9 to 5

workday comfort foods and the dog days of summer

I can feel the collective mentality shifting toward fall, as it always seems to when it gets a little cooler in the evenings in late August, when the weather becomes more temperamental. I woke in the night because of a thunderstorm. Normally when I’m woken up before morning— by a train’s whistle across the inlet, or a boat’s horn, or people being noisy out in the lane— I’m annoyed, but thunderstorms are such a rarity here in the lower mainland that it felt like a treat, a little nudge saying hey, you don’t want to miss this. The sound of heavy rain and the rumble of thunder. The crackle of lightning flashing through the gap in the blinds. The wind shaking the evergreens in the forest.

August through October is kind of my favourite time of year— the harvest season. This is the first year in a long time I haven’t had a garden to tend to, or bins of seasonal produce being delivered (it’s a hassle to set up in an apartment and I haven’t gotten around to it). Even most of our herbs died while we were away earlier this month, because everyone we’d normally ask to come water them was also away. So it goes. But the thing is, I seem to have forgotten how to decide on anything to cook or preserve when I’m not just saddled with a whole bunch of zucchinis that all seem to ripen at once, or six different tomato plants to choose from, or a massive bag of fresh basil showing up at my door. Do people really just go to the store and choose things that they want to eat? I feel like if I go there without a plan I end up looking around thinking things like ‘what is a cabbage’ and ‘do I know how to cook anything?’

Still. It’s corn season. It’s tomato season. Summer squash season is still going strong, for now. The markets are full of heirloom apple varieties. And someone, please remind me next month that my last jar of pickled beets is almost gone and I’m going to want more of those come December.

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I’ve taken on some temp work for my mom’s clinic this month while their office assistant is away, and it has been so long since I’ve done any real work— and this is a job I haven’t done since 2003. I feel guilty messaging the overworked midwives questions about every little thing I’m unsure about, and then when the day is over I feel guilty again because I have next to no brainpower left for all the things I’m used to doing in a day, like choosing what to make for dinner, or remembering to check the mail, or any creative writing. Even reading a book seems to take more effort than it should. So on Monday evening when I clocked out feeling like the Mr Krabs meme, Jeff and I went out to Deep Cove to finally use a gift card we were given as a housewarming present.

The thing about Deep Cove is that it is extremely popular with tourists, so going on a weekend or holiday is basically impossible. The last time I ate a Honey’s donut was probably in 2018 or so when Jeff and I rode our bikes there (in which I definitely did not cry because the bike ride was too hard, what are you talking about). So we’ve been trying to find a time to use the gift card for Deepwater Micro Eatery since we moved in, and every time we end up having to veto the choice because it’s a Friday night, or the Sunday of a long weekend, or something. A Monday with questionable weather turned out to be the perfect time to go. Despite the kind of fussy name, it’s just a little pub with a sort of old-school beach boardwalk atmosphere. We sat at the outdoor portion of the bar where we’d be sheltered if it rained. I had fish and chips (very good) and Jeff got the veggie burger (decent but not as good as that of the usual pub we go to). The rain graciously held out until we walked down to the pier after eating.

We needed to make a Bulk Barn run recently, and decided to fold it in with checking out the new-ish brewery on Pemberton Ave, Beva. It’s the first brewery in this area, and I am not immune to its cute vintage diner aesthetic. They serve gigantic, amazing, loosely Italian-style sub sandwiches (FYI some are only served Thursday through Sunday, so you aren’t disappointed if you go early in the week). Jeff got a veg one which featured pepperoncini, and I got one with soppressata that featured sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. I’m still thinking about it, honestly— you know that tweet about how everyone has eaten one sandwich in their lives that is the sandwich? I think this might be mine.

I also appreciate that they have more than a single lacklustre veggie option— often the case for sandwich menus, sadly. We ran into Eryn and Graham while we were there, which is funny seeing as neither we nor they live remotely near this place, but we all enjoyed the unexpected catchup with friends over good beers.

Jeff has also been busy with work this week, which means he’s been having dinner at one of the restaurants more days than not, and it’s easy for me to eat like a gremlin on nights when he’s gone, but I tried to make more of an effort! It felt nice to get up from my computer after a couple of long days and spend an hour in the kitchen making something straightforward but a bit nicer than just some cheese and crackers or peanut noodles again. I made my version of this comforting and tasty tuna and white bean bake— I add capers, double the herbs if I have them, mash only a small amount of the beans, and add up to twice as much liquid (depends how carefully I measure the beans). Often I eat this with toast kind of like a tuna melt, so I’ll skip the potato chip topping then, but I had an almost-empty bag of salt and vinegar chips that I used this time to great effect.

I also had a craving for egg on rice, and when that happens I like to look through appropriate section of Eric Kim’s Korean American for inspiration. Rarely do I make any of the recipes exactly, but there’s a nice variety there that always helps me figure out what sort of thing I want. Cookbooks like this and Six Seasons are really great for that.

While the rice cooked, I charred some broccoli in a cast iron, putting the lid on for a bit to keep the steam in and cook the stems better. I added a little green onion and some soy sauce when they were just about ready, just letting them absorb the sauce and sizzle for a minute longer before transferring to a plate, keeping warm under the pan lid. I used the sesame-soy egg method from Korean American to fry an egg in the same pan— just heat sesame oil with soy sauce and crack in the egg. The flavour is great even if you overcook the yolk a little, like I did (I of course made it perfectly when reheating leftovers just now, when it no longer mattered). I bet this would also be good with an over-easy egg instead of a fried one. To the bowl of rice, I added the egg and veggies plus some kimchi, more chopped green onion, chili miso, and sesame seeds.

I did get enticed while at the grocery store by the bin of fresh corn, and made a pretty decent grilled corn salad on a hot day. While the corn was grilling I made a lime dressing with olive oil, garlic salt, and chili powder, letting some cucumbers and feta marinate in that for a few minutes. When the corn was ready, I cut it off the cob and added it in, mixing in some chopped lettuce leaves at the end. This was loosely inspired by elotes, but I’d neglected to buy cilantro which would have been key, and I could also have added a spoon of mayo to the dressing, which was a little too acidic. But fresh corn is sweet and delicious enough to make up for the other shortcomings.

Due to *gestures at everything*, we also defaulted to pasta a bunch of times the past couple weeks. I made puttanesca using some tomatoes that were getting soft, and on another night I was home alone, the zucchini-lemon orzo I make a lot in the summer. On a day I had a splitting headache and was too grouchy to cook, I coached Jeff through the zucchini butter pasta, which I always add chopped kalamata olives to, and sometimes corn if we have some that needs to be used. As previously noted, our basil plant was sounding its death rattle, so for all of these we used only a fraction of what I’d normally use (mostly just garnish). Still good though, because pasta is always good.

oh yeah I also made garlic bread.

Finally, Jeff made a bourbon-apple cobbler on the weekend that we’ve been enjoying most of the week. The recipe is one that’s just written in a notebook of his, but it’s similar to this one. He usually makes it with peaches (as in the linked recipe), but we still have a bunch of chopped apples in the freezer we got from the tree last year, and I think he was missing the ritual of picking up dozens of apples from the yard and salvaging any that weren’t too bruised or broken. This is a great one to do in a cast iron so that the fruit caramelizes at the edges really nicely. Vanilla ice cream (Jeff made some) is pretty much a must for this.

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