It has been a hot and sunny week in London, a heatwave in English-weather-speak. A taste of living in a different climate, and a chance to try out those holiday eating rhythms at home, or to pretend we live in the Hamptons, or Santa Monica, or Italy. Lots of tomatoes and cucumber. Watermelon. Avocado. Ice cream or lollies for desserts. Some grilled meat, but nothing needing the oven. For once, it’s a relief to relax into the wather, knowing that it’s not going away tomorrow, and to feel that the ice-cream stash in the freezer is justified (for once).

Recipes:

• Salmon fishcakes (baby friendly) from Nigella’s How to Eat
• Swirled berry yoghurt popsicles from Smitten Kitchen (little and large versions)
• Green pancakes with cheese (for baby) from Butcher Baker Baby
• Courgettes with mint and basil from Food52 (adapted from a Deborah Madison recipe)
• Lamb kebabs, loosely a lebanese kefte recipe in Anisa Helou’s Mediterranean Street Food

Without a recipe:

• Chopped cucumber and tomato salad
• Tacos with black beans, leftover pulled pork and avocado
• Meatballs (from the freezer) with tomato sauce over pasta
• A big Cobb salad, or something approximating it (see photo above)

Reading:

• Bon Appetit magazine has become a bit too hipster for its own good, but now and then it still has good articles, and this month has a nice example of multimedia journalism. A magazine piece on ‘the best pizza in America’ also has a video of the pizza being made, and a podcast interview with the maker of this amazing pizza, Chris Beddia.
• After the raspberry yoghurt lollies, I think watermelon popsicles are next up (via Orangette)
• This slightly scathing article on ‘Wellness gurus’ from the peerless Hadley Freeman is well overdue
• If you haven’t already discovered it, American food magazine Lucky Peach has some of the best long-form food writing at the moment. Here’s a great example: America, your food is so gay