Will they refrain from doing that if you ask them nicely? I can't stand sweeteners in tea or coffee.
It's usually a little bottle sitting out that you can pour yourself.
It's funny how things like this are so obvious, but it takes so long for them to become fairly standard. I expect a decent coffee shop to have simple syrup on the counter next to the milk and sugar, but a few years ago it was surprising. Too bad PEAK OIL and/or THE SINGULARITY or whatever is going to smash our hard-won cultural coffee boutique knowledge back into the Dark Ages.
My fave coffee house has the sweetened water and patrons add as they wish, Yay. I was there this morning and the barista skipped me and tried to serve the woman behind me, Boo. Belated recognition of this gaffe and apologies all around, Yay.
Will they refrain from doing that if you ask them nicely? I can't stand sweeteners in tea or coffee.
Right, per Bave, it's available but not mandatory. I think if you order a sweetened cold drink, they usually have made it hot and sweet hours ago and parked it in the fridge to cool.
There's one place here that has "simple syrup" and "splenda syrup". I really think the latter should be "splendid syrup", and I feel so strongly about this that I think they might adopt the suggestion if I ask.
Yeah, I'm constantly making batches of simple syrup at our shop, folks go through that stuff really quickly. Which, come on people, if you want something sweet go drink a red bull or whatever. It's good coffee, it isn't all that bitter.
Stop trying to jam your splendid syrup down OFE's throat, Ned.
I love that my local coffeeshop cold brews the joe for their ice coffee, so it's not all ice-melty.
"sweet tea" in the south is way too sweet for my taste
I don't mind it, what with being raised down here and all, but I usually prefer my iced tea unsweetened.
I find I like iced tea either of the unsweetened or super sweet southern variety. The in between somewhat sweetened ice tea that you can get around here I don't like at all.
It's 50 degrees and raining here, thank you very much (we've had 3 weeks of mostly cloudy and rainy, but I expect it to turn into summer soon).
The only time I specifically seek out sweet tea is after major physical exertion in the summer, when it truly is the drink of the gods. Otherwise I prefer unsweetened.
I go off sugar for a month or two every now and then, which ratchets my tolerance for sweet way down. I try to keep it too myself, but I'm afraid that I become one of those insufferable people who gaze at the carrot cake and demur. "Too sweet for me, thanks anyway."
I don't sugar my coffee, but it is about two parts coffee to one part milk, so I'm no purist.
after major physical exertion in the summer, when it truly is the drink of the gods
The summer I was doing irrigation system evaluations in the hot sun, I started drinking a can or two of Kern's mango juice at the end of the day. It is thick stuff, and I imagine it has a ton of sugar in it. But oh god, was it good.
Oo, or young coconut juice in the can, which is easy to find in the Central Valley: go figure.
While I have a crazy sweet tooth generally, I can't drink sweet when I'm thirsty. Hot sweaty weather is the only time cheap American beer is a good thing, and then it's really good.
Have you all ever had that orange juice - I think it's Korean - where the little beads of pulp from the orange are uncrushed? So delicious.
Yeah, coconut water is great too. And, it makes a great summer highball when mixed with dark rum.
(N.B. "sweet tea" in the south is way too sweet for my taste)
Wooo boy do I ever agree with this. What I don't understand is this: the South is really, really hot. In hot temperatures, super syrupy-sweet things make you feel gross. So why the need to add massive amounts of sugar to the tea?
You guys are making me thirsty. My current quenching obsession is "Grown Up Soda" (brand) in the meyer lemon flavor. I definitely prefer tart cold drinks when I'm really thirsty. Is there a biological reason for that?
18: Sac Sac
Well that's aptly named.
I go off sugar for a month or two every now and then, which ratchets my tolerance for sweet way down. I try to keep it too myself, but I'm afraid that I become one of those insufferable people who gaze at the carrot cake and demur. "Too sweet for me, thanks anyway."
Wait, doesn't this interfere with your pie baking?
While I have a crazy sweet tooth generally, I can't drink sweet when I'm thirsty.
