COTTAGE-CORE COMFORT RECIPES 🫶🏻

slow living and home cooking

nothing better than a true cottage nap

It’s officially August! And because my husband gets to work from home the entire month, we escaped the muggy city heat for some fresh Michigan air. Every August, we hole up at our family cottage in Grand Haven and soak in all the ‘cottage-core’ we can get. Hikes in the woods, blueberry picking, walks on the beach, slow-living, home cooking…my favorite things to do:)

While at the cottage, I love cooking colorful, simple, filling, and fresh meals. So this week, we’re leaning into the cottage-core lifestyle, slowing down, being present, and enjoying some delicious home-cooked meals.

Nothing reminds me more of cottagy-meals than a big bowl of pasta. When we were little, and at the cottage with just our Dad, he always made us bow-tie pasta with Newman’s Own ‘four cheese’ sauce. And we loved it. In carrying on this pasta tradition, at some point, we always have pasta at the cottage. On this recent trip, I was craving pesto. I love pesto in the summer and recently came across a recipe that used sautéed zucchini. While it looked delicious, it was much heavier than I typically like, so I created my own version using less heavy cream and more zucchini and basil.

Now, the meal we most often ask our Mom to make when we’re all together is her chicken piccata. Artichoke hearts give this dish a tangy flavor along with the capers. She always uses bouillon in place of chicken broth to give the sauce a stronger flavor (we always have bouillon in the fridge). You can serve this alone or on top of a plate of pasta, rice, or an easy light salad. Pounding the chicken can be cathartic (lol) but also a little time-consuming (perfect for our cottage-core theme), so I recommend cutting the breast in half first.

Sometimes an appetizer for dinner is actually the perfect meal. Especially a fresh and simple recipe for a lazy cottage evening. This heirloom tomato, peach and burrata salad with prosciutto is exactly that and tastes like a warm summer night. Burrata is the perfect pairing with the tomatoes and peaches and the prosciutto adds a bit of saltiness in each bite. I love eating it with a fresh baguette or any chewy bread. It makes the best appetizer for a summer get-together (the presentation is stunning) but it’s filling enough to have for your entire meal. Heirloom tomatoes and peaches are in season now too :)

It’s the tail end of blueberry season, and if you’re in the midwest there’s still time to go to a U-pick field for some afternoon picking, or you can always just grab a box of the already pre-picked blueberries 😬. Of course, I like to eat them plain. But, a great way to preserve the deliciousness of blueberries before they go bad (besides just freezing them) is to turn them into a blueberry syrup.

I use this syrup on everything. I mix a little into plain Greek yogurt or on top of pancakes. I also love adding a splash to a morning latte (iced or hot) or to replace simple syrup in a cocktail recipe. I store the syrup in a mason jar or reused glass bottle in the refrigerator (it lasts up to 2 months).

Of course, nothing evokes a summer cottage weekend more than indulging in some ice cream. I recently made a delicious no-churn ginger spiked whiskey ice cream with caramel and pecans to celebrate National Ice Cream Day. I had never made a no-churn ice cream recipe before, let alone one spiked with whiskey. But it turned out better than I ever expected. I brought it to a friend’s house for dessert and we were all blown away.

Needless to say, this is a great way to impress friends, and all you need is a hand mixer and bowls (no ice cream maker necessary)!

THANKS FOR READING!

Cheers 🥂

Hil & Nat

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