Weather, Whine & Dine

I sit in a lawn chair by the lake shore and shiver, then bake, depending on the variable cloud cover. I'm on vacation and loving both the change of scenery and the slowing of pace. We had steamy heat the first day, rain showers the next, sunny, then breezy and overcast. And I realize that I am OK with it all. Usually the weather sets the tone for the holiday.  Rain leads to low spirits and frustration at being stuck indoors with nothing to do. A cool breeze can make us all wish we had stayed at home and not booked a hotel and a tan. You invest so much in a vacation, and the weather can lead to a real let down.  But the poem "After a While" by V.A. Shoffstall is on the mantle to remind me that I have grown up, and am no longer that child that longed only for sunshine.

"And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and with your eyes ahead, with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child, and learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrows ground is uncertain for plans, and futures have a way of falling down at midnight. After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you ask for too much..."

I distinctly remember one long weekend where we had rented a beach house and invited friends. We made plans to cook delicious meals in the evening. But it rained cats and dogs, the friends canceled, and we moped around the expensive house alone... and went out to eat to relieve the boredom. 

This week we changed plans as the weather changed: Take-out pizza aboard the pontoon relieved the worst of the heat, when it rained we moved into town to go shopping, and then the perfect sunny day,( the kind you write home about) found us bobbing in the water with drinks in hand. 

Today I am reading and writing, oblivious of whether the sun in shining or not. The book I'm reading delightfully describes a group of Frenchmen cooking and eating together.  Their gathering is a mixture of ready made dishes that only need to be reheated, salad and home grown vegetables cooked in the large kitchen, bottles of wine that was opened the day before, and lots of meat.  They start with champagne while they prepare the meal. The first course is local truffle soup, then grilled pigeon, fresh from the garden salad and potatoes, local pate, bread and venison stew.  Each course is accompanied by its own wine and there is no desert.   And all of this takes place at a friend's wake! The very definition of "make the best of a bad situation."

And I too, have grown to find food a comfort and ultimately the best way to enjoy a holiday whatever the weather. Here are some DOs and DON'Ts that stick with me:

• Do start with a cocktail.  Something bubbly or fruity while you prepare gets the party started. No beer.
• Don't do chips, salsa or crackers and cheese as a starter.  They do nothing to enhance the palate or improve the appetite.
• Do have a hot starter like soup or sausage on the grill, cut into bite-size pieces and served with toothpicks. They can be cooking (and giving off an enticing smell) while you chop. My brothers would suggest chicken hearts.
• No need of starchy sides (fries, chips, pasta) Do stick to good cuts of meat cooked in the way you like best: grilled steaks, slow cooked chicken, bacon wrapped anything.
• Do keep the salad or vegetables simple. A lettuce salad with vinaigrette or grilled zucchini are easy, so is a Greek salad with feta cheese and fresh ingredients.  No pasta or potato salad. 
• Do keep the wine coming and skip the desert.  Desert takes a lot of time to prepare and doesn't do much more than signal the end of a meal.  After the main course is the time to bring out crackers and cheese, or bread to accompany the desert wine.  Linger...

Now, my family might not totally agree with my points above.  I have a vegetarian son and most of the family drinks beer whenever two or three are gathered.  In Minnesota you will find casseroles and jello salads and endless bars for desert. Here buttered popcorn takes the place of crackers and cheese at the end of a meal. But from now on, whenever we gather, I will be cooking... hopefully not alone.