Posts Tagged ‘summer’
Happy Saturday!
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, summer, Thoughts on August 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Para Sol
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, climate, heat, heatwave, hothothot!, summer, Thoughts, weather on June 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Millions are under extreme heat warnings today as we begin a multi-day heat event, myself included. Because climate!
Public health officers across the continent are speaking out, hoping to keep people safe. A lot of outlets have dramatic headlines about this heat wave, and rightfully so. Here’s one from my locale:
Ottawa Public Health prepares for ‘life-threatening’ heat event
If you are young, old, pregnant or on diuretics, be extra careful. If you have air conditioning, you’ll probably definitely need to use it. If you do not have air conditioning or a temperature-controlled cave / subterranean lair, it makes sense to find a place to cool down.
Options: Head to a library, mall, museum, pool, rec center or coffee shop. A lot of cities have their own cooling center maps (here’s Ottawa’s, and New York’s and Austin’s, for example). You can also search for “cooling centers near me” or find more info by US state here: Cooling Centers by State.
If you have to spend time outdoors? Hats, sunblock and shade are your friends. Stay hydrated, and maybe pack a parasol.
Fun facts:
- don’t use a fan to blow extremely hot air on yourself. This can cause heat exhaustion to happen faster (OPH)
- Pets need to stay cool, too! (citation: common sense). For tips, see Keep pets safe in the heat.
- Avoid or minimize drinking alcohol and caffeinated drinks (coffee, tea, and some carbonated drinks) (aww, you’re no fun OPH, but mocktails are a-ok)
- parasol: borrowed from French, “screen or canopy shielding from the sun,” going back to Middle French, borrowed from Italian parasole, from para “(it) shields, keeps out” (3rd singular present of parare “to prepare, adorn, avert, shield”) + sole “sun,” going back to Latin sōl (MW).
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Viscoelastic Mysteries
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, food science, summer, things I don't really eat anymore but loved once upon a time on September 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »
It’s starting to feel like fall here now, but still early enough that it feels right to cast my eyes back to a childhood summer treat: saltwater taffy.
Ever wondered what makes taffy both so sticky and so slippery?
The sweet physics of saltwater taffy | ScienceDaily
When measuring how the taffy responded to applied forces, Chan and their colleagues found taffy occupies the intriguing middle ground between solid and liquid material.
Ever wondered “how the ingredients and confectioning process contribute to the rheology of saltwater taffy”? Read on!
“In some sense, oil droplets and air bubbles are like rubber balls. When deformed in the taffy, they tend to return to their original, spherical shape because of surface tension. In other words, emulsification and aeration make taffy more elastic, hence, chewier.”
Also and alas, no saltwater is used in the making of saltwater taffy.
Why is it Called Salt Water Taffy? | Mental Floss
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That Day
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, endings and beginnings, fall, summer, Thoughts on August 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall.
— Ann Patchett
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Summer Love
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, memories, summer, Thoughts on August 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
It’s the end of August and I feel the way I did as a kid, watching the school year approach. The weather has mimicked Fall for weeks but now it’s almost here in truth. Cool winds, thunderstorms, and the inexorable sense that the seasons continue to turn.
And now, I’m missing something that is not yet gone.
To summer, with love.
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Children of Summer
Posted in Likes, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, climate change, summer, Thoughts on July 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Mr Man and I went for a walk today, a hot, sticky endeavor that reminded me of childhood summers. Humidity, thunderstorms, and lightning bugs.
We have fireflies in the yard now, enjoying our long grass and pine litter and bird bath. They appeared outside a could of weeks ago, and now we turn off as many lights as we can to help them find love.
Turn Off Your Lights and Welcome Fireflies
Many of my best summer memories involve fireflies, so now I’m doing what I can to help future generations have such memories too.
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A Walk in the Woods
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, around the world, summer, Thailand, Writers, writing on July 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »
We had waffles, watched a race, went for a walk and generally enjoyed a beautiful, lazy summer’s day. Now somehow it’s time for dinner so I’ll leave you with a brief excerpt from a stroll in the woods, once upon a time in Thailand.
Chang Mai—Jungle Trek
A rutted dirt road led from the parking lot through a stand of tall trees. The road quickly narrowed to a track that led past a small facilities building, scattered picnic areas, and into denser woods. A huge centipede scurried past my sandals and exposed toes, making it clear that Thais eat such creatures for their size, not their beauty. After this apparition I had no trouble keeping my eyes open. An unexpected benefit of being alert was that I found an amulet someone had lost on the trail. The guidebook had mentioned that Thais always carry at least one amulet with them wherever they go, and I’d made a note to look for one in the market as a token of the visit. Presto, there it was. I hope it wasn’t the owner’s only protection.
Good luck charm in hand, we wound our way along the stream bed as the sound of crashing water grew louder. The little valley opened up, the sun broke through the tree tops, and a waterfall appeared. The impressive thing about it wasn’t so much its height, which was hard to gauge through the trees, but its power.
A pool carved out at the fall’s base and the mist all over my clothes and the trees attested to the water’s strength and the abundant runoff in this waterlogged part of the country. The trail around the pool had gone muddy from the mist and visitors’ feet, giving me what was to be the first of many intimate moments with Thai muck. I had no idea how familiar I was to become with that red earth over the next day and a half.
