I am still recovering from the recent heatwave in New York. Coming from a Texan, you’d think I could have handled that. Well, even I’d think I could have handled that.

I am alive, but worn out and somewhat crabby.

Everything is air-conditioned within an inch of its life and of the Arctic in Texas. Here, my house doesn’t have AC, and I work from home. Since I felt like I was being boiled alive without the respite of an office set at like 12F, it makes sense that I’m still feeling a touch crabby. Crabbish. Crab-like. Red and mad.

To top it all off, my refrigerator died at the beginning of the heat wave. It took a solid week for a new one to be delivered. I think the lack of a refrigerator affected me more than the heat wave since it felt just a bit like the universe was laughing at me for not at least buying a window AC unit. “Oh, so you’re stubborn and think you can get through a few days of heat? How about nothing cool in your house at all? How about that, you dumb Texan in New York?”

It was a very rough week to be in my house. For both the appliances and myself.

I am thankful that the new refrigerator arrived eventually. Peeling off the protective plastic was very satisfying. Plus, I now have a refrigerator again. Both pretty great.

Pretty not great: losing everything in the refrigerator was devastating. I am trying not to think about it. The work of replenishing the basics is soothing, though. None of it is fancy or groundbreaking, just wheels and a seat to get the car going again. It makes good, simple meals easy to start, and I don’t feel sad during or after eating them. I did throw in some fun things that weren’t necessarily basic but in regular rotation and nice to have at hand.

Things I Made Recently that I’m Still Thinking About – Because My Refrigerator Died and the New One Arrived Empty

• Garlic confit (but roasted in the toaster oven rather than on the stovetop) for both the garlic and the oil.
• Dijon dressing with the addition of soy sauce or shio koji, depending on what I have on hand (somewhat similar to this as a base recipe with umami additions).
• Cooks Illustrated thyme and shallot dressing from their chef salad recipe (I have never made the salad, but I make the dressing all the time). I’ve found it’s quite good on a chopped salad I’ve been playing with that has a bunch of jalapeños, banana peppers, and olives.
• Chicken stock for the freezer. I use only chicken and onions in my broth. That way I can add whatever aromatics go best with what I’m making later. I don’t always want celery flavoring a soup. (several lbs of chicken backs, roasted at a really high heat on a sheet pan. Set in a big-ass pot with cold water and one onion, halved with the skin on. Bring to a boil, skim scum, turn down to not even a simmer for 6 hours or until you can’t stand the smell of stock in your house any longer, strain, clarify if you’re really dedicated, but let me tell you how often I am that dedicated to stock in my own damned house)
• Mexican Chocolate popsicles (from Fany Gerson’s Paletas)
• Strawberry balsamic popsicles (from Nathalie Jordi, David Carrell, and Joel Horowitz’s People’s Pops)
• 🦀Yes two types of popsicles because I’ve been really hot 🦀
• About 100 pork and chive dumplings (If you’ve ever wanted to teach yourself a simple pleat for dumplings, see here. One day I want to have a dumpling party where we all make different dumplings and pleats and go home with a lot of dumplings for our stashes)

The refrigerator isn’t full yet, but the heat broke, the garden irrigation system is working, and cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, and friends are filling up what space does remain in the fridge. I’m looking ahead to pickles, pressed eggplants, and sauces of all types soon.