I have almost permanently lost my taste for soft drinks after making the mistake of drinking a Mountain Dew on a hot day. That was 17 years ago, and I still can't think about soda when I'm really thirsty without feeling a little icky (it's okay if I'm not thirsty and I just want the flavor, so I'll still have a soda every now and then).
TeaLuxe has simple syrup, Knecht.
There's definitely something about bitter or sour tastes that make them more thirst quenching. In my father's childhood, buttermilk was the go-to drink after working in the fields etc.
Coconut water is my favorite favorite post-exertion drink. COLD ONLY, though. Tepid it is ick.
I like Hint Water, the official water-based water beverage of Women's Professional Soccer. Especially the pear type, and the cucumber type that smells exactly like stink bugs.
Hot sweaty weather is the only time cheap American beer is a good thing, and then it's really good.
The president of Boston Beer, which makes Sam Adams, agrees:
"A craft beer you would not drink," he said, "after you just mowed the lawn on a hot day."
why the need to add massive amounts of sugar to the tea
What, you think Southern teeth are just genetics? That look takes *effort*.
the cucumber type that smells exactly like stink bugs
This reminds me of a weird incident from over the weekend: a friend was absolutely convinced (and it turns out he was right) he had a lightning bug on him somewhere, because he could smell it. I've since been informed by other people that they, too, have experienced this odor, but it was the first I'd ever heard of it.
The greatest upgrade to my thirst-quenching life has been the purchase of a SodaStream carbonator doohickey. Fizzy water on demand all the time! Hooray! Someday maybe I will set up a more serious home carbonation system, but the SS is currently in my sweet spot of simplicity, compactness, and not needing to change the gas cartridge all the time.
I find carbonated things far more thirst-quenching than anything else when I'm really thirsty; I'm otherwise not much of a soda (or cheap American lager) drinker. I've tried to theorize some scientific explanation for this, but I don't actually know any science, so.
Huh. I bought some similar object a year or so ago, and was so unimpressed that I haven't even used up the initial box of cartridges I bought. Fizzy water, yes, but barely fizzy, and going flat very quickly.
Sort of pwned by 33. We have one of those, too! After our housewarming party, in which it was put to use, at least 2 of our guests got their own.
The Soda Stream(TM) makes the water very fizzy (or less so if you want) and comes with special bottles that someone seal in the fizz very well. I don't mean to go all product endorsement, but it's pretty great.
I haven't even used up the initial box of cartridges I bought. Fizzy water, yes, but barely fizzy, and going flat very quickly.
The kind where you use one cartridge per bottle is NO GOOD! I had a seltzer bottle like that and had the exact same results, plus irritation at going through zillions of little cartridges. That is why I am so extremely happy with the thing I have now.
someone
somehow
Apparently my fingers are too fizzy to type properly.
I recommend using frozen berries in lieu of ice cubes in your fizzy water.
I kind of want a Soda Stream but one of their factories is in an illegal West Bank settlement, and I mean, I won't even shop in a Wal-Mart, and they only lock their employees up sometimes.
||
Damn Republicans for threatening a filibuster on H.R. 4123 and doing a jobs bill which cuts FMAP (enhanced Medicaid funding).
Oh, how I wish Scott Brown weren't my Senator. MA residents, please contact him before tomorrow. Selfishly, I'm worried that my employer may lose out if this doesn't pass, but also I think it's the wrong move.
|>
I kind of want a Soda Stream but one of their factories is in an illegal West Bank settlement
I wish you hadn't told me that!
foxytail, with any luck ours were made in China, where they lock people up in factory compounds rather than in refugee camps posing as cities.
God, the world sucks.
But! Workers are organizing in China!
Well, they have 7 factories ! I bet Europe gets all the iffy ones!! (And I wouldn't have even said anything, but that it seemed that the info should be added to the mix if new folks were thinking they should get them.)
(And I wouldn't have even said anything, but that it seemed that the info should be added to the mix if new folks were thinking they should get them.)
And quite right, too. STILL, crummy dumb old evil world.
In hot temperatures, super syrupy-sweet things make you feel gross.
