August is the Sunday of summer. There is such a sense of something coming to an end and, as a teacher, just like I get the “Sunday Scaries”, I tend to get a pretty bad case of the August blues. I knew that going back to school this year was not going to be the same. I’ve been bummed knowing that I wouldn’t actually get to “see” my students this year, and stressed knowing that we’ll be implementing fully online instruction for the foreseeable future. So, in my truest form, I combatted the end of summer anxiety by cooking and hanging out with my family. We did a handful of small, but very fun dinner parties through the end of August and into early September and it certainly helped beat the blues.

In August, I had my mom and dad over for dinner, just the two of them. They are my best friends, my greatest supporters and deserve a special dinner every single night and I was so glad to spend the evening with them.

I made Lamb Curry, Corn Pudding and Green Beans Amandine from “Jubilee” and of course, everything was amazing. Again, the lamb was great for entertaining because most of it was done beforehand, so my house smelled great while the curry simmered on the stove and we sipped cocktails.

Early in the month of August, I “casually” mentioned to my siblings that I might really like to own an ice-cream maker. A few days later, one appeared on the front porch and I have been making ice-cream non-stop ever since. Seriously, I’ve made at least one batch pretty much every weekend. I started with simple vanilla bean and chocolate which I served to my parents with homemade salted caramel sauce. Next I made chocolate brownie and fudge swirl (with chunks of Granny’s homemade brownies mixed in!), chocolate peanut butter cup swirl, salted caramel and heath crunch and cookies and cream. I can’t wait to try lavender, lemon, peppermint and pumpkin spice. I have been told by more than one reliable source that the ice cream I make is the best they have ever had. It is so fun and easy to make that it’s dangerous.

One weekend, we also had my grandparents over for a casual back yard picnic at my parents’ house. I made really easy chicken kabobs that I marinated in store-bought pesto and a simple corn salad. Then my Granny brought her delicious old-fashioned curry rice salad which we have all loved for years. I made cornbread muffins that I may have made…a little too big. We had a choice of a few different flavors of ice-cream for dessert and sat around the fire eating it while the temperature dropped a bit (which I love).

And then, after the first week back at school, we were all pretty exhausted and honestly, I didn’t really feel like putting on a super formal dinner party. Instead, we repeated our back yard picnic vibes and I made macaroni and cheese, curried meat pies and honey soy glazed chicken wings all from Jubilee. Everyone wore jeans and hoodies and we sat around the table in the backyard until as late as we could. Everyone feel asleep very full and very early.

• 

• 

• 

• 

So now I’ve been back at school for I think…four weeks? While the first weeks were pretty insane, I am hopeful that eventually, things will start to calm down and I may adjust to a new normal. The temperature has dropped signaling my absolute favorite time of year. I got out a few extra blankets and hung some mums in the front yard. I am so ready for fall. Fall is my favorite time to cook and eat and I can’t wait to start making cozy comfort food and burning many, many pumpkin spice candles.