so into that #33

what all of my family members are into!

Hello and happy July! We’re halfway through our annual pilgrimage to Bald Head Island, NC. It’s been a perfect family trip full of the parents begging the kids to go to the beach, the kids begging the parents to go to the pool, shrimp and grits, sweltering humidity, and afternoon thunderstorms.

Since I have my entire immediate family gathered under one roof, I thought I’d pull them into this week’s So Into That! Here’s what me and my family are into right now, accompanied by a little photo journal of our trip.

Caro: TOMATOES!! My mom and brother both showed up to the beach with tomatoes from their gardens and my cousins’ gardens and honestly, I think I’m giving myself acid reflux, I’ve eaten so many. Spoiler alert: my long-awaited copycat Merritt’s pimento cheese BLT recipe is coming this Saturday. Here are some ways you should be chowing down on tomatoes while you wait for it: tiny tomato pasta, summer tomato galette, and many others.

George (my husband!): “In the summertime, I want to drink beer all day long. Sadly, that’s not a great idea. So I’ve gotten really into non-alcoholic beer. Best Day Brewing’s West Coast IPA is my go-to.”

Francie (aka Crash, my mom!): “I’m so into gardening. At my new house, my backyard gets no direct sunlight, which has been a real bummer for my tomato plants the past few summers. So this summer, I decided, screw it, and I planted a bunch of tomato plants right in my front yard. I look like a hillbilly, there are tomato plants shoved between the hedges! But I don’t care, I’m so happy to have homegrown tomatoes.”

Tommy (my dad!): My dad is the king of curating the perfect playlist, and is a walking, talking musical thesaurus. His Bald Head 2024 mixtape is the perfect combo of Robert Earl Keene, Jimmy Buffett, Nickel Creek, Van Morrison and many more of our favorites. PS: did y’all know that Van has TWO songs that talk about “cleaning windows”? My dad knew it, and they’re both on this playlist!

Will (my brother!): My brother Will answered my “what are you into right now” question the fastest of anyone in the entire family. “ACOTAR!” he instantly blurted out. The A Court of Thorns and Roses series, a fantasy romance about a human girl who is thrust into a dangerous and magical faerie world, is one that I have professed my love for many times here and on Instagram, and I’m thrilled to see my little brother joining the ranks of Sarah J Maas devotees.

Annie (my sister!): “I have ADHD, and using the Pomodoro timer is such a game changer for me. It’s such a simple concept, but the timer really helps me focus solely on one task, and thus it gets completed so much more quickly and efficiently. I don’t allow myself to look at my email or phone or do absolutely anything outside of the one task at hand for the entire 25 minutes. I own two businesses and have two kids, so it’s way too easy to sit down to write an itinerary for a client, and then wind up checking my email, which leads to enrolling my kid for soccer, which leads to texting his best friend’s mom to make sure they’re signed up, which leads to checking Instagram… you all know how the spiral happens. Trust me, if you struggle with time management, just try the app.”

Nick (my brother-in-law!): “Swimming in the backyard with my boys.” Nick and Annie bought our childhood home from my parents in 2021, so I can attest that swimming in that pool all summer long is the absolute greatest.

Mattis (my son, age 5): “Sheriff Labradoodle!” (It’s actually called Sheriff Labrador, haha). Mattis and Calum are both obsessed with Sheriff Labrador, a podcast about a Labrador who is a sheriff, and all of the naughty animals he has to lay the law down on in his town! My kids listened to this podcast for an entire six hour drive one time (even when watching a show on their iPads was an option!).

Calum (my son, age almost 4): “I LOVE my tiger bay-din’ suit.” I got six of these $20 amazon suits at the beginning of the summer, and Calum is deeply attached to the tiger one. I love the stripes, and I ran into a WTC girly at the pool whose son was wearing the gingham!

Cashel (my son, age almost 2): Pinching my mom as hard as I can when I’m overtired.

Coleman (my nephew, age 5): "Sheriff Labrador is NOT my favorite podcast anymore, Magic Woods is the best!!!” Since this proclamation, I have listened to several episodes with the boys, and it's really great! They love “scary stories” and these are the perfect not-too-scary but suspenseful-enough-to-feel-scary stories for kids.

Preston (my nephew, age 2): If he could speak in full sentences, he would have said “stealing my mom’s Owala water bottle and forcing her to accidentally drink my backwash!” After several months of Preston and Coleman refusing to drink out of their own water bottles because they preferred hers, Annie finally bought them their own Owalas, and it’s her favorite kid’s water bottle yet. Note that it has the same signature open top as the adult Owala, so it’s not the best option for babies who will dump it all over the place. I just bought five in the exact same color to replace all of our disgusting ones for the coming school year!

What to Cook launched in December 2020, meaning there are more than 175 recipes in the archives! Here’s what we cooked this week last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. All would be excellent additions to your meal plan this week or next. The crispy bbq chicken tacos are a *very* simple recipe that kids typically love.

crispy bbq chicken tacos, 2023

30-minute summer steak tostadas, 2022

sheet-pan crispy pork chops with fennel and peaches, 2021

How’s your summer going? What are you guys into right now?!