Labor Day--and the Dreaded Pumpkin Spice!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Isn't it interesting that a holiday first meant to celebrate American union workers has become a mega-shopping-sale day? But that's America for you, isn't it?

But besides the shopping, (and I admit I have taken a little advantage of the Labor Day sales, shopping for the last couple of things for my upcoming trip to England) for most of us, Labor Day is the unofficial beginning of fall. Even if it's still hot, after Labor Day, the kids are back in school, and summer is OVER.

It also means, ack, the return of the dreaded PUMPKIN SPICE, not just at Starbucks but everywhere. Pumpkin spice drinks, pumpkin spice donuts, pumpkin spice ice cream. So who's ready for pumpkin spice lattes???? (Not me!)

(ALTHOUGH, actually, if the pumpkin spice latte came looking like the one in this photo, I might be tempted to drink it...)
 
We're spending today having friends and family over for a cookout. It's the Labor Day Special from our local meat market, Local Yocal.

8 Wagyu beef patties, 8 bakery buns. 

We've got corn on the cob and tomatoes from Saturday's farmer's market. And charred zucchini, yellow squash and fresh herb salad. For appetizers, locally made queso and chips, and fabulous hatch chili guacamole. And maybe I should consider something pumpkin-spicy for dessert, after all....but I think we're going with gourmet popsicles. It's going to be in the nineties here, after an exceptionally cool week last week for north Texas (high temps in mid-eighties!) but we're making the most of the long weekend and a chance to get together, even if we can't warm our hands around the fire pit.

What about you, REDS? How are you spending your Labor Day? Hopefully having picnics that look like this.

INGRID THOFT: Fall is my favorite season, so I’m not as sad to see summer go as most people.  I’ll admit that I’ve never tried a pumpkin spice latte, but my mom makes the most delicious pumpkin bread that I wouldn’t turn down any time of year!  This year Labor Day weekend is a weekend of work for us, but mostly good work.  I’m working on a chunk of my next book—the standalone—that I’ll be sending to my agents and editor this week.  We also just had some interior painting done, which has provided the opportunity to rearrange art work and sort and purge (thanks for the wonderful organizing tips on Friday, Kathy!).  I love sorting and purging, so it isn’t really work, but even when though I enjoy it, I find my stamina can wane partway through the process.  I’ll definitely have to make time for snack and reading breaks!  Lastly, it still feels like summer in Seattle—sunny and the 80s—so we’ll definitely get in a few walks and hit up the market for juicy nectarines and other goodies.

DEBS: Ingrid, give us the pumpkin bread recipe!

RHYS BOWEN: If you had asked this question a week ago I would have said I was not ready for summer to end. I love the long days, the warm weather, lounging in the pool, all the wonderful fresh fruits and picnics. And I hate pumpkin spice! But we've had the most brutal heat wave in Northern California: 111 degrees yesterday by the Bay. Not many people have air conditioning as it's generally not needed. We don't. But we have a two story house and the downstairs is always cool so we're surviving but I have just refused to cook until it cools down. So now I might be persuaded that fall is a good thing.

DEBS: Rhys! That sounds brutal. I hope it has cooled down.

HALLIE EPHRON: So weird, because here in New England it's been in the 60s -- 50 this morning when I got up -- quite cool for this time of year. The fruit flies were dropping like... flies. And I was feeling so cold I got out socks and my furry bedroom slippers and made a huge pot of minestrone.

I agree, Debs. Pumpkin spice: feh. Coming on the heels of limoncello. Also feh.

Our grandchildren have just left and we are spending labor day NOT going to the mall. Our youngest is starting pre-K. A right of passage. And my husband is back teaching. If only fall weren't followed by winter, it would be my favorite season.

JENN: Autumn is my favorite season. Spending my childhood in the land of covered bridges (Kent, CT), I found the changing of the leaves from vibrant green to lush reds, yellows, and oranges to be pure magic. Annual apple picking, which meant my mom's apple pie (best in the whole wide world) and apple butter for morning toast, brought me unparalleled joy. Labor Day always meant these treats were soon to follow, so living in central AZ has been quite an adjustment. I will get my leaves and apple pie but it will be a whole lot later, probably October, when we take our annual long weekend in Flagstaff. This Labor Day will be spent as they usually are - with a game of intense basketball in the pool, while listening to rock and roll with a cookout to follow.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Cookouts! (Too cold for that here, that's for sure. We turned on the heat on Sunday! ) But cookouts.  Have you ever noticed that the packages of pub burgers (delicious from Star Market, my secret, amazingly dee-licious) come in 6, but the hamburger buns come in 8? SO mathematically challenging.  And 12 hotdogs to a pack, but 10 buns?  Grr.
 