Super sweet drinks are pretty ubiquitous in very hot, humid climes. I assume such traditions were established well before the advent of refrigeration and air conditioning, and were vital or quick fluid and energy replacement after slaving away in the hot sun.
after slaving away in the hot sun at the SodaStream factory
49 makes sense (is, e.g., the lychee drink a southern Chinese thing?). Still, for me at least, almost nothing feels worse than being out on a super hot, super humid day and being given something sticky-sweet.
51: I only like it if I'm sweaty and exhausted from toting barges, lifting bales, etc.
Or poolside in the Caribbean.
Still, for me at least, almost nothing feels worse than being out on a super hot, super humid day and being given something sticky-sweet.
Does this include, e.g., a daiquiri? Because, if so, you're just wrong.
"Breakin' rocks in the hot sun..."
After my mom exercises, she likes to quench her thirst with some warm, flat, diet Sprite. I think we can all wrinkle our nose at my dear mom.
(She leaves it in the car, so often it's downright hot, flat, diet Sprite. Mmmm.)
When I'm hot and thirsty, the only drink that sounds appealing is (non-carbonated) ice water. That's also what I want with meals. This preference began in my mid-30s for no reason I can discern.
54 -- the booze cuts the sweetness and therefore makes it tolerable. A virgin daquiri on a hot day is gross.
Still, on a really hot day, I prefer just a simple American beer (or maybe a nice rose wine).
Now I realize that I may be an extreme outlier. To be honest, I kind of hate sugar in general, except chocolate.
If I mix the SodaStream Oppression Seltzer with delicious Slovenian fruit syrup purchased from the nice Lebanese family or, alternately, from the nice Syrian family, does it all balance out karma-wise?
59: First get a certificate that they're making remittances to their elderly relatives.
60: As far as I can tell, their elderly relatives all work in the stores.
When it's really hot out, I just like a big cup of ice cubes. That's what I'm enjoying right now, actually.
Not "just". But sometimes. Often!
My first and only mojito experience was at a Cuban-themed restaurant in Chile. We each ate something and had exactly one mojito before heading home. Upon arriving home, I promptly yacked up what seemed like about a week's worth of comestibles. Even though it was presumably the food, not the drink, I've never since been able to stomach even the thought of having another mojito.
62: Have your iron checked. If your iron isn't low, it's probably "a sign of emotional problems, such as stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder or a developmental disorder."
Uh, and sorry if 65 is gross or TMI.
Taking iron pills doesn't sound refreshing at all in this heat.
69: You could skip the pill and do a sort of Double Down-style thing, with two beef steaks flanking a cod.
heebie, don't trust people who tell you chewing ice cubes is a sign of sexual frustration even though people seem to say that all the time. It's just because chewing ice is absolutely awesome at all times and not enough people recognize this, which is fine because it means more ice for me!
A law school buddy whose long-distance relationship turned into a marriage third year did not get very far with "but they [we] let me chew ice!" when his wife chided him for it.
Favorite hot weather drinks: bitter lemon or a good granita. Bitter lemon is pretty hard to get in the US so I was happy when my local supermarket started carrying it last summer. Unfortunately, they stopped a few months ago.
Favorite hot weather drinks: bitter lemon or a good granita. Bitter lemon is pretty hard to get in the US so I was happy when my local supermarket started carrying it last summer. Unfortunately, they stopped a few months ago.
I am especially fond of Fever-Tree brand bitter lemon, and have just returned from an hour-long walk with an infant strapped to my front to replenish my stores of it.
Whole Foods carries a decent bitter lemon, iirc.
I would drink chinotto like mother's milk if it weren't so hard to get in large quantities without spending large quantities of money.
Ooh! Bitter Lemon or Fanta Lemon, which you can't find in this country at all, are my favorite my favorite soft drinks/minerals when I'm in West Africa, though nothing quenches quite like cocnut water.
My favorite refresher in the US is unsweetened chilled fresh mint tea. So satifying.
I'm a big fan of plain old water though. I don't understand people who claim not to enjoy water.
cocnut
The lowest hanging fruit of all.
Yes, I saw that too late.
Alternately, you can make a fine MOLE sauce with it.
Fanta:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_availability_of_Fanta
Fanta and Nazis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Keith
77.last: Plain water is the absolute best.
