An improvised weekend

A steamy weekend in June feels like a gift. I don't really consider it to be summer in Maine until 4th of July, so it's kinda surprising that I've worn my bathing suit for two days in a row. Yesterday afternoon, Darren pulled me away from the computer to go for a paddle, down a tidal river, out to the beach and back, with some friends. This morning, they all went out again into Casco Bay, while I sat on a different beach, drank iced coffee and read the paper. It was heavenly. I've actually gotten my work done, and am free now for the rest of the day, which is slated to include a trip up to a lobster pound up the coast... unless the thunderstorms actually happen as predicted, in which case we'll go to Plan B. (Plan B is... there is no Plan B.)

Last night, our summer festivities even included pulling off an entirely off-the-cuff meal. We got our first delivery from the organic CSA farm we belong to on Friday, plus we had some veggies left over from the week before. So we decided to slice some eggplant into rounds, brush it with olive oil and grill it. While Darren was doing that, I made a quick sauce of minced garlic, mint and yogurt, and then made a salad with farm lettuce (so tender and tasty), carrots and scallions. Dressed it with a simple mixture of salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil and white wine vinegar, and we were ready to go. We put the eggplant and sauce into pitas, and carried them and the salad out to the back deck, where we ate quietly and sipped some white wine.

It was fabulous (especially when followed by the first two episodes of Season 5 of The Sopranos on DVD... mandatory viewing in light of the fact that we're headed to NJ next week for the Italian side of the family's annual 4th of July picnic, which is on par with Christmas Eve in terms of family importance. And no, I am not kidding.)