With the warm weather come the lists of books that are perfect for reading on a beach. I know that reading on the beach is incredibly popular but I've never really gotten into it, mostly because the bright sun on white pages makes my eyes hurt. My summer reading venue of choice is an air-conditioned bar, preferably in the middle of the day when the background noise is ambient, not distracting. But no matter where you choose to read, you want to read something amazing. Somewhere along the way, summer beach reads became synonymous with light and fluffy fiction. The implication is that anything that would be enjoyable to read on a beach would have the literary value of a soap opera, however, these stories feature mult-faceted characters with complicated family dynamics that will keep you furiously flipping pages. Plus, all three of these novels are available in paperback which makes them ideal for travel. 

Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen

This was the April book club pick at my local indie bookstore and I don't know why it took me so long to hear about it! It is one part family lore, one part childhood nostalgia, and one part falling down the rabbit hole of research. Lee Lien has returned home after finishing a Ph.D. in English without a job and with increasing apathy towards Edith Wharton, the subject of her dissertation. Stuck under the same roof with her mother and grandfather, who both immigrated from Vietnam, Lee finds comfort rereading the Little House series, looking for clues to confirm that a brooch left in her grandfather's restaurant in Vietname belonged to Rose, the journalist daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her search takes her on a journey West as she unravels the mysteries of Rose's life and tries to find direction for her own. I love that the family dynamic of the Lien family mirrors that of the Ingalls Wilder family, highlighting what it means to be an immigrant looking for a place to call home.

The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai

As the title suggests, this book tells the stories of the inhabitants of the house over its first hundred years, but the twist is that the chronology is reversed. The first section takes place in 1999 when Zee and her husband, Doug, move into the guest house on her childhood estate. However, Doug dredges up the past as he tries to find information for his book about Edwin Parfitt, a poet who stayed at the house when it was an artists' colony. Doug does not find all the answers he wants, but the reader does as the story jumps backwards to previous groups of tenants until the house is just a piece of land with a broken branch marking the future location of the front door. Each generation has their secrets wrapped up in the house and as time turns back, the layers are pulled away to expose the tangled web of the family. This is a book that begs to be reread because each dip further into the past adds new understanding to the future. Last summer I heard an interview with Rebecca Makkai about this book on WUWM, Milwaukee's local NPR station, and was immediately sold so I'm thrilled it is now out in paperback. 

Arcadia by Lauren Groff

Of my three recommendations, this is the most serious, though that is not to say that it is without joy. Rather it shows all the ups, downs, and in-betweens of life. For about fifty years, the story follows Bit, the first child born into a commune in Western New York called Arcadia. A story of an unorthodox childhood morphs into something more complex as both Arcadia and Bit grow up and cracks in their perfect world begin to show. The idealistic values erode under the charisma and hubris of Arcadia's leader and an agrarian utopia becomes an outpost of debauchery. Arcadia is Bit's family and home, but he is forced to leave the people and the place that he once loved, though Arcadia never really leaves him. 

Do you remember eating freeze pops on a hot summer day as a kid? There was always a mad rush when the box came out of the freezer as everyone tried to get the best flavor. (No one in my friend group ever wanted an orange ones.) Freeze pops are little more than colorful sugar ice, but at the time they were a refreshment that we all looked forward to with great excitement.

While scrolling through Pinterest, I kept stumbling across pins of homemade freezer pops and discovered Zipzicles. They make tall, narrow, resealable bags so that you can make freeze pops at home without a food vacuum. Plus, they have tons of great recipes on their website so that your homemade freeze pops are more than just colorful sugar ice.

For the 4th of July I thought that red, white, and blue freeze pops would be appropriate. The red ones are berry and gin, the white ones are mojito, and the blue ones are vodka lemonade (with a healthy dose of blue food coloring). 

Strawberries and blueberries make an appearance in pretty much every 4th of July dessert and this one will be no different. I love to make a trifle that features the red and blue fruits because it is an easy-to-assemble dessert. My mom claims that trifle is a winter dessert because her family used to eat it on Christmas, but I pretty much only make it during the summer months when fresh fruit is in season. 

Trifle is a layered dessert, so for the biggest visual impact, serve it in a clear dish. For parties, I like to make individual servings in cocktail glasses, but if your event is outside, you might prefer to use clear plastic disposable cups or mason jars. To serve the dessert family style, make the trifle in a glass serving bowl with tall sides.

Ingredients
1 pound cake
strawberry jam (optional)
1 lb. blueberries
1 lb. strawberries, hulled and quartered
vanilla pudding (recipe below)
1 can whipped cream
chocolate shavings (optional, for garnish)

Thinly slice the pound cake. An optional step is to spread strawberry jam on half the slices and then assemble jam and pound cake "sandwiches." Layer the ingredients, with pudding in between each as shown in the diagram below:

Use a piece of baking chocolate and a cheese grater to garnish the trifle with chocolate shavings. 


Ingredients for Vanilla Pudding
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
<1/2 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks
2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the dry ingredients in a saucepan. Add the milk slowly while whisking over low heat. After the milk is added, cook over medium heat, stirring until the mixture has thickened. Take off the fire and add a spoonful of the mixture to the eggs to temper the eggs. This brings the temperature of the eggs up slowly so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs in your pudding! Add the eggs to the mixture in the saucepan and stir until combined. Finally, add the vanilla and mix until it is evenly distributed throughout the mixture. 

If you are going to only use one pasta salad recipe this summer, it should this Mediterranean-inspired orzo salad. It is easy, delicious, and feeds a crowd. The original recipe is from PopSugar and though I still have no idea how I made it onto the email list for their newsletter, I'm glad that this recipe found its way into my inbox. I have simplified the recipe somewhat, removing the olives (of which I am decidedly NOT a fan) and sun-dried tomatoes, and by using a pre-made red wine vinaigrette (if you do prefer a homemade dressing, I suggest using a different recipe since the PopSugar one is overly heavy on the vinegar). My version requires only five items from Trader Joe's: orzo, grape tomatoes, basil, red wine vinaigrette, and feta cheese that comes pre-seasoned with Mediterranean herbs. (If you don't have a Trader Joe's nearby, the seasonings in the feta cheese include sundried tomato, oregano, garlic, and basil.)

Prepare the orzo (1 lb) according to the instructions on the bag. After it has finished cooking, pour it into a large bowl and mix together with the red wine vinaigrette (8 fl oz). (The liquid will absorb into the orzo for flavorful pasta.) Cut the tomatoes (1 lb) into the halves or quarters and add to the orzo and vinaigrette mixture. Chop about fifteen leaves of fresh basil and add to the bowl. Stir until everything is thoroughly mixed. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put the bowl in the fridge for a couple hours, until the vinaigrette is absorbed. When you are ready to serve (or if you are bringing it to a party, before you leave home), mix in the feta cheese (6 oz). Then enjoy! This pasta salad is easy to assemble, full of flavor, and perfect for a hot summer day which means that you will find yourself reaching for the recipe time and again this summer.