Friends, hello!

Somehow summer is over, the kids are back to school, the hockey carpool has resumed, and, well, I find myself asking: how?! This summer in particular felt like a blink. Alas. Today, I have three things to share with you:

First, corn on the cob: at some point in the middle of the summer, I stopped making it. Three of my children have braces, and as I noticed them night after night struggling to strip the kernels from the ears on their plates, sending corn flying everywhere, something had to change.

I would strip the ears for them. Obviously, this is more work and not ideal on a busy evening, but during the summer, I didn't mind. Moreover, the kids loved it! And ate even more corn! And would ask: Why is the corn so good today?

A bowl lined with a towel filled with stripped corn kernels.

It was good mostly because the corn itself was delicious, but also because: butter + salt, which makes everything better, namely these green beans, which have become a family favorite. What I love about the recipe is that you can get it all assembled hours before dinner and leave it on the stovetop until eight minutes before you are ready to serve. (Incidentally, I taught my oldest daughter how to make these beans this summer, and she loves having this assignment at the dinner hour.)

A skillet filled with green beans, butter, garlic, and water.

Finally, I have been making baguettes all summer and was hoping to have the recipe ready to post first for the Paris Olympics then for Labor Day weekend, but one, I'm still tweaking the method, and two, my ovens keep shutting off mid-bake, which is, well, maddening!

But the recipe is almost there. I'm hoping to post it by midweek next week, and I'll have two methods to share, one baked in a Challenger Bread Baker, and one baked on a Baking Steel (or pizza stone), which is pictured here:

So long summer! I hope you all are well 👋

7 Recipes to Make Right Now

In the spirit of back-to-school, here are a few favorites:

Molly Yeh's No-Bake Granola Bars (my whole family loves these)

No-bake granola bars in a storage vessel.

Taco Night Simplified, Like Really, Really Simplified (I make a double batch of this taco meat every week — it's so nice to have on hand. We've also moved on from the stand-up taco shells in favor of Vista Hermosa flour tortillas (if I can find them).)

Two hard shell tacos filled with taco meat, cheese, and salsa on a plate.

Simplest Slow-Cooker Black Beans (So nice to have cooked beans on hand for quick meals — my kids love bowls with shredded lettuce, these beans, rice (Instant Pot), grated cheese, guac and/or salsa, and sour cream.)