I also like tepid orange gatorade after working in the sun - you can chug it without getting the queasy feeling you get from chugging too much water, and you don't get brain freeze.
tepid orange gatorade
WHOA NELLIE!
Hey totally off topic, but didn't one of you leave a comment recently about how someone brown they knew met some crazy white guy on a plane who tried talking your friend (the brown person) into joining them in an expedition to hunt down OBL? Was it this Gary guy??
It was Knecht's Sikh buddy from Canada as the recruit, Dog the Bounty Hunter as recruiter
I believe that was Knecht talking about Dog, the Bounty Hunter.
It's 50 degrees and raining here, thank you very much
Seriously. Now mid-afternoon, and it's still 50 and raining (precip update: we're at 5x normal so far for June). Know what I'll be drinking? Bourbon, that's what.
Whoa, I had thought that was some made up for the mineshaft name. Crazy.
80.1:
Thanks! Now I know how to plan my international travel.
I bought a soda siphon and chaise longue when I got my first fulltime job. I was afraid this heralded a Gatsbyesque spree, but when I get a spree urge I just have a soda and lie down.
Not very fizzy, but the cartridges get delightfully cold.
YOU KNOW WHO'S HOT? LAURIE DAVID, THAT'S WHO!
http://www.starmagazine.com/al_gore_laurie_david_affair/news/16986
Al Gore didn't have to be opinionated to convey that. I don't usually think of him as much of a shouter.
83: Speaking of crazy white guys trying to hunt down bin Laden...
I KNOW I'M USUALLY PRETTY CONTROLLED BUT AFTER FORTY YEARS WITH TIPPER AND NOW I SCORE THIS HOTTIE I CAN'T HELP MYSELF!
You must feel like you set loose Frankenstein's monster.
You must feel like you set loose Frankenstein's monster.
SOMEONE'S BEEN PEEKING
HE'S GOING TO BE VERY POPULAR.
She didn't have to peek, Al.
http://fruitfly.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/rolling-stone-al-gore.jpg
96: THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID
ALL I WANTED IS FOR AL TO "TALK DIRTY" TO ME. IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK?
doing a jobs bill which cuts FMAP (enhanced Medicaid funding)
!#&%(!)#%&!(%#!$#!
There is already a massive budget gap looming here. The FMAP extension would give us $850 million we really, really need.
Does anybody know whether the Republican opponents have enough support to squash it? I thought that some Republicans supported it....
My favorite refresher in the US is unsweetened chilled fresh mint tea.
This sounds like an excellent idea; I've tended to favor chilled raspberry tea, unsweetened, which may sound cloying in some way, but isn't. I'll definitely try mint. Mint/raspberry?
I honestly need to find a glass pitcher or jar (closed top) in order to put this in the works.
Obama will be addressing this august nation shortly.
From my daily minute of hypertension—reading the Washington Post's editorials:
Don't get us wrong -- BP must pay cleanup costs, compensation and damages, which are likely to be considerable. But Mr. Obama's fund also should not become the means to accomplish the politically attractive end of forcing BP to pay in a manner that unnecessarily overstresses the company. Indeed, victims of the spill should hope that BP flourishes -- so that it has the profits from which to pay them in the years ahead.
I would think that mint-raspberry or mint-rose hip would work quite well. We also have a surfeit of lemon balm this year, so I'll probably be making some chocolate mint-lemon balm tea in the next day ot two. Hibiscus and ginger is another great combination, though I find that wants some sweetening.
You only need a glass jar if you want to go the sun tea route. I tend to go with steeping in boiling water for a few minutes, allowing it to cool and then putting it in the fridge.
Heh. You're naming all the teas I don't like. I've never liked that vitamin C flavor at the end of the swallow, and you're going straight for the teas that give that. I'll be over here with the mints and black teas, thanks.
I would think that mint-raspberry or mint-rose hip would work quite well. We also have a surfeit of lemon balm this year, so I'll probably be making some chocolate mint-lemon balm tea in the next day ot two. Hibiscus and ginger is another great combination, though I find that wants some sweetening.
It's not tea if it doesn't contain tea leaves.
Nosflow gets it exactly right. I say this as someone who does like some non-tea infusions.
