☀️On Taco Bars and 80s Summer Vibes
A June Letter with special guest intro and all of the summer things
Hi Friends!
I’m thrilled to start this Special Edition June Letter with an introduction to my friend Crystal Rowe!
Crystal and I have known each other for twenty years, ever since meeting as babies in our college sorority. BABIES I tell you. Just look at that dewy skin!
Crystal is a creator and writer and food lover and questioner and teacher and mother and lover and friend. And so you can understand why we would connect so well. These are the things that matter to me. But I don’t need to tell you that. That’s why you’re here, too! It’s an honor to have Crystal open this letter today, and an even greater honor to do the same over at her newsletter My Favorite Things. Go check it out!
When I was a kid, tacos were one of my mom’s go-to meals. In a span of thirty minutes, she could unload us from our 1993 Chevy Astro van, park us in front of the TV, and go from harried-mom-exhausted-by-all-the-day’s-disasters to put-together-mom-calmly-making-dinner.
To the soundtrack of Sesame Street, she’d brown ground meat—whatever happened to be cheapest at the grocery store that week. Then she’d drain the fat straight into the sink, followed by a squirt of Dawn dish soap and the hottest water our pipes would carry. She’d pour the meat back into the pan, empty a packet of McCormick taco seasoning over it, add some water and simmer until all the liquid was gone.
Once it was done, we’d come running at the sound of her call. She’d be standing at the counter making our tacos just the way we liked. One soft flour tortilla, a small spoonful of meat, and a handful of shredded cheese (straight from a bag); ends folded in, then rolled. Like Taco Bell. But better. No lettuce, no tomato, no chips & salsa on the side. Just plain ole meat and cheese tacos. I am pretty sure we had them once a week. Spaghetti was similar in the rotation, but tacos were everyone’s favorite.
Mom loved taco night because she knew everyone would eat. There was never any complaining; no hungry bellies. With tacos, dinner was always a hit.
Earlier this month, I went away for a weekend by myself for the first time since I became a mother more than ten years ago. Before I left home, I took a pound of ground beef out of the freezer, threw a pound of dry black beans in the Instant Pot, and told my husband to have taco night while I was gone. One kid prefers ground beef. The other prefers black beans. No lettuce. No tomato. Just plain ole meat, beans, and cheese. The tacos of my childhood, revived.
Now, taco nights at our house take a variety of forms. I often joke that I could eat tacos for every meal for the rest of my life and not be bored with it. I love to wrap eggs and bacon in a warm flour tortilla for breakfast; smother a crispy corn tortilla with refried beans and whatever fresh produce I can find in my fridge for lunch; take last night’s leftover grilled chicken and mix it with salsa, cabbage, and beans for tonight’s dinner.
Three years ago, we invited our closest friends over for Thanksgiving. “How would you feel if we had a taco bar instead of the traditional Thanksgiving fare?” I texted her one early November day.
She loves tacos as much as I do, and I was pleased to receive her speedy reply. “Oh, that’s a fantastic idea!”
We made seasoned black beans, Mexican street corn, guacamole, shredded chicken, blackened halibut, and roasted sweet potatoes. I opened a jar of every type of salsa I canned that summer: roasted tomatillo, peace, roasted corn, extra hot tomato, and a mild version for the kids (and her husband, who has a low tolerance for spice). We had pickled jalapeños, four types of cheese, cilantro lime slaw, thinly sliced radishes, shredded lettuce, and chopped tomatoes. My counter was covered with every topping we could think of. It was a true feast.
One by one, we walked around the kitchen, making boring tacos for our kids and fancy tacos for ourselves. We gathered at our giant round table, with plates full of food, and gave thanks for friends to share holidays with when our families live far away and the local farmers that feed us so well.
We shared stories of Thanksgiving in our families growing up—how our parents would wake up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in the oven—and we let out sighs of relief at how little preparation time our giant taco buffet actually took. Nothing took more than an hour, and there were no special trips to the grocery store. With the exception of the fish, which we bought the day before from the local fishermen, every ingredient was something we already had on hand. Much of what we used came from the local farms, preserved during peak harvest season and stashed in my freezer or pantry shelves.
“Why have we never done this before?” My friend asked, after taking her first bite of blackened fish taco, drizzled with roasted tomatillo salsa, smothered with cotija cheese, Mexican slaw, and pickled jalapeños.
