Founder Files: A Weekday Lunch for Hot Summer Days & Schoolhouse Sneak Peeks

Welcome to the latest edition of Food52 Founder Amanda Hesser’s weekly newsletter, Hey there, it’s Amanda, packed with food, travel, and shopping tips, Food52 doings, and other matters that catch her eye. Get inspired—sign up here for her emails.

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I found a new lunch that’s perfect for hot summer days: creamy salmon dip, potato chips, pickled sweety drop peppers, and sliced fennel. I had it at Négociant in Portland, Oregon and I plan to make it in my own kitchen. I may sub in cucumbers for the fennel, or smoked trout for the salmon with no harm done. You want a smoky fish, salty chip, crunchy veg, and pickley chaser. Yes, pickley! To the former Food52 writer I once told she was using “-y” too often to make adjectives, I’m sorry. To the rest of you, here are some cheats to get you started on this lunch!

Smoked Salmon Spread

Smoked Salmon Pate

Sweety Drops!

Potato Chips – you surely have opinions on the best ones for this job!

We decided to go back in time this summer—to when things seemed simpler, slower … and more Jell-O forward.

• Nea came up with this Strawberry Pretzel Salad.
• César layered strawberries and Nutter Butters in a vanilla pudding base to create a PB&J pudding.
• We couldn’t leave out grilled dogs. Nea made quick pickles, fried onions, tossed together an easy potato salad, and rounded up the usual store-bought condiments for her summer hot dog bar.
• A good chaser for hot dogs is this mashup of chocolate chip cookies and everyone’s favorite camping food: S’Mores Cookies. (Speaking of camping, you shared your favorite spots and recipes with us here. Add yours in the comments!)
• And here are some great trays for serving it all.

I was at Schoolhouse in Portland, Oregon last week to review our products for the fall and holiday seasons. It’s a Big Deal moment for us so it's appropriately ceremonial. Katie, our head of design, and Jorie, our creative director, dress up for their presentation. All of the furnishings, lighting, bedding, and blankets are arranged in home-like settings. It’s often been more than a year since we dreamed up the products, so a large group gathers to be reminded of the season’s themes, how the products are made, and to touch and feel the new items. Here are a few snaps of what’s coming.

In Portland, I did my usual sniffing around in shops. What I noticed: Candles have been unburdened from their holders. Everywhere, there were molded candles that varied from cute to sculptural.

I always have an eye out for sustainable straws, like these sturdy, reusable bamboo ones from Beam & Anchor.

Here I am enjoying a Yaowarat Shandy, made with (nonalcoholic) Guinness + Thai tea. It tasted, unexpectedly yet delightfully, like a creamsicle. I tell you about this every year, and here I go again—my favorite shandy of all is the Campari Shandy from Molly Wizenberg and Brandon Pettit. The sweet-bitter of Campari makes it refreshing and complex, a sipper.

Cheers!

Amanda

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