You only need a glass jar if you want to go the sun tea route
But sun tea is cool! With respect to refrigeration, I've just figured that I want the tea in a glass container in the fridge, and I probably want it covered (hence a jar) lest it absorb ... smells? ... from other items in the fridge. That's probably overkill in reality, since I go through it fairly quickly in hot weather. Glass, though, still.
Sigh. a) Mint leaves are leaves. b) There is such a thing as colloquial usage and "herbal tea" is well established. c) "Tisane" sounds stupid.
I like pretty much every sort of tea and "tea" except black tea and puer, though I think greens and oolongs are nicer warm to hot.
Mint leaves are leaves.
Are they leaves of Camellia sinensis?
I like pretty much every sort of tea and "tea" except black tea and puer
Puella gets top marks from me.
Pu-erh is great.
I agree with those who don't call things "tea" unless they have tea in them. It leads to ambiguity. Rose hip tea eh? Sounds interesting. Oh, you just mean "essence of rose-hips". Ça ne m'intéresse. At least say "herbal tea".
I LIKE EVERY KIND OF HAMBURGER EXCEPT BEEFBURGERS AND QUORN.
If this is a food thread: ideas for meals that don't involve the generation of heat in the kitchen? Or at least minimal heat. It really is so hot lately in certain parts of the country that this becomes a desideratum -- yesterday was something like 92 Celsius, and with humidity factor (so-called "heat index") it was 100.
The household has just finished off the black bean salad with corn and diced red and green peppers and red onions. I have several ends+ of peasant-type bread -- which has to be kept in the fridge these days lest it mold in the course of two days.
I'm thinking a panzanella salad. Given what's at hand, diced cucumbers, tomatoes (drained), peppers? red onions again? and maybe probably the fresh oregano from the CSA. In a vinaigrette, with the cubed bread and cubed cheese of some sort at the end. No cooking. Just dicing, tossing, and marinating.
Other thoughts for no-cook foods that don't just amount to a green salad?
Those automatic ice tea makers are excellent. I have one at work and one at home. I drink about a quart of ice tea a day.
yesterday was something like 92 Celsius
Surely not.
I tend to keep either sweetened ice tea with lime or lemon, sometimes infused with mint or limeade/lemonade, ditto around all the time. If you're using mint I recommend just infusing the simple syrup and removing the leaves since they can go bad. I'm also thinking of trying to make granita. It sounds easy, you just make a bunch of strong coffee, sweeten, cool and then dump in the freezer, stirring every ten minutes or so until it's ready. Anyone ever tried?
117: OOPS. Fahrenheit. Good grief. Sorry about that.
115 Sounds like the ingredients for gazpacho. Just chop everything with a bit of garlic, mash like crazy, add a bunch of good sherry vinegar and a bit of olive oil, then let sit covered in the fridge for a day or so. Crumble a bit of the bread in for extra texture. Or if you're feeling lazy, puree half of it and mash the rest a little bit. Don't puree it all, it's far, far better when you've got some distinct chunks of veggies in it.
Gazpacho sounds fantastic, though I admit the various attempts I've made have never come out the way the best gazpacho I ever had (tm) was.
When tomato season hits in earnest, I'll try again. Right now tomatoes are in a hesitant stage. Herbs for gazpacho, if any? I've heard of people using a tomato juice base as well; I've tried that, didn't seem to do the trick. I may have been missing the sherry vinegar.
115: Couscous salad with ginger lime dressing.
Make couscous; fluff with fork; let stand. Add: diced red pepper; finely chopped red onion; about a cup of greens peas (fresh or frozen -- but if frozen, first thaw); unsalted roasted cashews, chopped; chopped cilantro.
Dressing: olive oil; fresh lime juice (about 3-4 limes); 1-2 cloves garlic; freshly grated ginger (about a teaspoon); ground cumin; ground coriander; salt and pepper. Mix together well (preferably shake in a jar). Add to couscous/veggie mix and toss.
