Too Hot to Cook, Volume II
The thermometer jumped past 99 degrees. I could hear the cupboards in the kitchen closing, the stove locking, the oven shutting down. It’s just too much to expect much cooking to be done inhouse once the temperatures passes the century mark. It’s not as if we have bought meals ready to eat (MRE’s) from the patriot channel, but we have limits about heat in the house.
Weather reports and articles on climate change say our temps are already above average and to watch out for another very hot summer worldwide. So our July cut off for baking has moved up earlier to June. What are we to do? I like to bake corn muffins and eggplant dishes in the cooler months, but the oven just makes the air conditioner work harder once we’ve reached the century mark.
Others are not deterred. Our good friend, Cynthia, baked cherry, almond bread this past weekend. It’s an on- line recipe. C herries are in season and available at most local stores. She uses an Emeril Legassi counter- top convection, conventional, air fryer, and rotisserie oven. Because it’s smaller than a standard oven, temperature and cooking times are reduced, both good. It may be time for us to replace our old toaster oven.
And I must confess, the pause on baking has come to include cooking on the stove. As you know, it’s difficult cooking dinner every night. Just coming up with ideas of what to have for dinner is chal - lenging other than calling for pizza delivery. It’s helpful if you are a planner who can figure what you’d want to have for dinner the coming week. I have a friend who is able to do this. Cook on Sunday and freeze daily dinners for the coming week. It figures he is an engineer. This is a matter of applying professional training to home kitchen management.
Truth be told, my dear wife has been picking up the slack on preparing daily dinners. What is extraordinary about this is the sign that hangs in our kitchen, “L a reyna no cocina.” This past week she made shrimp tacos twice. Food for Less often has a box of pre- frozen shrimp for sale a t $ 10. If the shrimp last long enough, that is past opening the box and eating them by the sink, there’s a chance they will end up in a delicious taco. But it’s ok if they don’t, and we just dip them in the cocktail sauce and eat them al fresco. Outside of the frying pan anyway.
I do keep us supplied in fresh vegetables. The shrimp taco includes bell pepper, onion, lettuce, and tomatoes off the vine. Yes. We are still getting fresh tomatoes. I try to water the tomato pots daily so the Romas and a fe w cherry tomatoes are still coming on. Long gone is the le ttuce so now we pay the $1.99 a head and that irks me.
I complain, but we ea t well. When the craving for good seafood comes on, and La Reyna is resting, a trip to Fujisan in El Centro is warranted. There we can order fish tempura don, fried fish on rice with a creamy sauce, or a mack erel plate, my favorite fish. At Hellen’s Family Viet Food in Brawley, we can order a rice pla te with shrimp. The plate includes a Vietnamese sauce for the rice tha t is worth the trip.
We think it important to support the independent, mom and pop restaurants in the Valley. Restaurants are still trying to recover from the hit they took during Covid. So save up for a night out and try something different from burgers. Happy dining.