an undisguised tumblr mood board
the warm weather recipes, cafes, films, I'm earmarking NOW
It’s a nervous energy. It’s not quite yet jittery, but the plates feel like they’re shifting. The weather doesn’t quite know what it wants to be, and the energy in turn doesn’t either. The buds on the tree branches are beginning to burst out and up, but my eyes haven’t yet begun to water or itch. A year (and some change) ago, I was wholly focused on sweaty backs, and soft grass, all of the beacons of summer that carry me through these funny few weeks of late winter. And I’m here, here again! Of course, I am! Again being pulled through the slog of the rest of hibernation season by the promise of heat and color. Slipping into daydreams and fantasies of what I eat, cook, who I’m with, what I’m wearing, who I am.
Rather than meeting this cyclicity with self-consciousness, and running away from the cliches that are cloaked in all of it, I’m just going to… not! I know you too are being pulled forward by the promise of something, of someone. Of a feeling. Of a change. The question all of my conversations continue to return to is do you have anything to look forward to right now? And for good reason, the science continuously tells us looking forward to something can be almost as good as experiencing it.
Your visions might also prominently feature a serrated knife carving into the flesh of a white peach. Feeling the sun on your face. So, though I long ago graduated from Polyvore mood boards, and forgot my Tumblr password a half-decade ago (my username was ‘pointless nostalgic’ to nobody’s surprise), let’s not pretend these Substack musings are any different, and let’s commit to the escapism found in the dream.
tunes
I asked my pal Laura, who has such great taste in music, to collab with me on a warm weather playlist. It’s groovy, it’s easy, it’s what we can squirm in our bike seats to a sunny, breezy day. It’s also what we can sink into in the early evening. When we’re a bit sweaty post-shower, and we need a cold drink. We’ve been vibing to it, and hope you like it.
dishes
I’m dying to make
’s Summer lasagne with crisp lacy edges & soft noodles. A forkful of basil, zucchini, and sweet tomato sounds like heaven to me.For dessert,
’s Simple Fruit Tart has been calling my name. Made on a Saturday at 4pm, using up every ounce of berries I’ve purchased at the market that same morning (save for the few handfuls of blackberries I sneak while rolling into my pastry dough).Yossy Arefi’s Skillet Shrimp & Corn with Lime Dressing for weeknight punchiness.
’s Minted fava beans with smashed potatoes for the first rainy spring Sunday lunch.Melissa Clark’s One-Pan Zucchini-Pesto Orzo is what I want to prepare for an easy dinner with a friend.
declares the Pan Bagnat the “sandwich of summer,” and it is essentially a niçoise salad between bread. I feel both cooled down and satiated just looking at it.Julius Roberts’ Fig, tomato, and mozzarella salad. It looks like a dream.
’s Nectarine & Pistachio Crumble, too.Ham El-Waylly’s Grated Tomato Pasta is a recipe only worth making between July and mid-September. I’ll be waiting!
Otherwise, I’m ready for the BLTs, corn bean salads, peaches over the sink, berry compotes and cobblers and crumbles, pesto pastas, and giant sandwiches.
drinks
For when I have time to kill, it’ll be Ottoleghi’s Pineapple and Sage Martini.
When I don’t, I come home to my dad’s margaritas, 1 shot tequila, 1 shot Cointreau or an imitator, 1 shot fresh-squeezed lime juice, 1/2 a shot simple syrup, shake over ice, pour into a salt-rimmed glass.
For non-alcoholic days and nights, these vinegar shrub spritzes are all I want.
books
I’m excited to re-read Bluets, by Maggie Nelson. Firmly a summer book.
On my Want-to-Read shelf, it’s Good Material, by Dolly Alderton, and Family Meal by Bryan Washington, for laughing/crying/laughing while crying. Big Swiss by Jen Beagin for tucking into my beach bag. Rouge by Mona Awad for a touch of horror, which always feels right in summer.
I’d like to make my way through Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food for the first time, too, and finally finish my Bourdain Kitchen Confidential audiobook.
films
Here’s my ongoing list of movies that feel like summer: Mamma Mia, Dirty Dancing, Call Me By Your Name, Fire Island, Talented Mr. Ripley, etc. You know.
I’d like a rewatch of Bodies, Bodies Bodies this summer, maybe Blue Crush, too. I also require at least one shitty summer action movie seen in theatres with friends.
As for the watchlist, I’m ready to queue up Eric Rohmer’s A Tale of Summer. Mia Hansen-Love’s Goodbye First Love. The Swimming Pool. Waves. Under the Tuscan Sun. Point Break. A Bigger Splash. Maybe even Xanadu!
My eternal inclination towards tender, soft movies can be ridiculed for the other 9 months of the year, sure, but my time is now.
meals
Last year’s out-of-season fruit summer guide can be found here, but here’s my own lil’ warm-weather restaurant list for 2024.
A negroni, an artichoke sandwich in the backyard of Misipasta, the first possible day I can.
Two massive pizza pies, ordered over at Wizard Hat, and schlepped over to SE Prospect Park for devouring on a blanket in the grass. Please!
A rainy spring morning’s train over to Revelie Luncheonette for eggs.
A chilled wine crawl around Greenpoint at 3 on a Saturday, home by 9. Pan Pan Vino Vino, Lise & Vito, maybe Heaven & Earth.
Getting over my fear of playing tennis with Zoe at Jackie Robinson, and getting a breakfast sandwich just a few blocks north at Che as a reward.
Whenever open, a pastry, a cup of ice water, and a long backyard sit with a book at Radio Bakery’s new location in Prospect Heights! I am so stoked.
A to-go platter from Beyti Turkish Kebab to eat on the sand at Brighton Beach.
A warm Thursday evening’s post-work walk up to Rosticceria Evelina for the roast chicken.
Bar Vinazo’s backyard for one of their gin-tonic specials.
The Threes Brewing Meat Hook cheeseburger I’ve had on Governors Island three summers in a row. Perhaps my #1 symbol of the season.
Otherwise, a mix of cups and cones from The Social at dusk, at least once a week.
If you too are itching for deep green leaves and nectarines, I hope this undisguised Tumblr mood board sparked at least a little anticipation in your bellies. Xoxo
Brought my joy