A Simple Summer Joy

It was too hot over the weekend to do much of anything but stay inside and extend gratitude to whomever invented central air conditioning. Among the few errands that I was willing to run was to the farmers market. There were lots of things to tempt me there but the one thing I really wanted was a beefsteak tomato — one deeply red inside and dripping with the flavor that only comes from being grown in the sun.

To my mind, the quintessential summer lunch is a BLT. My version starts with thick slices of that tomato, a couple of slices of crispy bacon (the real kind, not the turkey version that I often have for breakfast with an egg), and some crunchy lettuce leaves. Assemble these on slices of sourdough bread that have been lightly toasted (so the edges are crisp but the center remains chewy) and smeared with a generous helping of mayonnaise. I’m not going to touch the mayo vs. Miracle Whip debate. I’m not even going to get into the Duke’s vs. Hellman’s discourse. I believe the mayo in my fridge is store brand. You do you.

Perfection. In fact, it looked and smelled so amazing that I didn’t bother to stop to take a photo before digging in. But there are two slices of bacon left in the fridge so maybe there’s another one in the immediate future, particularly since these babies are still resting on the kitchen counter. And even though I didn’t grow them by myself, I am 100 percent behind the sentiment that there’s only two things for which there is no substitute: true love and home grown tomatoes.

Now that the heat dome has lifted and presumably the MAGA hats have dissipated (although the Great American State Fair continues through this Friday), I am looking forward to getting out of the house and going to explore various goings on around town. But maybe another BLT first to sustain me?