Hot weather, no a/c

[Claire]

Site monitors, move this if you need to or point me where I should post.

Judging from what I see, I'm probably not the only person making dinner in a hot kitchen.

My hints: Near East brand couscous and taboule. Both can be made quickly and be either a side dish or full meal (add beans and/or chopped meat).

When you first wake in the morning, cook. Then refridgerate for a cool dish for supper.

Nuke. Can't say enough for it. You can microwave something 'til it is almost done, then finish with a few minutes of heat.

Anyone else?

 

[Zhizara]

I have a/c but don't like to run it, and even when I do it doesn't cool the kitchen anyway.

This is a great time for all those extra dinners, rices and veggies to come out of the freezer. Take them out and put a dinner's worth in the fridge the night before, then just nuke at dinnertime.

I've not been cooking much lately, but have eaten very well.

 

[justplainbill]

Do as much cooking as possible on an outdoor grill.

Set up a kitchen in your basement.

Make lots of salads from local in-season vegetables.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I also have A/C and do not use it.

I only have a week or two when the humidity gets bad and then it is so hot it really does not matter if the oven is on or not.

I keep plenty of ice and legal beverages on hand.

Cook in the early morning.

Use the microwave.

Keep a couple of cold scoopable salads in the icebox.

Summer goes by so quickly that I try to enjoy it, the winter gets longer each year.

 

[Claire]

Ha! In the basement? Yes it is cool. But I'm 5'9" and the cellar is more like 5'4". I have bruises on my forehead to prove it!

 

[justplainbill]

Ha! In the basement? Yes it is cool. But I'm 5'9" and the cellar is more like 5'4". I have bruises on my forehead to prove it!

Many of us get shorter as we get older

 

[CWS4322]

Here at the farm, I only have A/C in the bedroom. I cook outside--the cellar is exactly that, a cellar (the house is over 150 years' old). I have a 2-burner hotplate and take the wok/electric skillet/electric griddle out to the sawmill shed and cook there when it is really hot. And BBQ, of course. At one of the houses in the city (where my DH spends most of his time), there is also only A/C in the bedroom. He set up a summer kitchen (complete with a 4-burner stove and working oven) in one of the outbuildings.

 

[babetoo]

i have a.c. and i do use it. i also have ceiling fans in each room. the sun room is the one that is hard to cool. it has six windows for the sunshine to heat it up. i have two fans, ceiling. also a fan on a stand. some of the air gets there, making it bearable. only problem, is to get it that way using the air, makes the living and dining almost cold. don't know why.

bottom line, i will be comfortable in my house, no matter the cost. i try not to turn air on till i absolutely have to. then i turn it off late in afternoon. keep everything shut up and the house holds the cool.

 

[Aunt Bea]

This thread made me think of this old quote. I am not sure where it came from originally but, it has been said many times many ways.

Everything evens up in the end. ‥The rich man has his ice in the summer and the poor man gets his in the winter.
[a 1957 L. I. Wilder First Four Years (1971) ii.]

.
​

 

[Chef Munky]

We don't have a/c . Around here we've learned to tolerate the heat. It's just a short few hours. It's usually cold and windy here. Open up the windows in the late afternoon. That's a/c enough for my tastes.

I'll cook on the patio several dinners and salads in advance. Keep cool things around for sammiches.

Tonight by the time the fireworks display start up I'll be sitting by the fire pit bundled up freezing to death!

 

[Snip 13]

Cook your starch in advance for a few nights like your pasta or rice, then just add quick sauces or toppings. Or make filling salads with crispy bread on the side.

 

[CWS4322]

It is days like today (30C, humidex 35) that I really question why we rented out the house with central A/C so I could live at the farm without A/C. And that's probably why I "jump ship" and go to Lake of the Woods in August--leave the DH to deal with freezing beans, etc.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I'm cooking salmon, a mac'n cheese casserole, bread and a spaghetti squash...all at once, then I'm locking the oven for a week. I do miss being awake at night to cook up a week's menu.

 

[bakechef]

I couldn't imagine living here in NC and not using the A/C, maybe I'm a wimp! I don't sleep well if I am hot, and I surely wouldn't want to cook if it was hot in the house.

 

[CWS4322]

I couldn't imagine living here in NC and not using the A/C, maybe I'm a wimp! I don't sleep well if I am hot, and I surely wouldn't want to cook if it was hot in the house.

