so into that: 5 quick things
burgers on the beach, readers' easy summer dinners, prime day deals, and more
Hi! This past weekend was a big one — I turned 37, George and I celebrated our 14-year anniversary, and it was Father’s Day all in one day. I told George I didn’t want to do anything to celebrate, and then I changed my mind at 1 p.m. and asked him to throw me a dinner party. Heh heh. He grabbed marinated steaks and a few pre-made salads from our local market and made Mexican corn salad. He had ordered a tiny ice cream cake (my fave) for our family only, so we all had a little bitty slice. It was perfect.
And then on Monday, I released the book tour schedule for Make It Fast!!! Are you coming?! If I’m not coming to a city near you this go round, I’m so, so sorry!!! I hate that I can’t be everywhere!
But I do want to have some type of virtual event so that we can all party together, so stay tuned!!!!
My best friend Lily is still in town and she picked out a recipe from the new book to cook for dinner tonight: the Dilly Feta Salad with Feta-Brined Grilled Shrimp. I got some gorgeous shrimp from Sea Harvest in Carmel and am excited to show my dearest pal who can barely boil water how easy it is to make this really beautiful meal!
I just finished my first true *beach read* of the summer — a love-triangle romance set on Harbour Island. Pink Sand Summer by Chassity Evans was pure sugar. It’s easy and so fun to read. I blew through it in less than 24 hours!
We typically only grab fast food when we’re on a road trip (because we live kinda far from any fast food spots, not because I’m a purist!), but we recently grabbed some burgers from In-N-Out and headed to the beach to eat. It was a great way to feed my gaggle of children, and it felt like such a low-lift summer activity. It was really, really fun.
I’d love to hear any low-effort ways you’re injecting fun into your summer!
It’s Amazon Prime Day (or, week), so there are lots of savings to be had now through Friday. I just went through my orders from the past few years and pulled out a bunch of things we use all the time that are having impressive Prime Day sales:
Over $100 off on Dyson! The only time to buy a Dyson is on Prime Day — they’re so expensive, but completely worth every penny. I have the V11, but any Dyson will completely change your life if you don’t have one. Trust me, I’ve tried to buy the cheaper knockoffs, they don’t do! Find a wall or door to mount it on so that it’s not constantly falling over. We have one in a closet in our kitchen and we literally use it 10 times a day. Kids being messy is less stressful when you own a Dyson!
I have Echo Dots all over the house as our sound system. I love that we always have music playing, and that I can just say “Alexa, set a timer!” to help me not burn dinner.
As I’ve said, Calum is my little maker. I got him this hot glue gun a few months ago and he uses it ALL the time.
My favorite face sunscreen! It’s light as air.
My fave suits for the boys. I love the gingham and the skinny stripes.
The first WTC cookbook is $2.99 on Kindle right now!!!! If you’re at the grocery store and can’t remember the ingredients for your fave recipe, having the book on Kindle is so nice. I literally bought my own book on Kindle because this happens to me all the time. The hardcover version is on sale, too — and so is Make It Fast!
Removing your makeup with micellar water is truly life changing. Even the most stubborn mascara wipes right off!!
This water table is life for my 3 1/2 and almost 1 year old.
Truly the greatest strapless bra I have ever owned.
I’ve been using this face moisturizer for 2 years now and it’s my favorite ever. Never ever greasy, just a perfect moisturizer!!
Vitamix is 40% off!!!
Here’s the food processor I have and love.
Snap-top glass storage containers are another kitchen fave.
And the Goop masks I love are also on sale!
PS, one more sale to note: Barnes & Noble Premium & Rewards Members get 25% off all upcoming releases (like Make It Fast!) today through Friday. It’s free to sign up for their Rewards program, you just provide an email address here. The promo code for the sale is PREORDER25 (it excludes signed copies, unfortunately!).
Every week, we dig into the What To Cook archives to see what we were cooking this time in years past — the recipes worth bringing back into your rotation. Here’s this week’s lineup.
1. grilled chili lime chicken fajita bowls, 2025
This recipe brings all the sizzling-skillet magic of fajitas home with way less effort. Chicken thighs and peppers marinate in a quick taco-seasoned mixture (the longer they sit, the better!) before hitting a hot grill — or a sheet pan, if you’d rather stay inside. Pile everything into bowls with cilantro-lime rice, a bright cabbage slaw, and a creamy cilantro-avocado crema, or stuff it all into tacos, quesadillas, or a burrito. Lots of options to please a crowd!
