By The summer solstice this week — the longest day, the turning point. I walked the property at nine o'clock when the light was still going, that long Vermont June light that makes everything look considered. The tomatoes are above my knee. The beans are flowering. The garden is in full mid-summer operation and the days are still enormous and the whole property is at its best. I stood at the south end of the garden and looked north at the farm and thought: yes. This is the thing. This specific evening.
I've been reading through Helen's 1987 notebook recipe by recipe now, making the ones that seem right for the season. This week: a cold cucumber soup she'd written up with a note in the margin: "perfect for the solstice, serve very cold." She had the solstice in mind when she wrote it. I made it on the same day. That felt like a real conversation across time, specific and deliberate. Serve very cold. She was right. I did. It was.
Bill called on Sunday and we talked for two hours. His garden is going well — the beans are producing, the tomatoes are setting. He's been eating salads from his own lettuce and he said, twice, in the same call: I grew this. I grew this. I said: yes. He said: I didn't know it would feel like that. I said: nobody knows until it does. He's in his third summer of growing things and the wonder hasn't diminished. That's a good sign about the kind of person he is.
Helen’s margin note said “perfect for the solstice, serve very cold” — and while she wrote that for a soup, the spirit of it carried right into the glass. Standing at the south end of the garden that evening, the light still holding at nearly nine o’clock, I wanted something in hand that matched the occasion: garden-fresh, deeply cold, and a little ceremonial. This cucumber gin smash is exactly that — a toast to the longest day, to Bill growing his own beans and not believing it, and to the kind of specific, deliberate evenings that make you think: yes, this is the thing.
Cucumber Gin Smash
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min | Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped (plus thin slices for garnish)
- 4 oz gin
- 1 oz fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
- 3/4 oz simple syrup
- 6–8 fresh mint leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
- 1 cup ice, plus more for serving
- 2–3 oz sparkling water, to top
- Pinch of flaky salt
Instructions
- Muddle the cucumber. Add the chopped cucumber and mint leaves to a cocktail shaker. Muddle firmly until the cucumber releases its juice and the mint is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the liquids. Pour in the gin, fresh lime juice, and simple syrup. Add 1 cup of ice.
- Shake well. Seal the shaker and shake vigorously for 15–20 seconds until the outside of the shaker is very cold.
- Strain into glasses. Double-strain through a fine mesh strainer into two ice-filled rocks glasses to remove cucumber pulp and mint bits.
- Finish and garnish. Top each glass with a splash of sparkling water. Add a pinch of flaky salt, then garnish with a cucumber slice and a fresh mint sprig.
- Serve immediately. Serve very cold, as soon as possible after making.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 185 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 10g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 60mg