and this recipe is very loose. A can of rinsed, drained chickpeas, plus 1/5 to 1/4 block of soft tofu (freeze the rest for later), 1/4 cup each olive oil and lemon juice, a couple of garlic cloves, a big old spoonful of tahini, salt and pepper. Whirl that up in a food processor, then pulse in some pitted olives. Voila!