What's cookin' these hot days?

[Phentex]

I just don't feel like heating up the kitchen but I've been too busy to even think about crockpotting.

Quick pastas, sandwiches, dinner out: I'm tired of all of it.

Is the microwave an overlooked source?

What's for dinner where you are?

[Warpy]

1. It's toaster oven time

and today it's halibut sprinkled with seasoned bread crumbs and a little oil. The sides are the potato salad I posted elsewhere plus some early sweet corn.

I use the toaster oven a lot more than I use the microwave in the summer.

It's too cloudy to think of using the solar oven. It's supposed to clear off next week, though. I've been craving some Irish bread.

[The empressof all]

2. It's still not hot enough here to worry about it

I was fantasizing about making cookies. When it's hot I usually go for the store bought roasted chickens. I also love tortellini salad with Tuna. I boil up some tortellini in the morning. Dress with Paul Newman (or your own homemade) add chopped peppers, onion, celery and canned tuna (Chopped Brocolli, Cauliflower, asparagus, artichoke hearts are all great additions to this base). I let it sit in the fridge all day to do it's thing. Then I top it with those little grape tomatoes and sometimes hard boiled eggs. When I was eating pasta on a regular basis this was one of our summer mainstays. My daughter was whining about not having it for a while just the other day. I bought all the stuff for her to make it when ever she wants.

[yy4me]

3. Hot, I'd love it. Time for BBQ and sandwiches but the temp is

still in the 40's and 50's here. Had lentil soup for dinner last night. Beef stew tonight. Happy I had them in my freezer.

New England spring has been just plain nasty. I am heating up the kitchen. The oven door is open to throw a few BTU's into the room, my feet and old bones are cold.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. We grill year round.

A couple of days a week in the Winter.

4 to 6 days a week in warmer weather.

We grill all kinds of stuff, not just the usual.

[yellerpup]

5. Crab cakes and grits with Ro-tel based roumelade

Steamed sugar snap peas and lime cole slaw. It's cool here, so I could make cornbread but I'm getting fat again and I don't think I will. Happy eatin'! :hi:

[Blues Heron]

6. Starting to get nice and hot here in DC

But that won't stop me from baking bread or boiling big cauldrons of soup! We have very good ventilation with two of those in-window double fans, and our top windows actually work-not painted shut! so we can keep this small apartment from getting overheated no matter what we're cooking! :)

Made some roast chicken yesterday using a modified version of the carnitas technique I posted earlier. Mixed success. the chicken picked up some bitterness from the orange juice (which was very pulpy) but was still enjoyable. next time I might strain out that bitter pith....

[ginnyinWI]

7. I'll let you know if it ever gets out of the 60s here!

It's so cool we still have the furnace turned on at night and only have it off and the doors open for a little while in the afternoon if it gets to the low 70s. Brr! Last night I made chicken baked in the oven with wine sauce and served it with noodles and carrots. Still baking muffins and pizza too--in a nice hot oven.

Actually I shouldn't complain. It keeps the skeeters from coming out. Soon enough it will be sweltering.

[Lugnut]

8. It's not hot here.

It was rainy and cool all week. We were eating leftovers until yesterday from the family picnic last Sunday. We ate the baked chicken thighs on Monday and I froze the leftover porketta. The remains of the baked beans and macaroni salad will be done tomorrow. I can probably start cooking new stuff by Monday.