Light Duty
The June/July Journal
Re-entering the always moving stream of content creation feels like cannonballing into a lazy river. The water is moving faster than you think, but having temporarily removed yourself, it’s also clear much of it is just flowing in circles. Alas, the truth is I’ve missed writing, and so I thought a midsummer journal would help me find my stride again within the polite society of Substack.
TRAVEL
I’m fresh off vacations in Santa Cruz and North Lake Tahoe. This morning I leave for Mendocino. In a culture obsessed with travel, it can feel a bit provincial to vacation in your own backyard, but I suppose this is also the advantage of living in California.
Santa Cruz is a place that dresses up well, but only at times of its choosing. The people are beautiful, when they want to be. In hamlets like Capitola don’t be surprised to find businesses closed even when they’re supposed to be open. It’s a place that has been massively changed by Silicon Valley’s growth, yet there are still remnants of that old grunginess and surf culture that attracted my uncle to move there back in the late 70s.
Read More: Summers at Lake Tahoe
Like a lot of things in life, this means you sometimes have to look in new places on the periphery. For example, my son wanted to visit “a forest” while on vacation, and so we headed up into the mountains twenty minutes outside Capitola. There we found redwoods at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, and also a funky moutain town called Felton where I enjoyed an excellent shakerato and did some gourmet grocery shopping. Later that day, I was hanging out with my cousin, who told me he had just purchased acreage up in the mountains. I’m sure this is becoming more common for Santa Cruz locals that are priced out, which is unfortunate, but on the bright side the Santa Cruz mountain towns are gaining some interesting creative energy.
MENSWEAR
While the menswear community will have you convinced there’s no such thing as a vacation without espadrilles, Negronis, and shirts open down to your navel, you’d look like a bit of a fool doing so in Santa Cruz, Capitola, or Mendocino. Not merely due to the weather either. I think there’s something strange about how European-pilled the American mind is when it comes to vacationing and leisure.
Okay, quick confession: I did drink a Oaxacan Negroni at Shadyside on Lake Tahoe. Do recommend.
Summer in California calls for a little something different, especially on a foggy morning or at night after the ocean breeze rolls in. I’m happy to report I have the California coastal weekend bag down to a science right now.
World Cup
Although very young, my dad brought me to a World Cup match at Stanford Stadium in 1994. I used to proudly wear my tie-dye, Peter Max illustrated shirt on the first day of school every year since that was our only day of free dress, even if I remembered virtually nothing of the game itself.
This World Cup, I was lucky to attend the Paraguay vs. Türkiye game with my best friends from my soccer playing days, as well as that USA vs. Belgium meltdown. A catastrophe of a game.
My dad and I flew to Seattle, where my brother lives, and walked what felt like the entire city. That whole city and stadium was just waiting for something good to happen. Still, it was a beautiful trip. Flying home, my dad and I streamed Columbia vs. Switzerland on our phones, the very same match-up we saw together back in 1994.
A Cake
Last year, I was trying to think of something special to do for my wife on her birthday and decided to host a dinner party for her and a few friends. For desert I made a lemon olive oil cake, and man did it deliver. This year, I ran back that same cake for her birthday, and it was again a total hit. I couldn’t remember which recipe I used the prior year, but The New York Times version is very close. Pairs very well with your morning coffee the next day to boot.
Instructions
-Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Oil the parchment. Leave the sides of the pan bare.
-Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
-Beat the sugar, eggs and lemon zest until very thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer still running, slowly drizzle in the oil and beat until incorporated, another 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add milk and lemon juice. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smooth the top using an offset spatula and sprinkle the top with about 2 tablespoons sugar.
-Bake the cake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes is recommended; however, it took my oven 50-55 minutes.
Ingredients
Yield: One 9-inch cake
1 cup/240 milliliters good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
2 cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups/300 grams granulated sugar, plus about 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 ¼ cups/295 milliliters whole milk, at room temperature
I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying summer. See you out there!
-Nate