We’re still technically on summer break here, but I get panicky at the sight of so much time passing without activity. Mom and I should be posting up a storm, since she’s here, staying at my apartment for a week and taking the artisanal bread class that I took last August. (It’s take-your-mother-to-work-week! Yay!) But anyone around New York will agree that it’s too damn hot. It’s too hot to even motivate oneself to go out to eat (we made that mistake last week and found every restaurant in a one-mile radius packed with other people too hot to cook).

So we’re spending our time trying to stay cool. As Poppy told me on the phone, “Son, managing your mother’s comfort is a full-time job.” Uncle Ted and I took her to the Chelsea Market for a few hours where we perused shop after shop, bought some Cream-Nut peanut butter, and drank fancy soda (I had my first Fentiman’s, and I’m pining for my second). I sent her to Loehmann’s one day to do some shopping while I took a dip in the West Village public pool. And we’ve spent plenty of time in the apartment, reading in front of the fan and the air conditioner. We might go to the movies one night, but that would involve navigating heat and crowds.

We’ve done a small bit of food preparation (it can’t really be called cooking). On Saturday, I cruised the Greenmarket (which is outstanding right now) for some tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, and we had the caprese salad pictured above along with some corn from Sycamore farms that as sweet as sugar. On Sunday, Mom showed me her method for pesto, which involves lots of toasting of the various elements and then spreading them out to cool. It takes longer than my lazy way of just processing everything together, but the difference in flavor is substantial.

Tomorrow, I’m going to try to get her to the Spotted Pig for an early dinner, since she’s dying to have a Cuban sandwich and I bet theirs is phenomenal. She’ll deserve a treat after a second day in the hot bread kitchen, boiling bagels and loading baguettes into the blazing ovens.