european summer at home

the luxury of time; plus, a July "summering" vlog

Welcome to mamaeats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. I’m a mother of three, avid reader, gardener, and home cook who focuses on nourishing, whole food meals with a focus on plants. This newsletter is my labor of love—if you are not already, and are able to do so, please consider becoming a subscriber to support my work here, which takes time and effort. Doing so gives you access to all the archives and recipes (find the recipe index here), as well as cook-along videos which go along with most recipes. If a recurring payment is too much for you right now, but you’d still like to contribute, I’d be delighted to receive a one-off tip via my ko-fi. As always, thank you for being here, reading this newsletter, and sending me your thoughts.

Recently, I was spending time with a friend, and she was asking if we had any trips planned for this summer. I responded with our plans, mentioning that we typically just take a week or two in August to either camp or travel somewhere we’ve been wanting to see in-state. As she told me about her family’s similarly local, simple plans, we started talking about our observations on how travel has evolved over the years since we were children. Mainly, that taking your family on an expensive vacation to a lengthy destination by plane seems to be the new marker for a “good life”, no matter your income level.

As a child, summer vacation to me meant mostly the glorious gift of unlimited, slow-moving time: waking up without an alarm clock, often forgetting what day it was, and doing whatever I pleased— mostly out of doors— as long as I did my chores and ate regular meals. The entire span of summer was punctuated by a few eventful trips— camping, perhaps a road trip to another state to visit family or friends, or having them stay with us for a visit. Day trips or short vacations to the beach were frequent. The brevity of them did nothing to detract from their joy. Summer was for purposefully doing less, not more, in order to rest from the busier bulk of the year.

I did take several vacations to longer destinations, including air travel, with my grandparents when I was a teenager. However, the main difference from today is that these were infrequent, thought out much in advance, and saved for. The infrequency made them all the more delightful—much like waiting for a surprise, the anticipation and daydreaming about what it might be like heightening the experience. It was a privilege and we knew it.

Even if we do plan to travel to another continent, I think we can be careful consumers here, and realistic ones! The idea of “Euro Summer” and “Eurocore” that people seem to fetishize for content on social media is in fact about consumerism and appearances, not experiences: a new, overly aestheticized wardrobe, overbooked iteneraries, luxury hotels, aperol spritzes and seafood platters, and picture-perfect locations to take photos for social media.

And of course, let’s not forget that “Euro” here is really referring only to the picturesque, coastal areas of Italy, Greece, France and Spain—and romanticizing them, reducing them to a caricature of hyper-curated props. Europe is not one country! Italy is not simply the Amalfi coast! We are completely missing the point.

Of course travel is delightful and exciting, especially to pictureque and far away locales. No one disputes that! But what happens when traveling in this way is not in the cards for us, for whatever reason— small children, caring for elderly relatives, illness, not being able to take time off, finances... Especially in this era of economic uncertainty, where summer travel is increasingly unattainable, can we be satisfied and refreshed by a summer at home?

Absolutely, yes. The irony in “European summer” is that many Europeans actually have modest vacations, traveling to affordable accomodations not too far from them. My Italian cousins travel from Rome to a teensy house at the seaside, less than an hour by train. The luxury is in the amount of time taken—enough for total refreshment—not the amount of money spent.

Here are some ways to bring the feeling of a vacation, European or not, at home:

beauty:

• seek out the arts: visit a museum (a personal favorite of mine), attend a theatre show or opera or ballet, check out a local concert, take a pottery class. The arts are so enriching and inspiring.

• play beautiful music in your home! Music can really set a mood, I like my music to be calm and rich. I also love to listen to the live Met Opera broadcast on Saturdays.

connection:

• games before or after dinner. I love the classic ones: chess, cribbage, backgammon, and card games like gin. It’s also fun to pick up a new game every once in a while to spark interest. I keep a selection in a cabinet in our living room for easy access.

