A Pinch of Summer’s Finale

With Labor Day Weekend approaching, the unofficial end of the summer is here with mixed feelings. The wet, hot summer has had some fun moment, lots of sweaty minutes, and plenty of great bites. Not sure if it’s the peak of a fun weekend celebrating the wedding of two amazing friends, but I’m ready to transition into fall with cooler temps and new adventures at home and out and about.

There must be some science behind it, but the come-down from a weekend packed with happiness with friends and relaxing time with family is always such a weird feeling. Thankful for all of the fun times and great people, then the transition back to the normal routine feels just a couple steps or thoughts off at first. If anyone knows the technical terms for this, let me know. For now, I’m calling it a Happiness Hangover. (And that’s definitely the only hangover that happened this weekend.)

I should probably get better about taking pictures in these moments, but I’ll leave that to the professionals and opt for living in the moment (Sorry, but thank you). This will have to be the guy that you’ll trust as the one actual picture I took heading into this weekend:

Before diving into the weekend, I brought one of my favorite desserts to the office: brown sugar cinnamon pop tart shortbread from Butternut Bakery. This time I had to adjust the recipe for some circle pans since I no longer have square dishes, and it all worked out well. Safe to say they passed the coworkers’ test, and no crumbs were left by the end of the day.

No leftovers were for the best because they are incredibly addicting when sitting in the kitchen – very similar to when you leave a knife in a tray of brownies to cut off small portions throughout the day. Good thing I didn’t also make brownies like I originally planned to. These are next up from Broma Bakery.

What’s Cookin’

One way to get the mental going, and perhaps a positive turn to scrolling on the phone: pick out new recipes that look good for the week ahead. With no actual LDW plans, we could have a lot of meals and treats ahead.

Chicken Adobo Sandwich by Chuck Cruz

Not your typical beach sandwich, but I’ll listen to Chuck when he says he’s making this chicken adobo and serving it up on a sandwich with some nice tomatoes, crispy chicken skin and homemade mayo. I’ve never made chicken adobo, but he seems to know what he’s doing with a couple other recipes: spring chicken adobo with ramps and morels, and sage chicken adobo for the fall vibes.

Sourdough Bread

When looking back at where I’ve shared my go-to recipe before, I saw that last LDW shaped up to be just about the same vibe of lots of cooking and baking. That was also when I said that I wanted to get into a biweekly flow of baking sourdough, perhaps a bit ambitious, but maybe we’ll try it out over the next two months. All this comes from a little inspiration from some fresh bread that my mom made this morning:

Bourbon-Peach Icebox Cake from Food and Wine

Believe it or not, not all desserts have to be baked in my world. This no-bake layer cake was a request from my dad. It’s a perfect way to squeeze in some fresh peaches as the season comes to a close. I love a good crushed cookie layer in a cake, though obviously nothing tops the brownie-ish layer of a classic ice cream cake.

I hope everyone can make the most of the long weekend ahead. If you’re not traveling, go make that recipe that you haven’t had enough time to lock in for. Share a meal or treats with some friends, family or neighbors, or cook yourself the nice meal you deserve.

Enjoy the long weekend 🤘