I nodded my head in agreement. “I don’t know, but I hope this is a new tradition. Tacos are my favorite.” It was the best Thanksgiving meal I’ve ever had.
Feeding people is one of my love languages and tacos are the ultimate meal for providing hospitality. If you come to my house for dinner, there’s a good chance our first meal together will be tacos. With enough choices, everyone can find something they like. I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like tacos. (If that’s you, please do let me know. I’d love the challenge to find some kind of taco you will like!)
The best thing about tacos is anything goes. Have some unloved cauliflower in your produce drawer? Add some taco seasoning, roast it in the oven and put it in a tortilla with some black beans and cheese.Viola! Dinner is served.
Have some wrinkled sweet potatoes hidden in your basement? Slightly wilted spinach you can’t get your kids to eat? Sauté them together with a few pinches of taco seasoning, slap a tortilla around them, smother them in enchilada sauce and watch them disappear.
Tacos are to a mom like a black hat is to a magician.
Two nights ago, we went out to eat at a favorite seafood joint. When the server delivered our food, I took one look at our giant platters of fish and chips and knew there would be leftovers to take home. “These will make great fish tacos!” I said before my husband had even eaten one piece. I just can’t help it. Tacos are always on my mind.
If you need some inspiration to get started eating tacos for every meal, here are a few of my favorite taco recipes:
For breakfast, you just can’t go wrong with scrambling eggs, adding some cheese, crumbling bacon and rolling it up in a tortilla. And these Crispy Egg Tacos with Singed Kale are my favorite thing about Kale season.
For lunch, try an open-faced taco (also known as a tostada) with whatever leftovers you have in your fridge. I also love these quick and easy chilaquiles.
For dinner, my favorite is roasted sweet potato & black bean tacos. I don’t have a recipe. I cut the sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces, add some olive oil and taco seasoning, and roast at 450° until crispy. I love these tiny street taco shells, but any tortilla will do. If you’ll be at home all day, you should definitely consider making these slow roasted carnitas. And if you want tacos but want something a little fancy, try this Taco Torte. It’s easier than it looks and comes together beautifully in less than an hour.
How to Make a Taco Bar That Everyone Will Love
Open your refrigerator. Pull out all the leftovers or produce you don’t know what to do with. Put it on your counter so you know what you have to work with.
In the alternative (or in addition, depending on how fancy you want to get), go to your freezer and pull out a pound of meat. Any kind will do.
Put some dry beans in the Instant Pot. (You can also open a can of beans, but my kids hated beans until I started making good ones, so I can’t recommend these enough).
Return to your counter to assess the situation. Remember, just about anything can be turned into a taco. Add a little olive oil and some taco seasoning, roast it in the oven until good and crisp.
Slice some fresh produce. Radishes, zucchini, lettuce, cabbage, shredded carrots—anything is good on a taco. If it’s the dead of winter and you have no fresh produce, that’s okay too. Don’t stress it.
Put out some tortillas, or tortilla chips, or even a bed of lettuce will do. If you’re out of tortillas, you can have a Taco Salad bar instead!
Top it with some salsa and cheese and call it a meal.
This month’s intro was written by Crystal in response to Ruth Reichl’s writing prompt: What Recipe Defines You? Crystal and I share a love of good food, so when this prompt showed up in our inboxes back in January, we bookmarked it and made a plan.
We’d love for you to share your own response — What recipe defines you?! Hit reply to this email or share in the comments below. We can’t wait to hear about your favorite recipes.
hi. It’s me, Rachel, again.
SPEAKING OF…
a series where I string together all the things I’ve been meaning to tell you.
This month’s collection is unapologetically summer vibing, because what else could it be? Also we’re bringing our friends from Stranger Things to the party because it’s my current obsession. More on that in a minute.
Speaking of tasty food…
Summer means easy recipes and if you checked out my intro over at Crystal’s newsletter that pretty much covers my summer menu plan. Protein, veggies, and a sauce. Done. Go to bed, children.
For entertaining, though, I’ve got a few ideas. We’re hosting our annual Sausage Fest this weekend for the first time in three years and I’m excited to get back to the main even for the party. No, it’s not the sausages—it’s the sides for me. Like this arugula one, this corn salsa one (I use TJs frozen grilled corn), and this onion dip to use up all those spring onions I got in my CSA.
