Matt A. recently wrote about how he was ready for fall, and I couldn’t agree more. So what a pleasure it was to wake up this morning and see that the temperature in New York is 67 degrees. In August! Before Labor Day! I can put on my cowboy boots! And if I’m wearing cowboy boots that means it’s cool enough to cook. See, my apartment, while sporting a window unit, just can’t take the heat from the stove and the oven in the summer months. So I survive on a diet of smoothies, salads, hummus and chips and salsa—simple, cool foods. But I get bored with that mighty fast, and nothing is more fun than sitting in a kitchen for a few hours playing with the spices, herbs and whatever else is on hand and creating a dish or two or three. And if it’s boot-wearing season, it must also be play-in-the-kitchen season. It’s not quite time to tend to a huge pot of Texas Red, but I think I can finally broil those T-bones that have been hanging out in my freezer all summer. Now let’s just hope that this cool weather lasts. What are your favorite things to cook in the fall?
Saturday, August 26, 2006
These boots are made for cooking
5 comments:
ahh... autumn. i'm looking forward to the 20 minutes of fall weather we're going to get here in texas. it should happen sometime in december. then we'll have a sleet storm and be covered with black ice while cars careen into railings and pylons piloted by texans who drive on slick, iced over roads approximately once a year.
however, since you asked, i must share that the first cool snap we get here in texas always sees me in the kitchen, preparing a huge pot of texas red, as you call it (and i know what that means!). and yes, i make my chili with beans - and i AM a native texan. it's an age-old debate... but i do.
the second cool snap we have, approximately a month after the first one, i'll probably make a pot of my famous "pack on a quick 10 pounds" potato corn chowder.
if we have another cool snap (i think in texas we call it a "snap" because you can snap your fingers and it's over) i'll spend all day making my grandmother's chicken & dumplings - with real dumplings, rolled and cut and perfectly tender and delicious. i can't wait.
but i've lived in texas long enough to know that i'm going to have to.
i'm insanely jealous of your 67 degree weather...
Well, don't be toooo jealous: the price pay 67 degree weather in August is rain, lots of rain.
I'm going to riff on your bean comment in a post. It is indeed an age-old debate.
Love your remark about snap--never thought of it that way, but I do believe you are correct.
Lastly, I've never made real dumplings. Do you have a recipe you can share?
As a new New Yorker, I had never really felt the heat, or the humidity until I had moved here. So I now can say, I feel your pain, and I know what you mean.
For me, I like to cook anything braised. And squash, winter squash, butternut, kabocha, I'm equal opportunity.
I've never had kabocha, what's it like?
I want a pair of boots like that!
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