Our refrigerator is my new best friend. It is helping me persevere through the hottest summer we have ever known. It is always reliably chugging away there in the kitchen, storing the fixings for every meal, so I don’t need to fire up the stove, or the grill. In our undistinguished corner of the universe things are cool, calm and collected. Thank goodness.
After eating my ritual bowl of sticks and twigs this morning, I had a little hankering for something cool and sweet. When what to my wandering eye should appear, on the top shelf of the fridge, but a bowlful of watermelon slices! Mr. Sanders was still out patrolling the neighborhood with Luke the wonder dog, so he did not see me standing over the kitchen sink, gobbling up mouthfuls dripping, sweet, sticky watermelon as icy treat, preparing for the hot day ahead.
It is best to be prepared for emergencies. We keep the freezer stocked in the winter with provisions that we can heat up in case the blizzard or the ice storm keeps us marooned at home, or the flu hits and we are bed-bound/ridden. Summertime calls for some reverse engineering. We need to have a whole new array of tricks up our sleeves. We need to hone our survival skills accordingly. Here are a few handy dandy items you should consider keeping on hand, just to keep your distance from the stove:
Melons – both watermelon and cantaloupe.
Watermelon that you can eat by the slice anytime, add to a salad with some feta cheese, and cucumbers, or employ as an afternoon diversion: turn on the sprinkler and prepare to see who can spit the seeds the farthest – it’s still fun.
Fruits – the best part of summer is the sheer profusion of seasonal fruits that never taste as wonderful in October: peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, strawberries, blackberries – you name ‘em, they are deliciousness in the summer. Wash up a bowl of berries and serve yourself at the kitchen sink; be a purest. Or if you want to be fancy, make a batch of whipped cream. Then you can enjoy a berry fool, or an Eton Mess.
Tomatoes – do NOT keep them in the fridge. Have an artful lineup on the kitchen windowsill, or a bowlful ready, right on the counter. Eat fresh warm tomatoes from your container garden. Buy a few at the farmers’ market. Stop at a farm stand. Make a tomato salad. Make a tomato sandwich. It might be stinking hot out, but it is tomato sandwich season, and you don’t want to miss the moment. Stock up on good bread and mayonnaise. Tomato sandwiches are good for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. Think of sitting out on the back porch as the sun is going down. The shadows are getting purple-y and finally a breeze is rising. The sprinkler is tip-tapping in the side yard and the swallows are arcing high in the sky above you. A tomato sandwich on thickly sliced bread with a handful of salty potato chips adds to the summer moment, and the day redeems itself.
A deli chicken – It has always seemed slightly decadent to buy a rotisserie chicken when I have a perfectly good oven at home, but these days I am doing all that I can to avoid turning it on and heating up the house. You know how helpful a leftover rotisserie chicken can be when we are pressed for time, and with all of the chaos brought on by summer heat, vacations, impromptu gatherings, and ennui. We need to accept that such a tiny shortcut will not upset the delicate moral balance of the universe.
You know all the permutations: leftover chicken on top of salad, tacos, chicken salad, Panzanella salad, chicken pizza, chicken Caesar salad, and nachos…
Rotisserie Chicken recipes
Trust that the TikTok geniuses to have found an easy way to separate the chicken meat from the bones! TikTok chicken
Hot dogs – quit your whining and either light the grill, or get out the steamer and cook up some hot dogs for dinner. Slather on the bug spray and get out on the back porch. Watch the stars coming out. Have a nice cold glass of cheap white wine. Potato chips are always an acceptable side dish in the summer. There will be healthy watermelon for dessert.
Ice cream – popsicles, as we remember from last week, are a summer necessity. Vanilla ice cream is also good to keep on hand in case of a root beer float emergency, which can happen more often than you imagine. This year we have invested in a container of chocolate Magic Shell, which is still a miracle to behold. Ice cream sandwiches, which melt more slowly, and less disastrously, than Eskimo pies.
Or you can be really decadent and go out for ice cream! It is always diverting to stand in the long line at the ice cream parlor and consider all the different flavors of ice cream, pressing your nose against the cool display glass. Maybe this time you will order Sea Salt Caramel, or New Orleans Pecan Praline, or Toasted Coconut? How about Triple Mango, Pink Bubblegum or Cotton Candy? No? It will be good old Mint Chocolate Chip again for me, too.
It’s almost August. Relief is just around the corner. In the meantime, try to keep your cooking to the bare minimum, and your fridge loaded up with summer fruits and veggies. Enjoy the cheap thrills of rotisserie chicken and trips to the ice cream parlor. In deepest February we will think differently about the weather.
“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.”
—Russell Baker
