Memorial Day 2015
After this interminable winter, I know all of you are ITCHING to get outside and start enjoying the lake. I thought I’d share with you something that has brought back fond memories from my early days at the lake. Recently, a dear high school friend found my yellowed crinkly original manuscript from a creative writing class we took during our senior year at Jefferson Township High (1972). He scanned and emailed it to me, and I was delighted to see one of my early attempts at writing and the funky old font of my beloved Smith Corona typewriter. To the right is what it said verbatim (as you can see, I loved parentheses). It’s remarkable we all survived that game. I’m sure many of us have scars to show for it! Since it’s still fairly early in the picnic season, I thought I’d share a recipe for a delicious, light and bright asparagus salad. It has been my go-to bring-along for Easter dinner and is welcome at cookouts and sit-down dinners throughout the spring and summer. Rules for boathouse tag (1972): During the summer, you may see droves of young people making a pilgrimage to a certain brown boathouse near Nolan’s Point, Lake Hopatcong. This is the established spot for playing boathouse tag. The game can be played by two to fifty people (at fifty, the boathouse begins to shake) from ages three to twenty-three (that’s the age of the oldest living boathouse tag player. Anyone over the hill cannot take the fast and strenuous pace of the game. The ability to swim, run and have a good time are the utmost requirements. (Calloused feet help, too, because the floor of the boathouse is rough concrete, which can cause some lacerations, contusions and other groovy things.) If there are injuries, moaning lessons can be obtained from an expert. He is the utmost authority on moaning and groaning because he always gets “wrecked” every time he plays. There is a certain technique to groaning, you see, you support the tone from the diaphragm…. but I won’t go into that. Boathouse tag is initiated by this procedure: All the kids that are going to play get on top of the boathouse, and at the count of three they all jump off. The last one off, or the last one standing on top is “it”. Then you follow the normal procedure for any regular kind of tag, but you can play on land, sea (otherwise known as lake) or air. The “land” is the area of the boathouse and the adjoining dock, the “sea” is the lake, and there are no boundaries for how far you can swim out, and the air, is well… the air. Let me explain that further; when you’re jumping off the top of the boathouse and the person who is “it” happens to have long arms and tags you while you’re in mid air, you’re playing in the air. The cardinal rule of boathouse tag is: Once you’re on the top of the boathouse (touching the green roof) you have to jump off. The question might be raised: Isn’t there another way to get down?” Yes, there is. You can slide down the poles supporting the top of the boathouse, but (1) it is a little difficult when you have a wet bathing suit on, and (2) the white paint that the poles are painted with comes off on your clothes and skin and you turn out looking like an inverted skunk. Another rule is, you can’t deliberately harm the person that is “it”, thus disabling him from catching you) or any other player. Boathouse tag is a natural hazard in itself (if you’re playing on our boathouse), but certain injuries can be prevented. Fractured people, for instance. They are caused by careless players who don’t look before they leap (into the water). They usually land on some innocent kid who was just coming up for air, or who couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. Now that I have briefly discussed the rules, there are some variations on the theme of regular or “day” boathouse tag. There is night boathouse tag, which involves less swimming, but more screaming and running. Another variation of boathouse tag is playing it with your clothes on (as opposed to bathing suits). This is played either when it is too cold to go swimming or if no one has a bathing suit with them. (If you fall in the lake, that’s your tough luck.) If you’re ever in Lake Hopatcong, and you meet our requirements for the game, come on over! I can assure you that it will be an unforgettable experience.
2 bunches fresh asparagus 1 box grape or cherry tomatoes, halved 1 onion, sliced thin 1/2 c. capers with brine
For Dressing: 1/3 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 c. olive oil salt & pepper chopped parsley
1. Trim the woody ends of the asparagus. 2. Set aside a large bowl of ice water. Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil and blanch the asparagus until the water just comes back to a boil. Immediately plunge the cooked asparagus into the ice water bath. Drain, chop into bite-sized pieces (or leave whole) and set aside. 3. Whisk together dressing ingredients. 4. In a medium-sized bowl, toss the sliced tomatoes, onion and capers with their brine into the dressing. This mixture can marinate one to three hours before serving. 5. Just before serving: Add the blanched asparagus and toss well to combine.