My all-summer tomato salads:
Uzbeki:
Tomatoes, chopped (two parts)
yellow onion, finally sliced (one part)
Salt
Shirazi:
Tomatoes, chopped (two parts)
Cucumbers, chopped (two parts)
Red onion, chopped (one part)
Lemon, salt
Sacramenti:
Tomatoes, chopped (two parts)
Cucumbers, chopped (two parts)
Red onion, chopped (one part)
Garbanzos (two parts)
Yogurt, big spoonful
Lemon, salt
I love all of them very much.
Couscous salad with ginger lime dressing
Excellent! I have almost everything needed for that, but for the lime, cilantro, and ginger! Awesome! Ahem. Thanks.
Along those lines, there's any kind of tabouli-style salad. That will be coming up soon as well. Cripe, I should make hummus too.
What is the best way to preserve ginger, by the way? In foil in the fridge? I understand that I can look these things up, but I seem to have encountered conflicting reports about ginger, yet I *know* that I should be able to keep ginger for a while.
Parsi, you're vegetarian, right? My go to as a carnivore is grilled meat/fish, but you can grill lots of different vegetables as well. I also like to grill bread and spread with room temperature spreads--tomato/garlic/basil; reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes with feta, oregano, onion, and black olive; tapenade, etc.
If you can stand to heat water for pasta, pasta primavera with uncooked veggies that have been thoroughly whipped in a food processor with a good olive oil is really nice.
yet I *know* that I should be able to keep ginger for a while.
Sure, you can. But Mary Ann's the real looker.
I just leave my ginger unwrapped in our pantry cabinet. It self-seals and doesn't dry out appreciably for months.
In my experience, ginger doesn't keep too well (but I'm probably doing something wrong). Basically, I think the fridge is too cold. In winter, I leave it out on the counter, with cut end wrapped up (foil or plastic wrap, secured with an elastic band), and it seems to keep for a while. In summer, I also leave it on the counter, where it's likely to get all nasty (because I don't use it every day or even twice a week, probably) and then I have to throw it out. So that's not very helpful, I know.
The Sacramenti salad sounds good.
Everything becomes a food thread. I just tried our bread machine for the first time this millennium. Seems to work. I made a barely passable white loaf using AP flour and just dumping the yeast in with the dry ingredients. Since that worked, I'm going to try to see if I can get a good wheat loaf by following the instructions.
125: Just a mostly-vegetarian. The issue is really the heat lately, though. Certain things I can cook up in the morning; I've thought of pasta, or pasta salads, but there's just no way a person would want to boil pasta in the evening when there's a several-day stretch of 90-something intensely humid weather going on.
I could grill at a reasonably earlyish hour. Good thought. Also: tapenade! Yeah, putting together some topping-like things is a way to go.
For the ginger, we lack a consensus! When I just leave it out (in the cabinet, top wrapped or just unwrapped), it usually becomes dessicated. It's a root, right, so it probably doesn't want to be in the fridge -- good point. Except that carrots are fine in the fridge.
I once saw a Good Eats where he said you should store root-based food in sand in a dark cool room. Just get a big plastic tub of sand and plunk it in the part of the basement you don't use for storing thing you actually use more than once.
though I admit the various attempts I've made have never come out the way the best gazpacho I ever had (tm) was.
I make a gazpacho that is probably ridiculously "inauthentic" (but I've read that the original versions of gazpacho didn't even rely on tomatoes, so), but I like it, and it's great for a hot day. Tomato juice base (about 3 cups or so); three large tomatoes, blanched, skinned, and chopped; 1 or 2 cucumbers, chopped; 1 green pepper, chopped; 2 or 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped (not crushed with a garlic press); a teaspoon or so each of cumin and ground coriander; a bit of cayenne pepper; salt and pepper; 3 tablespoons lemon juice or red wine vinegar (or a combination of the two, but I think fresh lemon juice is better). Mix all together in large bowl; puree somewhat, but leave some vegetable chunks. Add a bit of finely chopped fresh basil.
Okey-doke. I'll try it. I have a feeling I never bothered to blanch and skin the tomatoes when I tried making gazpacho in the past. I now have that process under my belt, though. The cumin and coriander I would not have thought of. And lemon juice over vinegar.
I thought this was the refreshing beverage thread, but whatever.
