Fruits of Summer

Summer has set in with its usual severity.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge~

Summer, I've mentioned before , is not my best time of year.  It plays havoc with day-to-day cycles of work, sleep, cooking, and cleaning.  As further assault, summer’s low humidity, dusty winds, and harsh sun, are especially brutal to dry skin and hair.  Maybe it’s an act of contrition, but summer also provides fruits, herbs, and flowers, with which one can create amazingly-effective and soothing natural treatments to mitigate the damage.

My favourite concoctions are facial masks and hair conditioners. They’re easy to make, their effect is immediate, remarkable, and surprisingly long-lasting, and the ingredients are available in most grocery stores.  Best of all, these therapeutic applications cost very little if choosing produce on sale.

Cucumber Sensitive-Skin Mask

It's messy work

Feels SO good, though!

Just a few words of caution.  First, since many of these skin and hair care products are made with fresh produce, their shelf-life will be much shorter than commercial products.  And, storing homemade products will probably require refrigeration and non-reactive containers. Also, be prepared:  homemade blends, without the stabilizers and binders found in commercial products, have a messier application.  Although, the refreshing results make any preparation well worth it.
                                                                                                                                                

Grocery stores needn’t be the only source of natural ingredients.  Gardens, meadows and orchards are rich sources.  If your garden produces an over-abundance of tomatoes or cucumbers, instead of more canning you might try some nourishing skin care, rejuvenating facial masks, and cooling treatments.  Or, if you grow certain flowers and/or herbs, or have the ability to forage for them,  their astringent, anti-microbial, and/or soothing properties are excellent additives in products such as body washes, and provide gentler solutions for specific skin care issues.

In fact, an individual’s skin type often determines the most effective produce.  Dry hair and or sensitive skin types will likely enjoy the benefits of avocados and cucumbers, while oilier hair and skin types often prefer the toning effects of lemon or tomato.  These aren’t hard and fast rules, however, as lemon also moisturizes and avocado’s natural fats easily cut through oily build-up.

While produce remains seasonably available, it’s simple and relatively inexpensive to experiment with a variety of applications.  As a bonus, leftover produce can be eaten and it’s nutrients will nourish skin and hair from the inside out.  Summer may ravage the body but, in a conciliatory gesture, offers us many remedial goodies which allow us to clean, soothe, and nourish weathered skin and hair.

If You Can't Stand the Heat...

I’ve said it before, but summer is my least favourite time of year.  It doesn’t help that I have my own internal furnace chugging away furiously, 24-7-365.  So, when the mercury soars, the last thing I want to do is spend time in a tortuously hot kitchen.  If only appetites dwindled along with my desire to cook!  Sadly, they don’t.  I’ve had to devise creative ways to get food on the table, while generating the least amount of indoor heat as possible.

Barbecuing is a great way to avoid heating the house.  Most everything can be cooked on the grill, whether on direct or indirect heat.  All that’s needed are a few good recipes, some heat-resistant cookware, and maybe a little shade.  Metal pans are the best option if cookware is required.  Avoid using pans with Teflon-coatings or with handles made of plastic or wood as most won’t take the high heat or open flame.  Aluminum foil is great for steam-cooking but use it over indirect heat for best results.  To limit our use of aluminum (cookware or foil,) we use parchment pouches on an old cookie sheet to steam vegetables or seafood.  Also glassware, as I discovered when baking our favourite meatloaf on the barbecue, can be dangerous...although, the explosion didn’t actually take place until I removed the loaf pan and placed it on a trivet to cool.  Cast iron and stainless steel are excellent cooking vessels and both clean up well.  Not everyone has access to a barbecue, though.  And, sometimes it’s simply too windy to enable thorough cooking, in a timely manner, on a barbecue.

Our most common way to get meals on the table in summer is to cook certain components in the early morning, when the house is coolest and there are still hours remaining to dissipate the generated heat through open, shaded windows.  Those meal components are foods like carbohydrates and proteins – generally the foods requiring the longest cooking times.