Because I work from home (when I work--I'm self-employed, so I don't always work, but it seems that the pattern has been I work in the summer and don't have work November - January), I have a really hard time working when the house is hot...I'm wiped out from the heat. And, I noticed that once I put in central A/C, I didn't mind cooking. The issue now is I don't have central A/C at the farm. When I took my nap today, I dreamt I was making wontons in the kitchen at the house we rented out--the one that has A/C. I so want the tenants out of that house so when the weather is hot like it is now, I can pack up the dogs (and I guess now the chickens) and go there. The Ontario government has implemented TOU rates for hydro. Well, for those of us who work from home, the peak rates for hydro also coincide with when our clients usually are available. My brother also works from home for the Cdn government. He's complaining because his agreement doesn't include reimbursement for hydro.

The difference between the "non-peak" and "peak" rate is 66%. I wait until cheap rates switch on before I turn on the bedroom a/c--ditto for the hot water heater (adhering to the McGuinty shower schedule now). I can't tell you how manyh times I checked the clock between 5 and 7 p.m. today. I so wanted to turn on the a/c and take a shower. I also don't do heavy cooking until after 7 p.m. or before 7 a.m. This "practice" cut my hydro bill last month by
$30.

These TOU rates probably are okay for people who work "normal" hours and work at s/one else's site, but the rate added expenses that I can't bill back to a client. And I can't justify running the a/c unit...I might be able to do so by the end of the week...Sigh.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

We have a/c in the bedroom. For the rest of the house, windows open at night, closed during the day. I work thirds so most of my cooking is done in the morning when I get off work or in the evening after the temp starts to cool. We try to promote air flow with strategically placed fans. I've been known to do all of the following to stay cool while cooking (or doing other tasks):

Wet a dish towel and stick it in the freezer, then wrap it around my neck or tie it around my hair.
Wet a winter knit hat and stick it in the freezer, then wear it.
Place a soft icepack on my head and hold it in place with a hat.
Place a soft icepack on the back of my neck and hold it in place with a scarf or tie.

I also usually keep my hair pulled up when it's hot. If I get it wet and then pull it up, it won't dry until I take it down, so that helps.

 

[Zhizara]

We have a/c in the bedroom. For the rest of the house, windows open at night, closed during the day. I work thirds so most of my cooking is done in the morning when I get off work or in the evening after the temp starts to cool. We try to promote air flow with strategically placed fans. I've been known to do all of the following to stay cool while cooking (or doing other tasks):

Wet a dish towel and stick it in the freezer, then wrap it around my neck or tie it around my hair.
Wet a winter knit hat and stick it in the freezer, then wear it.
Place a soft icepack on my head and hold it in place with a hat.
Place a soft icepack on the back of my neck and hold it in place with a scarf or tie.

I also usually keep my hair pulled up when it's hot. If I get it wet and then pull it up, it won't dry until I take it down, so that helps.

I too found the economical and strategic use of fans. I found little ones (overall 5") and have several placed where I have favorite spots. They really make a difference and were so cheap ($6) that I have one by my recliner, by my desk, next to my sewing machine, next to my bed.

I have a small apartment, so if I run the a/c just before bedtime, with the bedside fan I'm comfortable all night.

There is always one running, and it takes almost no electricity to run.

 

[DaveSoMD]

I have been doing a lot of grilling and we also been eating a lot of fresh veggies and salads. I haven't used the oven in well over a month, maybe two.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I too found the economical and strategic use of fans. I found little ones (overall 5") and have several placed where I have favorite spots. They really make a difference and were so cheap ($6) that I have one by my recliner, by my desk, next to my sewing machine, next to my bed.

I have a small apartment, so if I run the a/c just before bedtime, with the bedside fan I'm comfortable all night.

There is always one running, and it takes almost no electricity to run.

I use a bedside fan all year round. I find it provides a kind of white noise that deadens the sounds of the city.

 

[CWS4322]

For some reason, the bedroom is the warmest room in the house. It doesn't have a heat register, but it is above the livingroom where the woodstove is. I have to either use a window fan or have the window open in the winter. My DH claims he is sleeping in a fridge when he's here in the winter...I find fans just blow the warm air around...I do use the window fans at night to "pull" the cooler air into the house.