A Pinch Of Augtober

When I think of August, I typically think of the heat that we’ve had for the past two months. So when the weather flipped to somehow having mornings in the 60s, it was the perfect time to learn the term “Augtober”. Some may claim that typically August marks just about the end of summer, but I gotta say we’ve got some damn good summer produce coming about that ain’t worth skipping over!

Like I mentioned last week, I got to spend the weekend with family down in Maryland. If you were waiting for the count, I have to report I may fallen short… three bagels, two orange crushes…. zero (0) crabs consumed. We did get some fresh, local seafood, but crabs will have to be rain checked for later in the year.

That said, at least we went to a family favorite, Harborside – home to the original Orange Crush. Don’t believe me? Check out the proof here or Reddit about the drink also brought into this world in 1995 😤.

Every time we get down to Maryland, we get to see family from up and down the East Coast and from over the pond in Germany. And every time the grilling does not disappoint with all the classics done just right: burgers, dogs, sausages potato salad, coleslaw and some summer corn 🤤. No reason to switch it up! I love it every time.

A different kind of dogs action… we had six (6) dogs in one house, and seven to the weekend. I was one of five boys that grew up spending summers in that house. Now we have a whole different look to our family. (And I’m sure by now grandkids were expected. Dogs win for now 🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕.)

What’s Cookin’

Scraped together a few meals to clear out the fridge and pantry last week ahead of the vacation, so meals were light. That said, I couldn’t sit still after coming back late Saturday and even after a long run to start Sunday. So off to Wegmans I went after planning a few meals for the week. I may have over-prepped with this grocery haul (Who’s coming over for dinner?):

Buttered Corn and Basil Ravioli and Chicken Cutlet

I’ve eaten corn the past four nights. It has to be up there with favorite summer produce, along with tomatoes and watermelon. The first fresh pasta in the apartment was due, and this corn ravioli was the perfect mix as opposed to the regular cheese-filled homemades. I used this pasta and filling recipe from a favorite, Pasta Social Club. I did make a corn stock but didn’t want to do just the broth, so I made a simple garlic-wine-lemon sauce, adding in the stock instead of pasta water.

Of course gotta call out the chicken cutlets 🤌. I don’t know if i could’ve described the meal much better than a college friend and fellow food fanatic, “a grown-up version of mac and cheese and chicken nuggets”. (Worth checking out his food Substack Braised & Confused.)

Planned Meals Rundown

• BLTs – some fresh bread and local heirloom tomatoes are in order for 😫 thicc 😛 juicy 😫 BLTs 😛 later this week.

• Green Goddess Salad – using the leftover cutlets to make a nice big salad and the Pinch recipe for the dressing.

• Ginger-Garlic-Soy Chicken Bowl – this one was a good clean eating as I made my way back to the burbs for dinner with my family tonight. Simple fresh veg and chicken thighs. Shoutout to day four of CORN 🌽🌽🌽🌽

I know we’re not quite done with the heat, but I’ll take it because I’m still soaking in the post-8 p.m. sunsets. Also I’d like the Phillies to figure out a bit more and get hot going heading into October – and Schwarber can stay hot! I’m off to The Bank this week to watch the home team play the namesake team, The Orioles (IYKYK). Hoping to keep the in-person winning streak alive during a nice 80 degree game day, perhaps enjoy another dog or two.

Crush your week 🤘