in good taste, vol. 104: summer camp
party-planning, joyful architecture, and brown butter rice krispies treats
Some things are enduring in the American imagination. Summer camp is one of them. Maybe you got to go to sleepaway camp as a kid, or you just watched Bug Juice on TV (or you were my friend Andrew, who went to the camp in TV’s Bug Juice as a kid); either way, I bet you see it in your mind’s eye. Gingham, bandanas, hot dogs, RKT (you know), red dye 40, a crafts table, bug spray. And friends(hip bracelets) forever!
I’d been itching to host a summer party. Something lower-key than a seated dinner, not occasion-oriented like a birthday or a holiday, and bringing different circles of friends together to play. Turns out, not only is a summer camp party a solid theme to meet those criteria, but it is a great excuse to make your friends wear lanyards all day and boss them around! The inaugural session of “Camp Gloria” (named for the cat) took about a month to put together, from activities to swag to menu, and I’m already looking forward to next year.
The first rule of Camp Gloria came in the planning stage: know your campers. So Adrian and I DIY’ed little activity-book lanyards with card stock, notebook paper, and mini Sharpies. The activity book included a small social game to encourage people to meet each other via shared facts (forced fun), a space for a self-portrait (to ensure they read the directions), and the rest of the pages to collect stickers for each activity completed.
Main camp activities:
Backyard croquet
Chalk art
Tile painting - featuring $0.11 ceramic tile from Floor & Decor and acrylic paint pens, this DIY Delft tile craft was the original inspiration
Friendship bracelets and beading
Coloring
A selection of puzzles
Water-balloon toss!
Camp kitchen notables:
Hot dogs and the quintessential bagged salad with vinaigrette;
Jessie brought Impossible Burgers with perfect housemade pickles and Lake Hour, my new favorite summer canned cocktail;
Brian & Oscar made huge trays of amazing nachos and sandwiches;
Xun unloaded a big bag of goodies including Strawberry Kit-Kats and spicy chips;
Snacky stuff like RKTs from both me and Hannah (she is the true RKT expert), Costco cookies (you know the kind), watermelon I ate for days to follow, Goldfish;
Iggy & Austin brought margarita pops and dirt cups! The magic about dirt cups is that when they come out, everyone immediately says “ohmygod dirt cups yesssss” -- this is camp canon;
Emily & Ray, recent recipients of many bushels of summer peaches, made homemade peach ice cream that we’re still talking about
A SCATTERING OF GOOD TASTES
What I’ve been up to, outside of summer camp:
The fall pickup season of our CSA has begun, the first haul this week included … Georgia muscadines?! Not sure what to do with these bad boys just yet (aside from the usual suspects like jam or pie). If anyone has any interesting ideas, please drop them in the comments! Persistent plug to support your local farms & farmer co-ops by joining a CSA!! It’s the best, best, best.
Library haul: Big Swiss (neutral-positive), Whale Fall (positive, so lovely), Sandwich (neutral-negative, the main character is insufferable), reading Sag Harbor next
Continuing to take a mix of under-, over-, and just right-exposed film! I’m trying to post as much as I am proud of here as well as on Instagram.
Admiring:
Places I have been loving:
Casa Yuma hotel on Playa Los Naranjos in Mexico, I love the use of organic, natural Mexican materials throughout (I had to google “chukum” - a vegetal concrete - but I also love the use of traditional Pueblan salmon pink bricks). I am increasingly drawn to the look of architecture styles that are very “organic modern” even if it’s not a personal style in my own home.
From Vogue, the California Case Study House of nepo babies Lilly Collins and Charlie McDowell
The Nancy Meyers of it all has become a little tiresome, much as she remains the queen of well-dressed home sets and with good reason. I am a fan of this gallery of stills from her films, mostly because it’s presented without drooling comment. That said, my favorites have always been the living room from Father of the Bride and the entryway of the British townhome in The Parent Trap.
“Joyful architecture” is a trend I’m seeing all over the place in different forms, and it feels right for the time (as well as great phrasing)
My home office project has sat in a Pinterest board for about a year, from paint choices to built-in shelving. I saw this Domino article about repurposing IKEA closet systems as display and storage in a kids’ bedroom - I love the idea of using shoe racks as gallery-like displays across an entire wall and swapping out themed displays!
Other items of note:
Just learned of the German back-to-school schültute, little decorative paper cones filled with school supplies and gifts as a first day of school tradition. This is a sweet idea for any kind of goodie bag situation. How lovely are these prints for the cones from Heirloom Art Co.?
On rituals and routines: “The principle of committing to and accomplishing the work must take precedence over any ‘accessory’ that inspires or motivates the worker.”
On palimpsest and not starting from scratch from
THE BROWN BUTTER RKT
A humble confession: I had never made Rice Krispies Treats before Camp Gloria. The ones I had growing up came out of the shiny blue package (which I still love) or I guess someone’s parents had already made them for a sleepover. I’d never known the visceral fold of marshmallow to cereal from my own hands! Time to learn.
I started from the base of this Caramelized Brown Butter RKT recipe (gift link) from NYT Cooking, with a few modifications. The most stressful part is the ratio of marshmallow:butter:cereal in the fold, and may come down to how crunchy or gooey you prefer your RKT (hence my modifications).
INGREDIENTS
6 oz. Rice Krispies cereal (about half-¾ of the full bag)
8 oz. salted butter + 1 separate tbsp. melted, to coat the parchment paper
2 10 ½ oz bag of marshmallows
1 tsp. vanilla
Large pinch of flaky sea salt
WHAT TO DO
Line a full-sized baking sheet with parchment paper and butter entirely. Pour the cereal in the largest mixing bowl you have.
In a large pot, melt the rest of the butter over medium heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty (this took about 6-7 minutes on my stovetop) - add in flaky salt and vanilla and stir. Stir in the marshmallows and stir with a silicon spatula, constantly folding until melted and turning a nice golden tan.
Mix marshmallow butter into the cereal bowl immediately, taking care to turn the bowl to scrape down the sides evenly until combined. Pour into the sheet, pressing and shaping with your hands (I had to spray some oil on mine to keep them from sticking). Let rest for 30 minutes to an hour, or until fully cooled, and cut with a bench scraper.
Absolutely loved this edition (even though I only understand about half of it). It’s so joyful and fun.
I was really interested to hear your take on Sandwich as I’ve only seen rave reviews. I think I’m the only person in the world who didn’t like her previous book (We all want impossible things) but I also loved Whale Fall. Beautiful writing.
What an absolutely joyful gathering of inspiration! Thrilled to be included. And Camp Gloria looks magic.❣️