• market shopping. If you have a small market in your area, whether a farmer’s market, a fruit stand, a u-pick fruit place, or an independent grocer, utilize it! Have a small chat with whoever’s working, learn their name, become a regular.

• dinners together. Invite people over for dinner. It can be ultra simple and casual- don’t overthink it. There’s nothing like this to build community and it is so enjoyable to be able to sit, share food together, and talk.

• local outings, whether for the day or for several weeks. Explore local spots, whether for a day trip or a little farther away for a vacation. We like to find somewhere, near natural water, within 1-3 hours of us to explore each August. Sometimes we camp, and sometimes we rent a place. We keep it simple and focus on relaxation and connection, and getting to know the place we go, building a relationship there- not just ticking off things on a list. Last year, we stayed at a spot near a beautiful, pristine river with a great bakery in the town. We swam and stayed outside till the late afternoon, poked about the town exploring, and then made our dinner around the daily-changing loaf we picked up each morning from the bakery. Unscheduled deep time like this is always a welcome pause before school and schedules start back up at the end of the month.

food:

Food times are sacred. Take time for meals, sitting down together, keeping the food ultra simple and rooted in the seasonal produce.

• eat as many meals as you can outside, whether that means in your backyard or balcony, picnics in local natural areas or parks, or at the beach. I have a little wicker picnic basket that adds to the charm.

• build your meals around fresh, seasonal produce. Keep them very simple, most summer produce needs little more than slicing and salting, or light cooking. Have a rotating cast of meals in your back pocket that your household enjoys that are easy to make and delicious.

• linger over a meal. Stay at the table even when finished eating, even just for an extra 10 minutes, talking over the day’s events, the food, books you’ve been reading, or plans for tomorrow. Draw out the pleasure of this pause in the day.

• end the meal with a little something sweet: a piece of perfectly ripe, seasonal fruit; a slice of something good you baked (or picked up!); or a walk up to get a scoop of ice cream.

• preserving something: at some point in the summer, when you have excess, do a little project of making a little batch of jam, or tomato sauce, or oil packed peppers, to tuck away some of summer’s sun for later.

slowness of pace:

• riding bikes and walking: opting for not taking a car when you can broadens your experiences that day. Perhaps you’ll strike up a conversation with a stranger, or meet a delightful dog. Surely you’ll see something interesting, and you’ll get built-in exercise and fresh air! Vary your routes for interest.

• make time for leisure: binge read a book, see that film you’ve been wanting to see, sit outside doing nothing much. Summer is for pleasure!

• visit a café: perhaps you’re doing computer work, perhaps you’re meeting a friend to catch up, perhaps you’re on your own with a book or simply to people watch.

• similarly, visit a beautiful local park, find a bench or set down a blanket, settling in for a bit to observe the nature, read, or relax.

• long conversations: make time for long, delicious conversations with friends, acquaintances, strangers, those you love. Be open to making time for connection.

emphasis on simple pleasures:

• sitting down to enjoy your coffee, tea, or book without your phone or other distractions, and doing just that until you are done. Trust me, you have an extra 10 or 15 minutes.

• using your good things for everyday: it’s amazing how impactiful the little boost of putting on a favorite pair of earrings, your nice dress, using the “good china”, using that tablecloth or candle or whatever that you’ve been saving for “later” is. There is no later, now is now and you deserve to have small luxuries every day.

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a July reading list for the armchair traveler

Hot Milk, Deborah Levy, fiction

August Blue, Deborah Levy, fiction

The Summer Book, Tove Jansson, fiction

The Pole, J.M. Coetzee, fiction

My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante, and the others in this series, fiction

The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy, Rachel Cusk, nonfiction

On Persephone’s Island: A Sicilian Journal, Mary Taylor Simetti, nonfiction

A Pig In Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France, Georgeanne Brennan, nonfiction

A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle, nonfiction

My Life in France, Julia Child, nonfiction

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vlog for July

For paid subscribers (thank you!) click here to watch a video diary for July: a little smattering of how our days go lately, deep into summering and slow time.