Speaking of summer...

Now that our requisite spate of chilly, rainy beginning-of-June weather is coming to an end (you know what they say about Montana - if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes and it'll change), those scorching days of summer are almost upon us. Now is the time of year when I start digging into the cooking section of the library.

On the face of it, that doesn't make sense, does it? I mean, why open a cookbook when it's 85 degrees out and the mere prospect of turning on the oven is enough to cause heat rash? Surely November and December, when the icy winds make leaning against a 400 degree oven for two hours sound quite inviting, would be the more appropriate time for dabbling in the culinary arts?

Not for me. Oh, I do plenty of cooking and baking during the cold half of the year: chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread, cheesecake, pumpkin pie and banana bread - all in their appropriate seasons. We have a standard rotation of family favorites for dinner - lasagna, beef stew, shepherd's pie, and meatloaf to name a few. But these are familiar, time-honored favorites - recipes from my mother's cookbook or my grandmother's dilapidated old box of handwritten index cards - with pages so faded and dog-eared (not to mention stained with the occasional ingredient) as to be barely legible.

So while winter is pretty much covered, cooking-wise, summer is a different prospect entirely. That is where the family cookbooks fail me. My grandmother may have been unruffled by cooking over a hot stove in 90 degree weather, but I freely admit that she was made of sterner stuff than I am. I quail at the notion of turning on a burner after the mercury passes 79, and if that makes me a poor example of the pioneering spirit which made this state great, I guess that's a burden I'll just have to bear.

So, why the summer foray into the cooking section? Because we have some great books there on grilling:


BBQing:

Or, my favorite heat-free option, microwaving:

And, of course, the ever-popular crockpot method:

All great resources to help you cope with fixing a meal in the summer without making your home into an oven at the same time. After all, there are only so many days in a row that the family is willing to eat chef salad before they start talking mutiny at the dinner table. So if you find yourself in a bind this summer trying to think up something to make, drop in at the library and check out our cooking section. Adult Non-Fiction in the 641.5 vicinity is where you'll find it, conveniently located near the Reference Desk so that you can ask for help if you have trouble finding your way. And while you're here, cool off in the air-conditioning before you go home and slave over a hot stove. : )