I guess I'll admit that summer is over

My internal calendar has always told me that once school starts, summer is over. The autumn equinox doesn't really factor in. So with no beginning of the school year for me, summer just kept going and going. Last year at this time, I had already put out golden mums and made pots of pumpkin soup. But this year Laura didn't have to head back to school until Sept. 11. And with Laura's boyfriend, Tim, visiting from Boston for two weeks, it was easy to pretend that there was nothing else to do but take road trips and eat awesome food.

We headed up north to visit the Point Reyes lighthouse. It was a gorgeous drive out to the point...a beautiful sunny day. But wouldn't you know it: the lighthouse was closed so we couldn't walk down the 308 steps to see it up close. The fog was rolling in to boot but still it made for some lovely views. Lunch was sublime. The plan was to stop at the Rouge et Noir cheese factory, get some brie and camembert and have a picnic. I brought along some toppings for the cheese and bread: roasted veggies (zucchini, peppers, eggplant, onions, and leeks) corn relish, bread and butter pickles, and olallieberry jam. The plan also included a pot of hot tea, but I forgot to bring a lighter for the camp stove and when I asked inside for some matches I was told no fires allowed. Zerg! But that didn't stop us from stuffing ourselves silly. Didn't think about taking any pictures until the eating was well under way.

Last Friday we took Tim to the SF airport...he's in Nepal for the quarter. And Saturday Laura headed off to Illinois for school. So, the road trips have ended for now. And the food frenzy has abated...temporarily. I mean, let's see...what kind of eating did we do for two weeks? Croissants at Tartine, fish tacos at Nick's Crispy Tacos, beignets at Brown Sugar Kitchen, gnocchi at Cafe Citti, salted caramel ice cream at Bi-Rite, chicken Marbella, homemade rhubarb pie with homemade strawberry ice cream (that was for Tim's b-day), chocolate cake with homemade chocolate ice cream (that was for Steve's b-day...making ice cream is the best fun!) We tried to get shawarma in the Mission and fried chicken sandwiches at Bakesale Betty but there's only so much eating one can do. Throw in blueberry pancakes for breakfast and corn dogs at the fair, I think we did ourselves proud in showing Tim a culinary good time.

This morning I had oatmeal for breakfast. Oh, and with a handful of blueberries from the freezer. That's it. And it was tasty. There'll be more road trips and more insane food experiences. But for now, I'm happy that summer was good and that autumn is upon us. I even think I'll make some pumpkin soup this week.

Corn Relish

I took the basic recipe from the Martha Stewart website but then did it my own way. She has you boil the corn but I like it fresh. Of course by not boiling you have to keep it in the fridge and it'll only last so long. Maybe I'll try it MS's way and then I can enjoy corn relish in the winter. At any rate, here's the way I like to do it. You can halve the recipe if you want to make a smaller amount.

2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp whole mustard seed
1 tsp fresh thyme (I used a little extra)
1/2 tsp celery seed
10 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
10 ears of corn (I prefer white)
2 red peppers
2 white onions

Mix together vinegar, sugar and spices in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook a minute or two. Turn off heat and let brine sit while you prep the veggies. Cut the corn off the cob and place kernels in a large bowl. Finely dice the peppers and onions and add to the corn. Pour the brine through a sieve over the corn, peppers, and onions. Mix and pack into jars. Put into fridge. Ready to eat the next day...or in a couple of hours if you can't wait.