One strategy we use when it's too hot to turn on the oven or even boil water is to turn to the toaster oven. That way we can toss some vegetables or tempeh or what have you with salt and oil and cook them to flovorfulness and the kitchen isn't really any hotter than when we started. Also good for toasting nuts or croutonizng bread. Now is the time of salads, with all the delicious tender field greens about. Embrace it!
Why not just run the AC and the oven?
flovorfulness
An underrated property.
132: That's pretty close to my recipe for gazpacho, only I use V-8 instead of tomato juice. Mmm, gazpacho.
My dad also has a recipe for a cucumber-garlic-yogurt soup with dill and walnuts that's perfect for hot weather.
I'm so broad-minded, I don't see typos.
134: Blanching the tomatoes is a bit of a pain, but totally worth it. It gives them a degree of solidity, which I'm pretty sure you cannot otherwise achieve.
I truly hate the hot weather, btw, and my first summer in Charm City was a very unpleasant revelation indeed ("Can it really be this hot!?" and "How can it be so f__ing hot and we're not all dropping dead like so many flies?!" It's not the heat it's the humidity? No, it's both, actually). The heat to me is an enemy, of deep cunning and various stratagems, which cannot ever be defeated but only, hopefully, sometimes somewhat circumvented. Hence: main-dish supper salads, composed in the early morning and put to rest in the refrigerator for the rest of the day.
I like ice cubes straight (or on the rocks, or shaken, or whatever, and even on Tuesdays), but the enamel warnings have gotten to me. So I never chew on them and just let them dissolve. I used to finish every last ice cube when I got a drink at a fast-food/takeout place, and sometimes I still do, but it's too weird to do when I'm with people and we're talking and stuff.
I haven't run into much night-time hot weather, but I've found that sucking on an ice cube right before/as you go to sleep can be an effective way of keeping from having a dry throat and not having to wake up a little later because you drank too much fluid and need to pee. I'm sure this is very useful advice.
That should be "haven't run into much hot weather recently."
OT: I just watched Harakiri(Seppuku) on DVD. It's amazing. Anyone else seen it?
um you just put ginger in the freezer. it grates better that way. i guess you could cover it with sherry or vinegar.
143:Yes, I think so, back in the 80s.
and yes heat is evil. i wish i could move to like sweden, but i hear the north has bad misquito problems in summer too. a few mint leaves is enough sweetness for me in cold tea.
i've been thinking abotu some kind of cold apple cider vinegar/ carbonate salt mix, but haven't figured it out yet.
Cold sweet drinks might be better than just cold water for rehydration. They've probably got electrolytes in them as well (they're what plants crave) and the sugar will make absorption faster. Hence, more refreshing.
I used to finish every last ice cube when I got a drink at a fast-food/takeout place, and sometimes I still do, but it's too weird to do when I'm with people and we're talking and stuff.
It's true. Your mouth gets numb and you start talking like you've got a mouthful of marbles.
Beer: I would think one of the session-type British IPAs would be optimal, like Greene King IPA or Deuchars. Either that, or iced Tiger Beer like they do in Singapore.
i've been thinking abotu some kind of cold apple cider vinegar/ carbonate salt mix, but haven't figured it out yet.
Hey! There's nothing wrong with mixing honey and vinegar...
Now is the time of salads, with all the delicious tender field greens about.
Around here, there's really no overlap between tender field greens (which thrive in fall/winter/spring) and tomatoes (which don't ripen until it's too hot for most greens).
I would agree, but I also suspect parsimon's tomatoes came from Mexico or Cali. Local good stuff for salads these days include: raddishes, spinach, shell peas as well as the lettuce; if you're feeling decadent, there's strawberries.
When it comes to cooking in hot weather, may I suggest that you turn to the cuisines of those places with hot weather? Many of them require minimal stove time; think curries and stir fries and other such things that may well be cooked but don't actually take enough time to really heat up the house. Or ceviche. Green mango slaws. Vietnamese-style spring rolls. That sort of thing.
Also, I'm a firm believer in the idea that spicy food helps combat the heat.
Also, I'm a firm believer in the idea that spicy food helps combat the heat.
