End-of-summer dish a salute to the family vacation
The universe has shifted. Days are getting shorter and the kids have returned to school. There is the ever-so-slightest hint of a chill in the air at nighttime. Routines are shifting too — earlier bedtimes, papers, backpacks, buses and the need to get dinner on the table at a reasonable time.
But I’m not ready to say goodbye to summer. It went by too fast and this year, we were unable to take any sort of family vacation. It’s hard to explain to two kiddos why we can do this some summers, but not every summer.
As a child, we would regularly descend upon the same small beach town in North Carolina. We’d rent a small house or condo that had sand everywhere, and we’d schlep falling-apart beach chairs across the street to the beach.
I’d spend three days on the sand overcoming my fear of sharks, only to go in waist deep on the fourth day and then watch a story on the news that night about some little girl having her leg chewed on by a juvenile shark in knee-deep water three beaches down.
But that’s OK, I liked the beach. I’d walk up and down people-watching, build intricate sand structures, collect shells and look for cool creatures in the tide pools.
My dad would hit up the local shacks for justpicked sweet corn and freshly caught shrimp. We’d eat grilled corn on the cob and boiled shrimp with watermelon for dessert almost every night.
This dish is an homage to summer and the vacation.
If you were able to take your family on a trip, I hope it was memorable. If you couldn’t, I hope you made the most of summer days and your public pool and that you ate lots of ice cream cones. Whether you could get away or not, both scenarios make magical memories for children.
And bonus — this dish is fast. It definitely qualifies as a weeknight meal with lots of veggies and protein. If you have a picky kid, feel free to whip up a side of buttered noodles (and if you can convince them to let you add garlic, parsley and lemon to the butter, even better).