It's been uncomfortably hot here lately, with excessive heat warnings nearly every single day for the past week or so. So I guess we can safely say it's definitely summertime!
And for most of us, summertime has a definite flavor. The salty sea air at the beach, the smokiness of foods cooked on the backyard grill, and the sweet tang of lemonade. It's a time to let your hair down, relax, and make lasting memories. A time to flirt with endless possibilities, seek new adventures, and maybe even find a bit of romance.
The book I most recently devoured had all of the great summertime flavors and feelings, with a heavy dose of one of my favorite questions: "What if?"
Going Bicoastal
by Dahlia Adler
A queer Sliding Doors YA rom-com in which a girl must choose between summer in NYC with her dad (and the girl she's always wanted) or LA with her estranged mom (and the guy she never saw coming).
Natalya Fox has twenty-four hours to make the biggest choice of her life: stay home in NYC for the summer with her dad (and finally screw up the courage to talk to the girl she's been crushing on), or spend it with her basically estranged mom in LA, knowing this is the best chance she has to fix their relationship, if she even wants to. (Does she even want to?)
How's a girl supposed to choose???
She can't, and so both summers play out in alternating timelines - one in which Natalya explores the city, tries to repair things with her mom, works on figuring out her future, and goes for the girl she's always wanted. And one in which Natalya explores the city, tries to repair things with her mom, works on figuring out her future, and goes for the guy she never saw coming.
Raspberry
Lemonade Cookies
2 c. sugar
2 c. butter
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 lemons
6 Tbsp. dehydrated raspberry powder**
¼ c. tapioca starch
4 c. gluten-free all-purpose flour
Zest 3 lemons into a medium-sized glass bowl, then squeeze the juice of all three lemons into the bowl. Add tapioca starch and whisk together. Microwave 30 seconds. Remove and whisk again to smooth out mixture. Microwave another 30-45 seconds, whisking every 15 seconds, until you have a pudding-like consistency.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add baking powder, salt, lemon mixture, and raspberry powder. Mix until combined,
then turn speed up to high and beat until light and fluffy (at least 3-5
minutes).
Scoop into 1-inch balls. Place on parchment-lined baking
sheet about 2 inches apart, and press to flatten each cookie slightly.
Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
*Optional: Bake a few cookies & freeze the extra cookie dough. Roll
dough balls and flatten slightly. Place cookies on parchment-lined baking sheet
(no space necessary) and freeze for 2-4 hours or overnight. Once frozen,
transfer cookie dough to a large freezer bag and return to your freezer. You
can bake straight from frozen at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-14 minutes.
Freshly-baked cookies anytime you want!
**I love the KOYAH Organic Whole-Berry Raspberry Powder, which you can find on Amazon (here) or direct from the KOYAH website (here), because the only ingredient is organic, freeze-dried raspberries. There are lots of brands available in a simple Google search, but I haven't tried any others, so I can't vouch for them. If you do try another one (that is only raspberries--no other ingredients) and love it, please leave a comment to let me know!
Note: This recipe is egg-free for those with allergies, but it does have dairy in the butter. If you need a vegan cookie, you may try your favorite butter substitute, but you may need to tweak the flour amounts to get the right consistency with your dough, depending on which oleo you choose.
