July 27th. Surprise Beach Picnic. Corn and Bacon Hash.

Biking home from yoga, I spotted Natasha on the side of the Bike Path in Ocean Park.  She was with Joe and her cousins Joanne from San Diego, Karen from Park City and their mother Pearlita from Sierra Madre.  The sisters were visiting their mother and they'd taken the opportunity for a beach outing.

I was, as indeed is often (though not always) the case post-yoga, starving and deep in thoughts about what might possibility be in my refrigerator.  Startled by the appearance of a picnicking group almost on the beach path--the group had lots of chairs, including a wheeled one, so they had not proceeded very far from the parking lot--I could not refrain from asking if they might happen to be picnicking.

Indeed--they had just packed up the remnants of their lunch and were happy (I think) to have another nibbler join in.  Joe immediately offered a tupperware of geometrically cut watermelon pieces.

That was just the beginning.  Although they'd just packed up their meal, there were plenty of leftovers and within minutes an assortment of sandwiches and packaged treats was set up for its photo opportunity.

In addition to the watermelon, I had a ham and cheese sandwich, little peanut butter sandwich cookies and the excellent Meyer lemon cookie thins in that elegant yellow box.  Plus I had an unexpected visit with Natasha's cousins and aunt whom I'd met at the end of May at Maya's wedding.  A very jolly interlude in the sun before continuing my bike ride home.

That evening I made a corn and bacon hash--I'd been inspired by a similar recipe at the Smitten Kitchen the other day.  I had all (or most) of the necessary ingredients so no reason not to make a Bacon Corn Hash.  I thought I was making a fairly large amount, but I ate every last bit, so here my recipe for:

BACON CORN HASH FOR ONE

Two or three slabs thick bacon cut into lardons, 1/2" x 1".

Kernels scraped from two ears of fresh corn.

Three medium potatoes, diced.

Two or three green onions, or shallots.

A few strips of roasted red pepper (for color and a bit of zing--optional)

Bacon Corn Hash waiting for an egg (it does look like I ate a lot)

Cook the bacon in a heavy pan until well browned and bordering on crispy.  Remove the bacon from pan, and if you're bold enough cook the potatoes in the remaining fat.  You could of course, drain the fat, and use oil or butter--but why would you?  THe potatoes, if you don't par-boil them (and I didn't) will take a while.  Try to have them in a single layer, and patiently wait until they're nicely browned on one side--then turn them over.  If you're not patient--you'll do more stirring, but it won't speed things up.  Par-boiling will make it much quicker if you do need things quicker.  Otherwise, you can clean the kitchen a bit until the potatoes are almost done--if you're using shallots you might want to put them in next, then the corn--if you have green onions, reverse the order. Return to the bacon to the pan. Toss in some bits of roasted red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste   Heat through.   If you'd like, you can do as I did and fry an egg in another pan and eat with for a very fine meal indeed.