And why shouldn't it? Causes you to sweat, which reduces body temperature. (Provided the area that is sweating is exposed, which your face, at least, is likely to be.)
Local good stuff for salads these days include: raddishes, spinach, shell peas as well as the lettuce; if you're feeling decadent, there's strawberries.
Where are you that it's still Spring in June? All that stuff was done at least a month ago here.
Strawberries and rhubarb will be available at the f's ms here at least until August, if last year is anything to go by. Radishes still about; I just got some today.
Minnesota. We had an early spring, but a really cool, wet June. We'll have to wait for at least late July before we have non-hothouse tomatoes.
huh, i certainly do nontraditional curries, but the authentic way-the-people-in-unlivable-places-make-them curries are long cooked. hulled (dehulled?) legumes are the only real concession to speed. i think pressure cookers are rather common now.
I by no means am an authentic cook, but I never think of Thai curries as taking particularly long.
I also suspect parsimon's tomatoes came from Mexico or Cali. Local good stuff for salads these days include: raddishes, spinach, shell peas as well as the lettuce
That's exactly what we're getting from the CSA these days, due in part, as apparently in Minnesota, to a cool, very wet spring, so things are delayed. (The tomatoes I have are local, but hothouse, hence expensive.) The CSA is also providing broccoli raab, kale, garlic scapes and some fresh herbs.
the cuisines of those places with hot weather? Many of them require minimal stove time; think curries and stir fries and other such things that may well be cooked but don't actually take enough time to really heat up the house.
They do when it's 85 degrees in the house before you even begin! For A/C, we have only a couple of window units here; the preferred approach to food when it's in the mid-90s outside for 3 or 4 days running really is what Mary Catherine described upthread at 140.last: main dish salads, chilled.
I kind of enjoy the exercise in coming up with no-cook (or very low-cook) dishes, in any event. My repertoire used to be much better, but I've fallen out of practice. Or I'm having more trouble with the heat as I get older.
Or I'm having more trouble with the heat as I get older.
Hot flashes already, Parsi?
Good god, I hope not. I don't look forward to it. But I think pretty much anyone would seriously consider taking significant steps when it's more or less like a swamp in the great outdoors.
MC's recollection in 140 of first moving to Charm City made me laugh. I went through the same thing, having transitioned from New England. I was amazed that professors were showing up to teach wearing shorts and sandals. By the end of a year here, I'd cut the sleeves off many of my t-shirts, gotten rid of the long coats and the turtlenecks, and learned the fantastic trick of splashing cold water on your arms and face and then standing in front of a fan. Goose-bumps, hurrah!
I just want to put in a word for Parenthetical's suggestion of spring/summer rolls. One of the best things ever to make when the herbs are fresh and it's too hot to cook. Especially good: in addition to the mint/cilantro/thai basil, throw in some arugula.
When I moved to California I cut the sleeves off all my turtlenecks dumped water all over my head and torso, and attached a portable fan to my chest.
This was San Francisco, so I was actually quite cold, but I cut a dashing figure.
I bet people could see your titties through your shirt turtleneck.
The sleeve holes were pretty extensive.
but I cut a dashing figure
Dress like that, and you have to be prepared to defend yourself.
You do have to be careful about that. Depends on the extent of your moral compass.
169 to 167.
As for defending yourself, a saber at the hip is helpful.
I find the extent of my moral compass to be situationally dependent.
169: oh you could see that, too.
I use the Garmin GPS in the rental car as my moral compass.
The manufacturer admits that at close range the beam will cause "immediate and irreversible retinal damage" and could set fire to skin.
Holy crap.
I mean, Holy moly. Holy smokes. Heavens to betsy. Gee willikers.
But safety experts warn that the device is for responsible industrial use only
What industry might that be? I'm honestly stumped.
My son would love to have one of those. He's not going to have one, though. Not until he's cleaned up his room, and saved up the next ten years' worth of his allowance. And he doesn't even get an allowance, really, so I guess his retinas are safe for the moment.
What industry might that be?
Mixed martial arts?
I have a friend with a 1W laser he brings to parties. Very handy for doing rave visuals you can see from two and a half
miles away.
What industry might that be?
Creme brulee making?