I adore fall, it's fabulous in New England.  It's gorgeous, sometimes you can smell the briny salty air from the ocean as I walk to my office. With a coat! I love coats. And gloves (my hands are always cold, so in the fall, it's not so weird looking.)
 
Scarves and sweaters, no humidity, no one pressuring me to put on a bathing suit. And I always want to buy school supplies, and since I'm starting a new book on Sept 13, (gotta have a schedule, and that's it) I think I will go get some preparatory notebooks.
It IS, however the season that really underscores the passage of time, and the brevity of everything, and coming of a darker time. Passages.
 
But! My birthday is coming, and (as we already see in the drugstore display) so is Halloween.
 
Pumpkin spice. Bleah.
 
(Ingrid! I want to read that book!! Will you let us in on it soon?))

DEBS: Yes, Ingrid, do tell!

And readers, check in. Tell us how you're spending Labor Day. Working? Cooking? Or just chilling?

PS: This is what it will look like in the Cotswolds, in southwest England, when I am there at the very end of September.

But do you know how hard it is to pack for weather 25 degrees cooler than your current temps?

Happy Labor Day from all of us here at JUNGLE RED!

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I may not have had garden tomatoes or cantaloupe this summer (there's still

time, right?) but I have had a couple of culinary adventures. I've made ice cream twice. First, butter pecan, made in the thirty-year-old ice cream maker that had been languishing in its box in the back of the hall closet for years. It was electric, at least, not hand-crank, and you only had to add ice, not ice and rock salt! Still, messy and noisy, and I'd been day-dreaming over up-to-date ice cream makers, especially the Cuisinart, which had great reviews.

Then one day Marcia Talley told me she was making Salted Caramel Ice Cream and that the recipe was to-die-for, and that her ice cream maker was a Cuisinart.  That was all the persuasion I needed. And I'll add my testimony--the Cuisinart is fabulous, and so is the recipe. So credit to Marcia Talley for the suggestion, and to Epicurious.com for reprinting the recipe, which originally appeared in Gourmet magazine in 2009.

SALTED CARAMEL ICE CREAM

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt such as Maldon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
 
Equipment: an ice cream maker
 
Preparation:
Heat 1 cup sugar in a dry 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling skillet occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is dark amber.
Add 1 1/4 cups cream (mixture will spatter) and cook, stirring, until all of caramel has dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and stir in sea salt and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.
 
Meanwhile, bring milk, remaining cup cream, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally.
 
Lightly whisk eggs in a medium bowl, then add half of hot milk mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour back into saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard coats back of spoon and registers 170°F on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil). Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl,
then stir in cooled caramel.
 
Chill custard, stirring occasionally, until very cold, 3 to 6 hours. Freeze custard in ice cream maker (it will still be quite soft), then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up.

Yield:
Makes about 1 quart
 
Active time:
30 min
total time:
4 hr
 
Cooks' note: Ice cream keeps 1 week.
Epicurious.com

(DEBS'S notes: I'd never made caramel before and so burned it the first time. Probably everyone else knows how to make caramel, but if not, a warning--take the pan off the heat as soon as the melted sugar turns amber.  And the ice cream should keep more than a week. I've had a pint in the freezer for two weeks now, and it's still fine.)

Photo is courtesy of Rick Wilson. Food styling (with a few smudges on my yard-sale crystal ice cream glasses) courtesy of me.

And now, to complete your Labor Day weekend feast, here, if you're feeling adventurous, is what comes before the ice cream! Recipe is courtesy of our neighbor Jennifer, who brought us a bowl of just-picked figs from their tree.

STEAK WITH FIGS, FETA, AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Grill your choice of steak. We had organic New York strips, cooked on the rare side of medium rare.

Top with sliced fresh figs, crumbled fresh feta cheese, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Add fresh ground salt and pepper.

That's all there is to it, and it is wonderful!

Photo AND food styling courtesy of me.

Enjoy, and have a great holiday weekend!