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A Taste of Summer
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, Boston, food, making stuff, memories, pasta, recipes, summer on August 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I thought today might be a workshop or writing day, but instead it turned into a computing and sewing day. That’s fine, I’m happy I made progress with what I had.
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On that same note, last night’s dinner was a medley of things we had in the fridge. They are also the sorts of flavors I associate with summer: fresh herbs, tomatoes from the garden, and sweet corn.
I was reminded of a dish I had in Boston years ago, a delicate, almost ethereal ravioli stuffed with shrimp and corn in cream sauce. The corn’s sweetness is complex enough not to seem one-note, and elevates the flavor of the shrimp. It’s a good memory, and while I don’t remember the year or the restaurant or the other eleven items on the tasting menu, that dish made a lasting impression.
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We also decided to try our hand at homemade pasta. The same friends who lent us the KitchenAid ice cream attachment also lent us their pasta rollers. Taste and texture were good, and the process was fairly straightforward, considering I’ve made pasta only once? before.
I used this dough recipe: Fresh Pasta Recipe
Notes to Future Me: use the eggs we get from our local source, the ones from Costco were a little too small and threw off the ratio; knead more enthusiastically; and use more flour than you think you should for dusting the sheets before rolling and cutting.
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My father asked how I made the sauce. I have a fairly casual relationship with most recipes, but here it is, more or less. If you don’t have all of the ingredients, substitute red peppers for tomatoes, dried basil for fresh, or whatever’s in the pantry. That’s what I did:)
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Creamy Summer Shrimp Fettuccini
Ingredients
- 2 slices bacon, chopped into bits
- 1 shallot, sliced fine-ish
- 1/2 C. corn kernels, cut from cooked cob, frozen, or canned
- 1 C. cream
- 1 T. lemon juice, or to taste
- white wine, whatever you’re drinking, a splash or three
- shrimp, big handful
- cherry tomatoes, handful, halved
- basil, six giant leaves from the garden, sliced
- reserved pasta water to taste, plus backup cornstarch if you add too much
- salt, pepper, Parmesan
- fettuccini
Instructions
- While the pasta water heats, sauté the bacon and shallots until translucent.
- Add corn, cream, lemon juice, white wine and cook down for a couple of minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Add shrimp, cook until opaque.
- Add the tomatoes and basil and heat through.
- Adjust the sauce for flavor and thickness with salt, pepper, more wine, cream and/or and pasta water. If it’s too thin, mix up a slurry of 1 T. cornstarch and a cup of cold water, add until you have enough liquid and cook until thickened.
- Serve over pasta, topped with grated Parmesan.
* Note: I would say that have moderately-sized hands.
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Coffee Ice Cream
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, custom fooding, ice cream, recipes, summer on August 20, 2021| 1 Comment »
I’ve loved coffee ice cream since before I drank coffee, but it’s one of those flavors that doesn’t appeal to everyone. We don’t buy a lot of ice cream and when we do, something like vanilla is more flexible.*
I’m still experimenting with our borrowed Kitchenaid ice cream maker and coffee sounded good. I modified Mark Bittman’s egg-free recipe again, and it worked for me. Perfect for a hot and sticky summer day!
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Coffee Ice Cream
Makes ~1 quart
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 C. milk (2% worked)
- 1 C. heavy cream (35%)
- 1/2 C. coffee
- 1/2 C. sugar
- 2 T. cornstarch
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1/2 t. vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Stir the cornstarch with 2 T. of the milk make a smooth slurry.
2. Put the remaining milk, cream, coffee, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and whisk to combine. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture nearly comes to a simmer. Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and vanilla and continue to stir until the mixture thickens a bit, 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Strain the mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until completely cool, at least 2 hours and preferably overnight. Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s directions.
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* Alone, with pie, with grape juice, with orange concentrate and chocolate shavings, with caramel, with peanut butter and chocolate, with bananas and pecans, with pomegranate seeds, with lemon curd, with… you get the idea.
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Asclepias tuberosa to the Rescue!
Posted in Likes, tagged #savethemonarch, #ThingsILike, awesome, home, nature, summer, Thoughts, yay on August 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »
It’s summer and I’m enjoying a bit of vacation time (yay!) and what do I spot on my new Asclepias tuberosa? A monarch butterfly caterpillar!
I’ve seen a monarch or two in the neighborhood this year but not many. (Not like during my childhood down south, when my mother used to pull the car over just about anywhere to find caterpillar-rich milkweed by the side of the road.) There’s a reason why these butterflies are listed as at endangered in Ontario:(
That said, awareness of the issues around butterflies and their disappearing habitat is rising, and it’s not all bad news. I’m happy to see milkweed left to grow by the roadside, to find native milkweed varietals at the garden center, and to watch butterflies flitting in the park. If we had more sun and space I’d plant a butterfly meadow, but for now, we went with butterfly weed. Glad we did:)
As an added bonus, I also saw fireflies in the yard a couple of weeks ago for the first time north of the border:) Here’s wishing you a happy and constructive summer!
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