We have a contender

For years, I've printed out Newsday's "Saturday Stumper" crossword puzzle and worked my way through it. Sometimes that only takes 20 or 30 minutes, sometimes it takes me days or even, on occasion, a few weeks. When Brad is here, we work it together, and it usually goes a lot quicker because we feed off each other's thoughts and answers. Plus, Brad is great at figuring out the long ones, sometimes with hardly any letters already filled in.

 

When we're stumped for a little bit, Mom always asks if we need her help, then she usually grabs the puzzle and looks at it for about 30 seconds before getting bored and saying she's "got nothing" and giving it back. Last week though, Mom had her all-time Saturday Stumper moment, when she found a few wrong letters, which helped her finish off the missing clues by herself. And, as you can imagine, she let us know about it! Check this out:

Hats off to Mom for her excellent puzzle work. Even so, I think the appropriate description was not "contender," but "pretender."

 

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Speaking of contenders, this recipe "coulda been a contender" for Mom's first guest post (I'm still waiting for her sourdough bread), but we've already had it about a half dozen times this summer (including in Seattle) and I got tired of waiting, so I wrote it up myself. This is a great way to use up some of that bounty of summer squash, zucchini, and basil filling up your garden or the farmer's markets in the height of summer.

 

Summer Squash and Basil Pasta

Adapted from Chris Morocco via Bon Appétit (June 2017)

Time: ~38 minutes

If your summer squash or zucchini are larger than about 8 to 10 ounces, you should scrape out any large seeds with a spoon once you've cut them in half lengthwise, before chopping them the rest of the way.

2 tablespoons fine sea salt

1 pound ziti or other large tubular pasta
70 grams (⅓ cup) olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2½ pounds assorted, medium-sized, summer squash and zucchini, quartered lengthwise, then sliced crosswise into quarter moons (see note)
Kosher salt
up to 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or other mild chile flakes such as Marash
57 grams Parmesan cheese, grated (~½ cup)
20 grams (4 teaspoons) fresh lemon juice
15 grams (½ cup) fresh basil leaves, cut crosswise into thick strips

    1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a roiling boil in a large, covered stockpot over high heat. Stir in the fine sea salt until dissolved. Add the pasta and stir a few times during the first minute or two to keep it from sticking. Cook until a minute or two short of al dente. Drain, reserving a mugful of the pasta cooking water.
    2. Meanwhile, place the oil and garlic slices in your largest skillet (at least 12 inches; Mom prefers a nonstick skillet for this), and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until fragrant and the garlic is starting to sizzle without browning.

    3. Stir in the squash (it won’t fit in one layer at this point but it will cook down), and season generously with kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash begins to break down. Turn the heat down to medium, and continue cooking until the squash is very soft and jammy, which can take up to 20 minutes or more total cooking time depending on how thick you sliced your squash (don’t rush it). Stir in the Aleppo pepper.
    4. Combine the mostly cooked pasta with the squash in the stockpot. Add ½ cup of the pasta cooking water, and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring in the Parmesan a sprinkle at a time, along with more pasta cooking water as needed, until the pasta is al dente. Stir in the lemon juice and basil. Serve promptly. Serves 4.