Heart Eyes, Vol. 196: Happy All the Time and Spritzy Ginger Lemonade
Friends! Hello. Happy Friday. We got a little hint of false fall this week where I live, and I have to tell you, it’s been glorious. The early-turning plum tree outside my office window is speckled with orange; I’m still in tomato-sandwich mode but also starting to remember what it’s like to cook, just a little bit; I pulled a cozy, drapy cardigan out of my closet yesterday morning, and again in the evening, and felt like a character in Practical Magic, the ultimate work of the fall aesthetic. I know there’s more late-late summer yet to come, but what an enticing little taste! Wherever you are and whatever the matchup between calendar and forecast, I hope it feels like just where you ought to be on this September weekend. In any case, I think you’re doing great.
What to Read: Happy All the Time, by Laurie Colwin
I recently read a pretty short book that took me a pretty long time to get my head around—which sounds like faint praise, I know, but I promise you that the problem was me, not the book. Laurie Colwin’s 1978 novel Happy All the Time is, as Friend of Heart Eyes (and Colwin aficionado) Jenny recently said, “a quirky one,” but I really do think the issue is one of perspective and hindsight. Set in the 1970s in New York, it’s a funny, cozy little fairy tale of two men who are best friends, and also third cousins, falling in love with their respective spouses and forming an enviable unit of chosen family, along with a small menagerie of supporting characters.
At first I didn’t know what to make of any of it: the pacing, the mannered and midcenturyish prose (is 1978 supposed to sound like 1964, or thereabouts?), Colwin’s many gentle little jokes, the unspoken thesis of “but what if everything turns out wonderfully?”
Ultimately, though, it turned into a real “I love everyone in this bar” situation; Colwin has particular gifts for funny descriptions and likeable side characters, and people I thought were just dropping through turned into beloved members of the family. It made me think of Nora Ephron almost from page one—the Internet couldn’t confirm whether they knew each other, but I think they must have; they were about the same age and writing in New York at the same time, about many of the same things—and I stand by that assessment. And what better compliment could there be? When I finished it, I tucked it away on my shelf with a promise to let it marinate and then read it again; I suspect it’s a book that will re-read beautifully, possibly many times. I’m looking forward to it already. Maybe you’d like it, too?
What To Cook: Spritzy Ginger Lemonade
Last week when it was one million degrees inside my apartment (exaggerating only slightly), I did not make any meals from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I did, however, knock out both of the drink recipes from the back of the book, one a cocktail I think I need another shot at, and the other a kicky, fizzy lemonade situation that was one of the few things I found truly refreshing during a decidedly wilty phase.
I made a lot of fresh lemonade as a kid, thanks to the prolific Meyer lemon tree outside my bedroom window, and this is slightly more work the basic sugar-lemons-water recipe I grew up making—but as an upgrade, it’s pretty potent. In addition to the lemon juice, you’ll make a quick and spicy simple syrup out of sugar, water, fresh ginger, and cayenne pepper; mix that in and top the whole thing off with some cold club soda and you’ll never be overheated again.
Spritzy Ginger Lemonade
From The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
8 lemons
2 cups cold water
1 cup spicy simple syrup (see below)
club soda or sparkling wine, for serving
lemon peels from lemons mentioned above
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Halve the lemons and cut off the peels in large segments, catching some of the white pith but leaving enough that the lemons remain intact. Toss the peels into a small saucepan and set aside.
Juice the lemons; you’ll need 1 cup of juice.
Make the syrup: Add ginger, cayenne, 1 cup water, and 1 cup sugar to the saucepan with the lemon peels. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cool completely. Discard ginger and peels.
Assemble the lemonade: Mix the lemon juice, 2 cups cold water, and 1 cup spicy simple syrup in a large pitcher. To drink, fill a glass (ideally with some ice) 2/3 of the way up, then top off with club soda or sparkling wine. Enjoy!
Blockbuster Review: Say Anything (1989)
I suppose parts of this movie are just kind of fundamentally weird—what is the deal with Diane and her dad?—but it’s really a lovely movie, and there’s a reason Lloyd Dobler is such a career-defining role for John Cusack. Such a specific character, embodied so well! It worked on me.