so into that #25

what to cook, watch and read this MDW

Hi!!

I’m back in California and am slowly but surely defeating my jet lag, catching up on the emails I ignored for two weeks, and working on an absolutely delightful recipe for pan-seared dover sole with a buttery tomato sauce served over corn risotto for this Saturday’s What To Cook. I’m soaking up one of the last few workweeks before school’s out and the summer fun (and schedule juggling) begins.

I’m going to save my Spain recap for next week because my travel pals Lily and Nellie will be joining me on on the podcast for a trip recap! For now, let’s focus on the holiday weekend at hand: Memorial Day, AKA the unofficial start of summer.

And, a reminder of what Memorial Day is all about: honoring America’s military men and women who lost their lives in service to their country. We’ll be grilling burgers and drinking margaritas (as they would want us to be doing!) in honor of George’s teammates Job Price, Kevin Ebbert, Bobby Ramirez, Matt Kantor, Blake Marston, and Brendan Looney (there are many Looneys in this community, thinking of you all this week).

PS Please remember to like/comment/share this post if you’re enjoying So Into That posts — algorithms are a fickle foe and I appreciate it.

I get asked for vacation meal ideas all the time, and one of you left a note in the Substack app last week asking for meal recommendations for a Memorial Day weekend lake trip with friends. FUN! Here are some ideas for great meals that feed a crowd with ease:

1. Healthy-ish turkey bolognese. I know it might not seem like a summery meal, but this is such a great one for day 1 of a group vaca. You can make the sauce ahead of time (at home), then bring it to the vaca house, so you have a pre-made dinner on night one when you’re still getting settled. All you’ll need to do is boil noodles and throw together a salad, and you’re set.

2. The ultimate summer grilling menu: This would be an ideal Saturday or Sunday night feast! Divvy up the dishes and cook the whole menu, or just grill the Juicy Lucys and Caesar salad or the Chicken Caesar Sliders and salad and serve them with lots of chips. And jargaritas of course.

3. Lowcountry boil: A must if you’re headed somewhere with access to fresh shrimp, this is a must!

4. Jerk chicken with strawberry salsa and coconut rice: Make this even easier by buying a store-bought mango salsa. You can marinate the chicken and make the salsa at home and bring them in a cooler!

5. Taco party: Take your pick between crispy BBQ chicken tacos, 3-ingredient carnitas tacos, and cheesy chipotle shrimp tacos. Or, keep it simple: just throw some taco seasoning on chicken thighs and flank steak, grill it, chop it up, and set it out with a lot of salsa, shredded lettuce, sour cream, tortillas, and let people go for it.

6. Frozen pizza night: A vacation must — get a few frozen pizzas and a few Caesar bagged salad kits, and follow the instructions. Will it be the best meal ever? No. Will it be totally delicious and worth the small sacrifice in flavor because you got to spend an extra hour on the boat/beach/fishing/whatever? Yes.

7. Sheet-pan greek chicken and potatoes: If you’re cooking for a smaller crew (four adults) this recipe is absolutely perfect, and clean-up is so easy since it’s a sheet-pan meal.

8. Lunch ideas: King’s Hawaiian sandwiches, egg salad, tuna salad, healthy sloppy Joes, or pork butt.

If you’ll be bunking up at a friend/family member’s house sometime this summer, don’t forget a host gift!! Here are some that we’re into at the moment.

1. A gift for the lady of the house that is just for her. I’m partial to a set of Lake Pajamas and I love this style they just launched (I slept in them last night and they are very comfy!). They’re also cute and have enough coverage to lounge around in in a house full of people so would make for a good pre-trip gift to self, if you need a new pair.

2. I am forever trying to be a better gift giver, and what I’ve learned is that good gift givers think ahead. So go ahead and order a pair of Weezie hand towels now to gift to whoever you’re going to visit later this summer, and personalize them! Going to a beach or mountain house that has a name (is this just a Southern thing…? Southerners love naming houses…)? Have the name of the house embroidered on a pair of hand towels. You’ll win the best guest award.

3. Is it just me or do nice diffusers/candles spark so much joy yet feel too frivolous to buy often for myself? Whenever someone gifts me one I feel so pampered! I love these floral reed diffusers (I’ve never seen anything else like them and they smell so good!), or even a simple set of taper candles like these from Target.

• “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” popped up on Molly’s Spotify daylist earlier this week and of course she had to immediately watch Dirty Dancing. Highly recommend for some summer nostalgia.

• Wet Hot American Summer: The original movie, not the Netflix remake! I’m hesitant to recommend this movie since it is truly dumb, laugh out loud, idiotic humor at it’s best. I’ve probably watching WHAS 100 times. I know every single line. I am enchanted by it’s nostalgic, summer camp vibes and completely outrageous subplots. Bonus: Paul Rudd in tiny shorts.

• Bridgerton, Season 3: I binge watched it the second I got home from Spain. I absolutely adore Bridgerton (a period piece drama on Netflix with modern music — think Taylor Swift on the violin — and themes) and have watched each season multiple times.

• Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. If you’re also in withdrawal for the rest of season 3 of Bridgerton and haven’t watched this series yet, move onto it next. It’s definitely darker/heavier than the regular seasons — I cried multiple times — but it’s just as visually striking and addicting. And there are still plenty of butterfly-inducing moments.

• IF. I haven’t seen it but word on the street is that this is an A+ movie to watch in the theater with little kids, so would be a good rain plan if you need one. Bonus points that you get to stare at Ryan Reynolds for a few hours.

OK back to the lake trip topic… I actually have a running iPhone note titled “lake reads” with books that’d be perfect to read during a weekend at the lake… or beach or pool or in the hammock in your backyard. I never really knew why I was making this list… until now!

1. Beach Read by Emily Henry is a smart, witty, enemies-to lovers romance that takes place in the secret lakeside home of her dead father. It’s so, so good.

2. Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune is a second chance romance set in the past and the present about two young people who have a chance meeting that results in a magical day together.

3. Every Summer After also by Carley Fortune is also set between now and then (Carley is so good at this) about two young people who fell in love on a lake, and what went wrong to split them apart.

4. Funny Story also by Emily Henry (these ladies love a lake!) is about two jilted lovers who find solace (and a roommate) in one another. Miles spends the summer showing Daphne around the Great Lakes and helping her fall in love with the town she moved to for her former fiancé.

5. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez is a story set partially on an island in the middle of Lake Minnetonka about two people who are “cursed” — every time they date someone, that person marries the next person that they date. So they decide to date each other to break the curse. It’s a fun, flirty romance with a big, real themes about trust, family issues, and found family.

6. The House Across The Lake by Riley Sager was the book that my friend Katie of Beach Reads and Bubbly texted me when I texted her this list and said “what am I missing?!” I don’t F with thrillers because I am a scaredy cat — but if you do, read it!

If you’ve read all of those, go back to last week’s SIT post and mine the comments section for book recs y’all shared! And congrats to Amy Littleton, the winner of the summery book bundle giveaway. DM me your address please, Amy!

This week I’m going to send one of you a pair of my new favorite Lake PJs. To enter, share your summer happy place!

Mine is Bald Head Island, NC, where my grandparents bought one of the first 50 houses on the island in the 70s and my family still returns to every summer. About six years ago, a hurricane destroyed our family home, which was obviously devastating, but has been the biggest blessing in disguise because now all of the cousins rent different houses during the same week instead of all going to the house separately. *Must be in the US, must be a paid subscriber to enter the giveaway.*

I hope you have a wonderful week and MDW!! Anyone have big plans??

---

Editor and contributor: Molly Ramsey