Campari Shandy + My Late-Summer Cooking Bucket List

It is time to pack in all that produce (and uhhh some campari too).

There is a new bar in my neighborhood that my friends have been raving about. A few months ago they had baby pigs in the backyard for children to pet?? I finally went this month and learned something striking: they do not sell a beer that is less than ten dollars. This, on top of the fact that I got no fewer than 8 bug bites in the backyard, soured me on the place initially, despite the handsome interiors and the fact that I “wanted to support a local queer-owned bar” or whatever.

And then I ordered a glass bottle of High Life emptied of an ounce of its beer and refilled with strawberry-infused Campari. It was PINK! It was REFRESHING! It was one dollar less than the other beers! I love the bar now. Its name is Singers.

It got me thinking about this Campari Shandy, which Molly Wizenberg (hi Molly!) deemed the Summer Drink of 2013. Nothing is new! Life is cyclical! And also—a Campari Shandy is delicious! I’ll be toting a half-full bottle of Campari to the beach this weekend, where I’ll spend a few days with some friends, and where I’ll hopefully turn this into the Late Summer Drink of 2022. I’d like to say that I’ll be macerating strawberries in my Campari, but I’m too busy for that at the moment, so we’re keeping it simple. If you want to make one of these at home, just take a few glugs out of a bottle of High Life, delicately pour in an ounce or two of Campari, and finish—if you’re feeling decorative—with a lime wedge.

Along with the Campari shandy, I wanted to share my late-summer cooking bucket list. Each year around this time, I begin to panic that I haven’t eaten enough tomatoes, corn, and stone fruit. Here’s what I’m determined to make before they leave the markets—including my new favorite post-market breakfast.