Tag: get out of the kitchen

If You Don’t Like the Heat   

If you don’t like the heat, you can get out of the kitchen as they say, but we want you to stay in the kitchen AND get out of the heat! That may be easier said than done. We set a high temperature record in March. I no longer know when to plant my garden or prune anything. What I’m learning is that excessive heat is more than just annoying, it ages you!

Each year, the heat and humidity bother me more. That’s annoying, but a new study published in Science Advances suggests that it’s not just making me uncomfortable, fussy, and sluggish. It could be phenologically aging me. If that’s true, it’s probably physiologically aging me too. That sounds bad.

It’s a given that excessive heat creates the danger of heat stroke. We also know it can adversely affect heart problems and age your skin. I guess it stands to reason that longer numbers of days with temperatures exceeding 100° Fahrenheit would affect us in other ways. My body certainly tells me to get out of the heat!

A friend who lives closer to the equator experienced 60 consecutive days of temperatures over 110° last year. As she tells it, she would get up and do her outside work knowing that it would be too hot later in the day. Her plan was to then come in and do paperwork and volunteer hours after that.

Instead, once she finished the farm work, she found herself lying on the concrete floor for hours until the sun went down. She simply didn’t feel like moving. Trying to figure out if she was getting old, lazy, or old and lazy, she finally realized that the heat seemed to be aggravating her heart problems and affecting her blood pressure.

This year, she’s moving further north for a month to see if she feels better. If that works, next year she’ll expand her heat vacation to three months. I have a neighbor who leaves in June and returns in September. Seems they are onto something.

Here’s an excerpt from the study:

“For example, one-unit increase in heat days at the caution+ level is associated with a 1.15-year increase in PCPhenoAge acceleration over a 7-day window (95% CI = 0.63, 1.67); this means that 10% more heat days corresponds to a 0.115-year PCPhenoAge acceleration. This association remains significant over 30-day (B = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.53, 1.62), 60-day (B = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.40, 1.56), 1-year (B = 1.66, 95% CI = 0.56, 2.77), and 6-year (B = 1.87, 95% CI = 0.68, 3.06) windows. Comparable results are observed for heat days at the extreme caution+ level; for example, a one-unit increase in heat days over a 6-year period is associated with a 2.88-year increase in PCPhenoAge acceleration (95% CI = 1.28, 4.48).”

The bottom line is that people who experience more heat over the long-term age faster biologically than people who live in cooler environments.

I will add that quality of life decreases when the heat index is over 100°. Gardening may become exhausting. It’s harder to stay hydrated. And sitting on the porch visiting with neighbors sounds like sitting in an oven baking with potatoes.

Not all of us can move or go away for months at a time. We may have to alter our schedules to garden at first light, walk for exercise indoors, and grill in instead of out.

I’m sitting in a stuffy RV with wind gusting up to 49 mph outside. Humidity is 86%. The temperature is only 68 outside, but it’s way hotter in here and it’s only April 2. I am dreading August.

Now’s a good time to practice staying in the kitchen where there’s air conditioning. And if you don’t like the heat…I’m with you!

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If You Can’t Take the Heat

If you can’t take the heat, as they say, get out of the kitchen. My kitchen is on the west side of my house. On summer afternoons, it’s hot in there. I’ve added a/c vents, but the heat still gathers. When I can’t take the heat, I opt for salad.

Many of my salads have been based around bok choy and romaine this summer because I’m growing those in the garden. I also grow arugula and Swiss chard which I add to some salads. The arugula adds a wonderful peppery dimension.

Once the greens are chosen, the toppings are a wonderland of experimentation. Sometimes the combination feels just right. Other times, one ingredient stands out more than it should. No matter, the kitchen stays cool and the crunch is satisfying.

Another way to get out of the kitchen is to eat from someone else’s. Restaurant salads have a  more predictable composition. That means there are some that become favorites. Here are a few that stand out:

GP’s Classic-ish Cobb from Goop Kitchen: It features a 7-minute egg, avocado, tomatoes, Point Reyes blue cheese, roasted golden beets, Mama Lil’s peppers and house pickled shishito mix, maple glazed bacon, little gem, radicchio, and a side of GCC Dijon mustard vinaigrette. The combination is perfection!

The Iceberg Wedge at The Olde Pink House: This one keeps it simple. An iceberg wedge with blue cheese dressing, tomatoes, and cucumbers. When done right, it doesn’t get better than a wedge salad. A great one begins with a chilled triangle of lettuce. I like that this version doesn’t include bacon. I often think bacon detracts from the cool light flavors that receive just the right balance from bleu cheese. I like the addition of cucumbers here though – another light note.

Peck’s Salad from Trio’s: The recipe for the dressing on this salad came from the Sam Peck Hotel that operated from 1935 – 1972. The light, sweet vinaigrette tops leaf & romaine lettuce with roasted pulled chicken breast, toasted almonds and bacon. I often opt for dressing on the side, but the portion here is exactly right.

Cucumber Salad from Zankou Chicken® : I always order extra and eat it for days! Cucumber, tomato, red onion, and parsley tossed in lemon juice and oil. This is the perfect side for soooo many things.

MoMa Arugula and Proscuitto: I don’t think they serve this anymore, but they should. It was so simple and full of bold flavor. I think it was just the two ingredients with some coarse ground black pepper and a light drizzle of dressing, perhaps balsamic? It felt like it belonged with the impressionists. But, just like trends in art, menus change.

There are other standout salads that have disappeared – a Greek salad at a storefront restaurant on the north edge of Albuquerque and the Medite, made of organic quinoa, spinach, garbanzo beans, artichoke, fire roasted peppers, grape tomatoes, feta, lemon and extra virgin olive oil at The Pantry West in Little Rock.

There are salads that may still be served if I could remember the restaurant name or location closely enough to check. I had a wonderful tableside Caesar in Manhattan and a soaked salad…somewhere.

Salads with seasonal fruit entice me. I also like salads with crunchies like tortilla strips. While the heat continues, I’ll be searching for even more standouts to add to my list of salads that can help me get out of the kitchen when I can’t take the heat.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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