So what are we drinking? Great question. I considered this collection of Spring Pitcher Cocktails I collected. I think it’s gonna just be the lemonade I make for the kids with a splash of bubbly and spirits for the grown ups. It’s a take on this cocktail I’m sipping on all summer. No, I do not think it’s a strange thing at all to drink like a kid.
Speaking of strange things…
(Goodness I love that transition.) Alright. I finally got brave enough to watch Stranger Things. How could I not? Kate Bush was trending. I had to find out why. I am so glad I did. The show is hitting all the right summer notes for me. Between this and the resurgence of Top Gun, I’ve declared it an 80 summer for me. It’s making me crave all the 80s summer movies like Grease and Dirty Dancing and Mystic Pizza. What else am I missing? What would you add to this 80s summer watching vibe?
Speaking of 80s summer vibes…
I’ve been wanting to bring back an 80s summer vibe to my fashion. What does this mean? I’m not sure. Biking shorts and sneakers? Bright neon colors? Tank tops and cut off shorts ala Baby in Dirty Dancing? I’m still figuring this out. My frizzy summer hair understands the assignment though. And I have my eye on the new line from Tabitha Brown at Target with all those bright colors and patterns like Weekend at Bernie’s. I’m still living my mostly black and gray life, but a girl can dream, right?
What I can tell you is I’m a fanny pack girl now. Not sure why it took me so long. It’s brilliant for my on the go but also lazy mom life. I have this one which I love for all the pockets. But now I’m wanting a brightly covered one like these. Or a dressy belt bag for date nights.
Want to know what I keep in mine? Of course you do. Besides the usual here’s what I got: a lipgloss I love, a hair tie, a couple of the only band-aids that actually work and are also cute, pen and small notebook (#writer), a granola bar for snack emergencies, and my wireless headphones for listening emergencies.
Speaking of listening emergencies…
I have great aspirations of beach side or playground bench book reading one day. But every time I try, I leave disappointed. Until I remembered the joy of audiobooks. I’ve always loved an audiobook but I never thought to pair it with my summer mom adventures. I changed that this summer and thus changed my life. Read about it all here.
Here’s what I have listened to whilst sitervising ( ™️ @busytoddler) my children:
The Roughest Draft (fun romance about writers) / Turtles All The Way Down (John Green writes teenagers as cool characters) / Nightbitch (weird, shocking, solidly accurate about motherhood and creativity, but also weird)
In other book news, I’m on a Kate Dicamillo journey at the moment after listening to this podcast and sobbing all the way through her reading this essay. The podcast also mentioned this essay by Ann Patchett, which is apparently told in greater detail in Ann Patchett’s new book. (I know I’m vague here but really just go read and listen to all of this like it’s a college syllabus. You won’t regret it.) I have more words on this to say. For now, it’s a journey that is exactly what I need in this moment–as a mother, as a creator, as a person who sees the world as both hard and beautiful. So far I’ve listened to (all great narrators, by the way) Because of Winn Dixie, Raymie Nightingale, Lousina’s Way Home (my favorite so far), and Beverly Right Here.
Finally, in physical book copy, I devoured The Fault In Our Stars. That, too, deserves an entire essay collection regarding my thoughts so I’ll put that aside for another day, other than to tell you John Green inspires my writing. Just read it if you haven’t. I’m kind of obsessed.
Speaking of writing inspiration…
Here are a few small things creatively I’ve done lately:
On Confessions of Motherhood and Creativity
On Ten Stories I Recall About My Grandpa
On Finding many connections to one photo
On Peonie’s and Paying Attention
And finally, I did another Album Recreation, this time for Fine Line as the Summer Mom’s Album.
Speaking of Summer Albums…
A few weeks ago we were driving through Chicago on our way for a quick weekend visit. As we made our approach, one of the kids (or maybe it was Mike?) chose to listen to In The Heights. And let me tell you, that was the exact bop I needed as we made our approach into my favorite city in the summer time. I’ve had a resurgence of the music and I want it on repeat. Is it 80s summer vibes? No, but I get to make the rules. Along the same lines I found this book and I am loving all the stories behind the making of the musical and focusing on what it means to be Home.
Speaking of Home…
Well, time to bring this newsletter home with one final good word. This one comes from Louisiana's Way Home…
“I don’t know, Louisiana. I can’t see into the future. I do think that, more often than not, love has a way of finding us.”
May love, and good food, find you this month.