Celebrating summer pleasures

July, the heart of summer, is my favorite. June can be fickle here with cooler temperatures mingled with teasingly hot summer days. And as much as August can be stellar, it sometimes feels like August is the Sunday of summer with Monday looming next. There is always the creeping sense in August that summer will be ending soon with autumn awaiting in the wings, 

Don’t get me wrong I am a seasonal person, so when summer ends I look forward to the months ahead and the holidays that await, especially December with Christmas.

But summer has always been more than just a season. Summer as a child meant the freedom of no school, endless play days, bike rides and the seasonal delights of bbq and ice cream cones melting quicker than you could eat them. 

Sometimes there were simple icy treats awaiting us. One of my fondest memories of summer is of my Aunt Marlene making us Kool-aid pops in pastel Tupperware molds. She was busy carrying a toddler on her hip and stirring something on the stove, yet still had time to greet us with those brightly colored popsicles as we came in the door from play,

There were early summer evenings when my Mom would take us all to get a custard cone, a Western NY treat. The custard stand was near the airport and cones in hand we’d pile back in the car and she’d drive us to a spot to see the planes take off. It became a summer tradition and a sensory memory still of the soft creamy chocolate custard and the roar of the planes overhead.

Summer engaged all the senses. The air in summer would either be scented with the smoke of those backyard barbecues, Coppertone sunscreen or freshly cut grass. The heat could feel overwhelming but it did not matter to us and wrapped around us like a blanket. Time went slow and the simplicity of pleasures like custard cones, popsicles and running through the sprinkler in the backyard were enough. 

I still love summer : day trips to the beach , get togethers on the deck  and taking pleasure in cooling summer treats. Our favorite is Barefoot Contessa’s Mocha Chocolate Ice Box Cake. Icebox cakes are a no bake retro dessert that usually were made with crisp chocolate wafers or graham crackers. But Ina’s are made with Tate’s crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies and she elevates the recipe even more by adding Italian mascarpone cheese, Kahlua  and a bit of espresso powder to the whipped cream. It sounds fancy but really is quite simple. And aren’t the simplest pleasures still the best?

Here is the link to the recipe :

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mocha-chocolate-icebox-cake-recipe-1923360

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