Beating the heat

Here in Dallas, July is an interminable season of oppressive heat. Scratch that: the weather outside is insufferable, but since this city (along with much of the South - I'm looking at you, Atlanta) would cease to exist without air conditioning, one doesn't actually have to encounter the heat if they don't care to. Today, for example? A stifling 103 degrees. But it's a chilly 65 for those who travel from their apartment to their parking garage to their car to their office parking garage to their office! I digress. For those of us who choose to, sigh... engage with their community and all the unpleasantness that comes with it, I offer my Beat the Heat guide:

First up, what to wear? Pare down to the basics. You look silly covering up in this heat, really. I'm voting for this no-fuss, vintage-inspired dress from Anthropologie in seasonal tomato red, perfect for A) strolling around the farmer's market, or B) seeking refuge on a happy hour patio.

All Trades Dress, Anthropologie

Let's imagine that you chose A) Strolling around the farmer's market. It simply doesn't get any better than the summer harvest, and there's no better season to commit to eating locally and seasonally. (Not sure where your local farmer's market is? Search here.) Everywhere you look, stands are bursting with the most delicious offerings of the year, and what's great about summer produce is that it doesn't take a lot of effort to make really yummy, beat-the-heat dishes. Take yesterday's salad, for example: it perfectly embodies what summer food is all about - nothing required but fresh, cool, crisp vegetables. And no need to turn on that blazing hot stove, either.

Tomato, Corn, Cucumber, and Feta Salad - Cookthink
(Not a fan of raw tomatoes, like my silly life partner? Substitute crunchy red bell peppers instead.)

Now what if you chose B) Shady happy hour patio? Well, then. I present my booze of choice, which happens to pair perfectly with summer onslaught and is described as "a most iconoclastic experience." Really. I'm talking about Hendrick's Gin. So delightful on so many levels. It's cucumber-infused and will do anything you want it to do. Also, as a sucker for good design, you must go and admire the website and packaging. I'll just let Hendrick's' Suitable Summer Remedies page do the talking: "Very few things pair better with a long balmy afternoon of lazing about the cucumber patch, performing acrobatics in the rumpus room, or playing croquet in the park than a sparkling, cool Hendrick's and Tonic garnished with a cucumber slice." Indeed.

Hendrick's Gin

After all that shopping or socializing, you'll no doubt need to wind down with the literary version of a summer spell. My all-time favorite summer novel is one I reread every year about this time, from a woman who can simply do no wrong: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a novel that makes me feel small and humbled and more alive than before. Those are all good things, I think. It sings with green summer and the life all around us like no other book I know.

Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver

Stay cool, everyone! What are your Beat the Heat standbys?