Wednesday, June 26th

In the Heat of the Night

Whoo baby, it's hot outside.

Even though we had a very mild winter, I've been looking forward to the heat of summer since November. Now it's here, in full force. Over the weekend the outdoor thermometer hit ninety-five degrees, with humidity at about one hundred and ten percent. I find myself suddenly longing for the crisp cool days of fall and wishing I needed a sweater - and I haven't even been to the pool once yet!

One rather unpleasant side effect of the hot weather is that I just don't feel like standing in front of the stove for any period of time. Yeah, yeah. I have air conditioning (which is currently set at the lovely chilly temperature of sixty-eight), so it's not actually hot in my apartment. Somehow, the energy of the summer just makes me want to eat ice cream and frozen Peppermint Patties clear through Labor Day.

Unfortunately, much as that idea delights me, I can't really envision having the following telephone conversation with my mother:

Mom: "So what are you having for dinner?"

Me: "Oh, I don't know. I was thinking about some really cold Pinot Grigio to start, followed by a Chipwich and some frozen grapes. Then I might finish with a root beer water ice."

Mom: [Silence. She has dropped the phone to go immediately to the produce store and deliver me from my own evil.]

In the Heat of the Night (Page 2 of 2)

The great thing about summer is that it provides me with so many wonderful ingredients that I don't really even need to cook. In a few weeks, the local tomatoes will begin to come in, so I'll be eating lots of tomato salads: with basil and fresh mozzarella and olive oil, or with feta and wrinkly black Nicoise olives (my favorites), or stuffed with tabbouleh made with tons of fresh parsley, cucumbers and lemon.

Corn is already in, and I have a standing contest with myself every summer: how much Silver Queen can I ingest before September? Nothing, and I mean nothing, makes a better snack than an ear of corn roasted on the grill and bathed in butter with Old Bay. I also make a mean sauteed corn salad, where I shave the roasted corn kernels off of the cob and combine them with red and green bell pepper, Vidalia onion, fresh jalapeno and a lime vinagrette.

Who doesn't love the bounty of summer? Fresh vegetables grilled with a bit of olive oil and fresh herbs. Hard-shelled crabs to pick and eat with pitchers of icy cold light beer. Fourth of July picnics with fried chicken and three-bean salad. And we haven't even gotten into the fruit.

While there are summer desserts that take some work (fresh peach ice cream comes to mind, or real shortcakes with homemade biscuit), one of my new favorites is a fresh fruit salad with ginger and lime. You can make the syrup days ahead, if you like, and in any event it only takes ten minutes at the stove. It's an easy dessert to throw together before your friends come over for crabs, and great for picnics: the warmer the salad, the more pronounced the flavors.

Best of all, this salad showcases all the best fruity flavors of summer, without affecting how you look in your bathing suit. You can't ask for much more than that during the dog days of August, can you?