Potatoes, pasta, rice and beans we use most often in cold salads, but they can also be used to create quick, hot meals.  No matter the weather, baked or par-boiled potatoes produce the best oven (and barbecue) fries, in my opinion.  Pasta, cooked "al dente," and refrigerated, keeps for a few days and can be added to (re)heated sauces until warmed through.  Rice is probably our most versatile cook-ahead ingredient.  Aside from the stir-fry option (where pre-cooked rice is optimal,) it can be used as a base for frittatas, cold salad, and a (whole grain) breakfast “pudding.”  One idea I haven’t yet tried is to form a pizza shell by packing cooked rice (1/4-1/2 inch thick) into a pizza pan and then pre-baking it for a few minutes before adding toppings and finishing the cooking process.

Caution is required if you cook enough proteins  to last for two or three days of meals.  They must be cooked thoroughly, stored in air-tight containers, and refrigerated promptly. Instead of making a couple slices of bacon for breakfast, we roast a pan full (in the oven or on the barbecue) and then we have extra to crumble onto salads, baked potatoes, or to add a little protein to a quick veggie wrap.  We cook several chicken breasts or pork chops, or larger cuts like roasts and whole chicken, to use as salad or pizza toppings, or in stir-fries, sandwiches, fajitas and wraps.   Boiled eggs are something we keep on hand, year-round.  One hard-boiled egg, sliced, on toast, is my choice for an easy, high-protein meal before beginning morning exercise.  Those eggs also supplement cold summer salads (like potato, macaroni, and rice,) in tasty ways and, with the addition of a variety of vegetables, make those salads complete meals.

Last but not least, dessert.  The custard or syrups required to make ice cream, sorbet and frozen pops often require some cooking or boiling.  Jellied desserts (and salads) are also cooling, without the excessive calories of most frozen desserts.  With just a few minutes of morning prep, your family can enjoy these chill treats at any time of day.

 
Sweltering over a hot stove can really add sizzle to summer, and not in a good way.  Cooking certain ingredients in advance, in quantity, at the coolest time of day, dramatically lessens the amount of heat generated in the home.  Not only can you save time and heat-exhaustion, you’ll also save on air-conditioning and energy costs for the stove, oven and/or barbecue.  I like the fact that cooler meals don’t raise the body’s core temperature as much (though, this may be more imperative for women like me who “roast” without cooking anything.)  Best of all, you’ll have healthy food, fast – no need to resort to fast-food when heat overwhelms.

Summer Cooking

Okay, call me crazy, but summer isn't my favourite season. I don't suffer scorching days and humid nights easily, and get especially frazzled when they stretch, one upon the next, for weeks on end. It's because of this, cooking – which I normally love doing – becomes a dreaded chore. Standing over the stove, adding even more heat to an already over-warm house, ratchets up my level of exhaustion. Hours later, that heat still lingers, too. I'd fast if summer didn't last so long.

For this reason, most of our summer cooking is done outdoors, on the barbeque. It's surprising just how much of the day's meals can be prepared on an outdoor grill. Ours is a propane model, which is not a favourite amongst many grilling aficionados but it works fastest and easiest as stove-top replacement. Even without using the side-burner, the grill top can function well as a cooking surface. Cast iron pans, grills, and griddles, as well as heavy-gauge metal pots and pans (with heat resistant handles) work well on the grill top, which happens to also be one of the best places to cook pizzas, in my opinion.

An added bonus of cooking this way is the economy of it. I stumbled upon this saving when comparing our household energy costs for the same months in other years when the stovetop was still being used. Energy costs had changed, obviously, so I evaluated the savings by kilowatt hours. The difference was significant. Then, I calculated the dollar savings and compared that with the total cost of propane refills over the same season, and found using the barbeque cost us about half of what our energy supplier would have charged us had we cooked indoors on the stove. The difference was so stark I actually did the calculations twice, just to be sure.

Not everything needs cooking, either. One of my favourite summer drinks, homemade iced tea, would normally require making fresh, hot tea, but can also be made using the sun's heat. Here's my version of "Sun Tea":

• In a 2-quart glass jar, use two (or more) teabags, depending on desired strength, immersed in a gallon of tap water (or filtered water, if necessary.)
• Add to this, half a lemon, sliced thinly.
  