2. 20-minute fish tacos, 2024
White fish gets seasoned with a couple of spices and lime before it bakes alongside a stack of tortillas. Meanwhile, you’ll toss together a crunchy peach slaw and a creamy chili lime sauce that ties the whole thing together! WTCers have loved the slaw with mango, pineapple, and nectarines, too, so go with whatever’s ripest!
3. jerk chicken with coconut rice and strawberry salsa, 2023
This is one of the most-cooked WTC meals of all time! Chicken tenders soak up a jerk marinade before a few fast minutes on the grill (or a skillet!), while creamy coconut rice cooks on the stove. Top it all off with a sweet, spicy strawberry salsa, and you’ve got a bowl that tastes like vacation!
4. the perfect tuna melt, 2022
I have a very hard time resisting a tuna melt when I see it on a menu, and a tuna melt at home is the ultimate comfort food. Comfort food that is full of lean protein, might I add! My tuna salad has a few surprises (hard-boiled eggs! pickle juice!). You’ll tuck it between sharp cheddar and mayo-toasted bread, then griddle until golden and gooey. So good. Or just make the tuna salad to eat with crackers and some crudités for lunch.
5. one-pot cheesy rice and beans, 2021
For the nights you’ve got nothing in the fridge and even less motivation, this $5 pantry meal is your answer. Rice, black beans, salsa, and a few pantry spices simmer together in a pot, then get blanketed in melty cheese. No chopping, no fuss. Take it from WTCer Liz: “We make this basically every other week and my husband and I say that to each other every time — ‘why is this so good??’”
In last week’s So Into That, we asked you all to share what you’ve been cooking for dinner this summer, and there were so many delicious, creative ideas. We’ve rounded up a few of them below — read the rest of them here!
It’s a saucy summer! I’ve been cooking a protein and starch, adding whatever veggies I have in the fridge or garden, and leveling it all up with a fun sauce. I’m LIVING by the WTC sauce index. My kids have even expanded their taste beyond ketchup — a few nights ago my 1-year-old ate just a bowl of whipped pistachio feta for dinner, and I can’t really blame him. Other faves on repeat are dilly sauce and Ambitious Kitchen’s sunshine dressing. —Emily
Made a slight riff of your 20-minute summer sauté last night with sautéed zucchini, cherry tomatoes, TJ’s cauli gnocchi to bulk it up, and then quick sautéed some shrimp! Stirred it all together with some pre made pesto and voila! —Mary
Oh gosh I need to read all these comments because I’m struggling to cook this summer! So I’ll cheat and say the Chipotle family meal and it usually feeds my family of 4 plus leftover lunch for my husband and I the next day. —Taylor (sounds like an excellent dinner to us!)
My kids are 12 & 16 and now they sign up to cook a dinner a week during the summer. They always ask for Caro’s recipes first because they’re our family favorites AND because they are completely manageable opportunities to learn new skills. As the parent, I also appreciate that each recipe comes with riffs & subs … when your kid is risk-averse, it’s so helpful to have Caro offering options to make the meal their own without fear of totally blowing it ❤️ Just a few of our recent favs: Tandoori chicken bowls, saucy pork & sweet potato bowls, lemon basil pasta, everyone loves this salmon & miso-ginger salmon. —Mary
One cook once, eat twice dinner I’ve been making recently is cooking extra ground beef when making tacos for the first dinner. Then I use the extra cooked beef to make the enchilada rice skillet from your cookbook, omitting the red bell peppers simply so I don’t have to chop or really cook anything in the skillet other than bringing the broth, rice, beef, etc. to a boil. It makes that second meal so much easier and faster. —Jessica
My toddler ate a pesto meatball (from the cookbook) and I almost fell out of my chair, as she’s been existing on pbj and air! So more meatballs are in our future! —Liz
Remember the great book I talked about last week? The 831 Stories crew and I want to send three What To Cookers a copy of Down to Earth with a “small town romance” trope hat! You guys will love the love story Julia Turshen wrote for Frankie and Paige. Comment on this post by Tuesday, 6/30 to enter to win a book bundle!
I’d love to hear little ways you’re adding fun to your summer! We roasted s’mores in the backyard last night and it was such a small easy summer win.
PS, congrats to Quinn, who won last week’s East Fork giveaway!
We’ve been eating out as a family a lot more since nighttime practices, etc, have slowed down. It’s a treat to have everyone in the same place at the same time.
Summers in Monterey are bonfires, cozy sweatshirts, sailing and sunsets!