The hottest topic of conversation this week has been, you guessed it, the heat! Record-breaking temperatures have been common, with several days of triple digit readings. Farmers’ fields are withering, ponds are drying up and yards and gardens are parched and brown. Jim mowed the yard Monday of last week and it doesn’t look like it will need mowing again soon.
Appetites wane in the hottest weather and cooks certainly don’t relish working in a steamy kitchen, so this may be the time to switch to a different kind of heat. Spicy flavors give cold dishes a satisfying edge. Top leftover steak with some super-zippy salsa, then roll it up in a corn tortilla and you’ve got an instant summer fajita. Purchase some of the cheeses with stronger flavors and use them to add bold touches to sandwiches and salads.
To avoid heating up the kitchen, take your cooking outside and use the grill to prepare your meals. Meat and larger vegetables can go directly on the grate. Toss smaller vegetables with oil, salt and herbs, seal in heavyduty foil and place on the grill to steam. An added bonus - there’s no cleanup!
Here’s another hint - double up. Whenever you grill a meal, make extra of everything and stick it in the fridge. Even served cold the next day, your grilled veggies and meat will retain their flame-cooked flavor. They can be combined with cold rice or pasta to make delicious salads.
When temperatures are rising and everyone’s feeling a little droopy, make tall, cold fruit drinks for your family. Take one or more fresh fruits, melons or berries and blend with water, sparkling water, skim milk or fruit juices. You can add crushed ice, sweeten with sugar or honey, flavor with cinnamon or vanilla extract or make it a smoothie with lowfat yogurt or frozen yogurt. Garnish with mint sprigs, fruit kabobs, lemon,lime or orange wedges for a fun touch.
Don’t forget the cheapest, easiest refreshment, water. Your body requires at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of liquid a day. If you’re watching your weight, water makes especially goodsense. Drink past the point of quenching your thirst, especially on hot days. The extra water can help protect you from dehydration. This is of extra importance for those working outside in the heat.
We’re hearing a chorus of male cicadas and the yard is dotted with holes where they have emerged. Scientists call these the Great Southern Brood, offspring of a particularly large population back in 1998. These marvels of nature have spent 13 years of their life underground. Once they emerge they crawl up a nearby tree or building and shed their exoskeletons, the crispy brown shells we find here and there.
“Their unique internal biological clock causes most of them to emerge within two or three days of each other,” according to Bruce Barrett, an entomology professor at the University of Missouri.Their adult lifespan only lasts four to six weeks, so the males are busy calling a mate who will later crawl up and deposit her eggs in tiny slits she makes on tree limbs. After the eggs hatch, ant-sized nymphs fall to the ground and burrow down to start the process over. Meanwhile the rhythmic hum of their courtship calls punctuates our afternoons.
Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.
Opinion, Pages 6 on 07/27/2011