Worth Sharing: Let's Have a Cool One

While a dip in a pool is the nicest thing ever on a hot summer's day, there are many ways to take a dip and feel restored.   Wading in a lovely little stream.  Sitting in a lawn chair within reach of a sprinkler (a bit of a shock to the system but awfully nice all the same and besides I'm far to lazy to dance about jumping back and forth over said sprinkler).  Going swimming in a lake...

Yes, lovely things each one,  but I haven't any of those things.  So.  What about a cool shower or soak in a tub?  Works lovely if you've gotten hot and dusty while out in the garden and it's awfully refreshing.  Long ago, when I was unable to bathe myself, a nurse's aid gave me a tip: if you want to stimulate and feel invigorated, rub the washcloth up the arms and legs and up the torso and back.  If you want to calm and relax, rub downwards as you bathe.  I find it works just fine as she said.

Sometimes, we don't feel like a heavy meal for supper on these hot days.  So why not have appetizers to go with your salad?  Or chips and dip?  I found this article this week on how to improve various dips on Southern Living.  Some are rather obvious and some are truly helpful.  I didn't know that salsa should be salted and allowed to rest for 10 minutes.   

Here are two helpful hints of my own: for pimento cheese, whether you use it as a spread on bread or crackers, always add a wee bit of the juice from the jar with the chopped peppers.  It makes a huge difference in overall flavor.  In the South we use PIMENTOS which are not the same as roasted red peppers but roasted red peppers will work just fine if you can't find proper Pimentos (I like Dromedary Diced Pimentos).  For goodness sake don't buy them off Amazon.  They are crazy expensive there! 

Now and then just having chips and dips for supper or a snack is refreshing, especially if the dip is a creamy cool one.

If you are the sort who just wants something quick and classic like old fashioned onion dip, don't use a whole packet of soup mix unless you're making a quart of the stuff.  I know what the original  recipe says, one packet to 16 ounces of sour cream.  Take my word for it, it's just too salty and it's too much when combined with salty chips.  Instead mix in just a couple of tablespoons of the soup mix and make sure to get a little of the powdered broth as well as the dehydrated onions in each spoonful.  Mix well and then resist temptation and put it in the fridge for at least one hour.  And yes, you can use dehydrated onions and a bit of powdered beef bouillon with the same results.  I've done it loads of times when I had no soup mix on hand.  A teensy bit of garlic powder helps if you're using the substitutes.

I always buy hummus...And then I watched a girl make it on a YouTube meal prep video this week and I thought "Why on earth am I paying that much for hummus when it's soooo easy and simple to make?"  The Southern Living article makes the point to peel off the outer skins which they say will take ten minutes and I'm willing to bet will take less, but admittedly I haven't tried it yet.  The skins on the beans is apparently what makes the dip grainy.  I can buy Garbanzo/Chickpeas at Aldi for 49c a can and I don't guess spending a couple or five minutes skinning them will put me off saving that extra $3 over buying it.

While on the subject of 'cool' foods, check out my Gathering Fragments post for this week.  On Saturday's section is a really lovely and fresh tasting Orange Gelatin Salad.   I think we've lost something in not eating Gelatin Salads as they did once up on a time before air conditioning.  Maybe it's time to have a revival of Jello?

I don't  know that this is 'cooler' by any  means but it is an interesting article about housekeeping that I read  this past weekend on Southern Living about task based cleaning.  The idea of cleaning one room at a time, and assigning each room a day of the week is the method I generally have used for years but I rather like the idea of shaking things up a little and doing task based cleaning.

Task based cleaning means that you dust not only the bedroom but go on to dust every room in the house and then you do the next job, say vacuuming, and you vacuum all the rooms and then...Well you get the idea.  With task based cleaning, you can assign a task to the days of the week so that you do dusting on Mondays and vacuuming on Tuesdays, etc.   I'm thinking on this one as I type it out just now...Maybe by the end of the week I'll have an idea of what days I'll assign to which tasks. 

How about starting a collection for summer?  I was scanning on Instagram and I didn't note who posted but I took a screenshot of it.   Someone's therapist suggested they stop during moments all throughout the day:  A sunset, contrasts in paint, a  pretty photo of a room in someone's home, a child's laughter.  Take note and recognize the joy in that moment and do this multiple times  a day.  The therapist suggested that this builds a reserve of cheerfulness to draw on and negates a bad experience or feeling.  That's the gist of what she said.   I kind of like that idea.  Yes, it is gratitude based but it's more.  It's taking the time to recognize what happiness or joy really feels like and honoring those moments.

"It is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible." - Jane Austen

Kate Swarthout used to do a tiny little paragraph in the middle of the back page of a woman's magazine, called "Life Savors".  Each month there was a list of moments much as those I listed above.  Simple things that changed a day, that filled the heart and soul with happiness.  Yes indeed, this is a collection I'd like to start!

Last I shall end on a truly cooling note.  Swimming is, as I said, a lovely way to cool off, but I've found over the years I feel less and less comfortable in the traditional sort of swimwear.   I'm larger on bottom than on top.  So if one area fits the other doesn't.  And I've been embarrassed more than once by a baggy top that doesn't keep my modesty intact.   Result:  I stopped going to the beach or to the pool though I do sincerely love it.  I'd made up my mind a couple of years ago that I'd invest in regular shorts/shirts and just GO already but those things weren't made for water and the weight of being wet made them hang and even pulled down the shorts if I wasn't careful.  I was always afraid I'd look like I'd just stepped out in a vintage early 1900s women's woolen swimming costume.  I am a vain creature, I admit it.  I might be a large woman but I want to be an attractive one and there was nothing at all attractive about my attempt at modest swimwear. 

And then this  site came up in my Facebook feed one day.   Modest swimwear is something I think a lot of us have wanted for quite a long time, but honestly,    I'd noted that Jennifer of Daily Connoisseur's latest video featured her swimming and she wore a three quarter length striped top and shorts.  The material is proper swimsuit type material, meant to be soaking wet and hold it's shape.   I'm going to invest in a top and capri pants I think.  And this year, when we're at the beach, I'm going to enjoy the water once more!