these days i have to remind myself that it's summer. it's weird. i was always such a summer kid growing up, hosting bonfires (calling them "weenie roasts"), staying up into the wee hours of the morning watching the o.c., flying in the face of an air-conditioning-free world at summer camp, being as carefree as carefree can be...

i think it was sometime during college when i decided that the summer, with its fewer obligations and longer days, in fact meant that there was more time to get work done. (work that didn't require having to compose a gigue for the glockenspiel, because i actually had to do that once, and got something like a b+.)

this was only solidified when i decided to marry a farmer.

the winter is a farmer's summer, so i've gone ahead and made it my summer too. maybe that's how i fell so quickly and hard for a season in a place with -30ºf temps...

so these days, while eggboy puts in a long hard day's work, cultivating and doing other things to tend to his crops, i find myself putting in longer days than usual, stepping outside during the week only for an herb or two from the garden, or when my phone jingles and it's a message stating that tonight is a night for gin and tonics and cheesy pickles at the town bar. other times when i go out, i end up cocking my head to the side in confusion for a moment when it's something like 1pm on a thursday and there are kids in the banana section of the target. shouldn't they be in school? oh...

which isn't to say that i'm not enjoying plenty of iced coffee and counting down the seconds until my zillions of green tomato babies turn red... it's just commentary on my life lately. (for when you ask what happened to the birkenstock tan lines that became so clear after walking around new york for days in june? i don't know.)

in today's molly on the range, i'm offering this comforting coconut quinoa that's decidedly composed of muted colors. it was created in anticipation of the upcoming tisha b'av, which is a day of mourning. some keep vegetarian on the days leading up to it, and on that day, many will fast and then break the fast with a light vegetarian meal. as my mind continues to swarm with thoughts of the gaza war, this recipe was developed with all of those affected in my heart.

you can find the recipe for this coconut quinoa here.