• After sealing the jar, place on a doorstep, porch, or sunny window ledge, to "steep" under a hot sun for about five hours, minimum.
  
• When the tea has reached its desired strength, remove the lemon and teabags and add sugar, to taste, while the fluid is still hot.
  
• Stir until sugar is dissolved and then chill the tea thoroughly before serving.
  

Cheers to staying cool!

Road Trip Anyone?

With summer solstice just around the corner, vacations come to mind. Times being what they are, road trips may just be the thriftiest option for a summer getaway, too. They're wonderful adventures with many opportunities to stretch your travel dollars.

For us, savings begin before leaving home. About a week before any trip, we begin emptying the refrigerator of all fresh foods and leftovers – a sparsely packed fridge uses much less energy and we don't come home to UFO's (unidentifiable fungal organisms.) When leaving the house, we also close drapes and blinds on south facing windows; the house remains cool enough to allow the air conditioner to be shut off during our absence. In seasons when heating is necessary, the thermostat is turned down to the usual overnight minimum (approximately 15 Celsius.)

Once we're ready to hit the road, hubby checks the vehicle's fluid levels (engine oil, windshield washer, brake and transmission fluids,) and ensures the tires are at their correct pressure. The latter is particularly important for achieving good fuel economy. Running the vehicle's air conditioner will affect mileage so, when the heat isn't too intense, we roll down windows – lowered a few centimetres this cools the vehicle effectively with slightly better fuel efficiency than when using the air conditioner.

Aside from lodging, meals are often one of the most costly aspects of the road trip. With a little planning, this can not only be easier on the pocketbook, but offer great flavours and good nutritional value. Picnic lunches are fairly easy to scrape together: veggie and cheese sticks, simple salads, nuts and seeds, fruits and juices, all are easy to pack and prepare on the road. Bring a cooler to help keep food fresh and beverages cold. Ice can be bought at most gas stations. I bring along a small cutting board, a paring knife and a plastic bowl so I can wash and cut finger foods for each day's journey.

Another handy item is a water filtration jug, a spare filter and a sealable water jar. Keep the sealable jar filled with the filtered water and snuggled up against the ice pack so you'll always have cold water on hand. Insulated cups will keep beverages cold or hot once they're out of the cooler or thermos. Morning coffee, for us, is a must, so we pack a full thermos from home, which can then be refilled at most restaurants and some gas bar convenience stores, with more volume for less cost than two large cups. I also bring a small container of sugar and cutlery from home, so we have coffee for a few hours without having to stop.

Packing a picnic lunch really adds to the whole road trip experience, too. Those gorgeous highway "lookout" views can now be enjoyed with a nice meal. No waiting for restaurant service or food prep. A stunning setting and a good lunch quicker than any fast-food outlet can produce. And, if destination is more important than journey for you then, by packing a lunch, you don't have to stop at all to eat. The driver may snivel while others partake but, after a brief stop to rotate drivers, everyone gets to eat while safe-driving is maintained.

The only drawback with packing food is the possibility of spoilage. When travelling in a hot vehicle, even with the best cooler and ice, it's good to avoid certain foods which can easily spoil and cause serious illness or death. Salads with a mayonnaise-based dressing should top the avoid list. Salads with oil and vinegar base dressings travel much better. Eggs and meats can also cause dire sickness unless freshly cooked, specially packaged, dried, cured, or pickled. Though, you certainly won't catch me bringing pickled eggs on any road trip!

Once you've finished lunch you'll want to clean up. I bring a damp facecloth, one per person, and each in their own sealed bag. Some rest stops have water taps but, if none are available, the filtered water can be used to re-moisten the cloths as needed. I also pack a bar of laundry soap so the cloths can be cleaned each night. These cloths also come in handy when it gets too hot. Simply dampen and drape it around your neck to stay noticeably cooler.

If a limited budget is driving your road trip, remember that frequent stops gobble more fuel. Fluctuating speed, slowing for municipal speed-zones or simply leaving your vehicle idling while stopped, consumes more fuel. So, if you're looking for the best fuel economy, try keeping "pit-stops" to a minimum, and maintain a steady highway driving speed whenever possible.