Let's come up with a few cool ideas, yuk yuk.

August 12, 2008 9:55 AM

Help us flesh out our cool-weather anticipation celebration!

My ladyfriend and I hate hot weather with a fiery passion. I know, I know... Most people love summer, but down here in the forested parts of the Texas coastland it gets too hot and muggy to do anything outdoors comfortably. The parks and trails are completely deserted around this time of year for this very reason. In response, we have decided that we are starting our own holiday to commemorate the day after the hottest day of the year (by average), which is the first day that the temperature starts dropping! From here on out, every day will be a little cooler than the last, allowing a few exceptions. Oh yeah!

First, we need a name for the holiday. Coldmas? Coolfest? Frostember? All the names we come up with kinda stink, as you can see. Let's see if you can do better!

Second, we need some meals. This will be an all-day event, so we need ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Obviously, the dinner is most important. This is when all the guests will arrive to enjoy our cold-weather themed snacks and treats! There will also be the obligatory adult beverages, if you have any cute ideas in that department.

Lastly, we need ideas for activities or what have you. Cold theme is a must!

posted by Willie0248 to food & drink (20 comments total)

Soups! Butternut squash, potato and leek, chowders, chicken noodle, tomato w/ grilled cheese sandwiches.

Make eggnog, add brandy.
posted by HotPatatta at 10:16 AM on August 12, 2008

Listen to Coldplay ;) I keep hearing commercials about a beer can that changes color when it's optimally cold.

I'm in your neck of the woods and I also hate summer with a passion. When, precisely, does this magical day take place?
posted by jschu at 10:21 AM on August 12, 2008

@ jschu

Tomorrow for me, though it varies by region. If you want to celebrate for your area, take a look at the daily averages on weather.com.

For instance, here are the daily averages for Austin, TX. Their cold weather celebration day would be on August 8th, since that is the first day that the average high is lower than the day before it. Find your own by using the link below, but replace the XXXXX at the end with your own zip code!

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/daily/XXXXX
posted by Willie0248 at 10:36 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

I am in New York and I hate summer. I can't even imagine the misery of a Gulf Coast summer.

Holiday names;
How about "The Bracing" by a sort of analogy to Spring, the bracing commemorates the day when your area will again turn to cool, invigorating, bracing weather when you can actually walk outside and not be miserable.

I can see the cards. "Come celebrate The Bracing with..."

Plus it has an archaic almost Old English feel.

Meals are hard because it would still be ungodly hot during the start of The Bracing, and I can't imagine enjoying soup unless it was Gazpacho or unless I was in serious A/C.

A nice plate of gnocchi always worked when the temps are cold here in New York.
You might want to give that a whorl.
For that matter, the day you turn off the A/C can be another holiday. Although, as I am thinking you're not far from Houston, *do* you actually turn off the A/C at all?
posted by xetere at 10:42 AM on August 12, 2008

I too hate high heat with a passion.

Like equinox, perhaps "Coolinox?"

I'm not clear on what you want to celebrate; do you want food that's usually enjoyed in cooler temperatures or cool food that can be enjoyable in the (now declining, on average) heat?

Cucumbers! Mangoes! Cube, throw together. Squirt in a little lime juice and dust with cayenne.

Make your own satay* (chicken, beef, pork, prawns) - allow to cool before serving. Mix in 1:1 sour cream and peanut sauce.

For food that's enjoyable in cooler temps, I'm personally craving hot pot, but it's too bloody hot to eat that right now.

*if you can get your hands on Lee Kum Kim brand stuff, it's good and convenient; curry paste + sa cha + ground dried shrimp. Add some cumin, white pepper, and chili flakes (if you like hot). Marinate meat (chicken in strips, red meat sliced thinly, then scrunched up on skewers). 5-7 minutes on high broil in oven, flip, broil another 5-7 minutes.
posted by porpoise at 10:42 AM on August 12, 2008

Cold + Cotillion = Coldtillion
posted by cowbellemoo at 10:49 AM on August 12, 2008

Cold refreshing summer drinks, made with basil-lemon syrup, as per this suggestion. I've been making shaved ice desserts using the syrup (shaved ice + syrup), and it's been a major hit. Other ideas are: vodka gimlet (happy hour), iced tea or lemonade (morning).

As for meals, chilled soups would be great. Soups are often thought of as cold weather food, but with chilled soups, you have the "cold" theme AND it's enjoyable in hot weather. There's nothing as great as a chilled gazpacho on a hot and sticky summer afternoon. Especially if you are liberal with the red wine when making it.

Other cold soups would also be great: potato leek (vichyssoise), beet soup, chilled cucumber soup.
posted by jujube at 10:52 AM on August 12, 2008

@ porpoise

That's a good point! I guess I should clarify what kind of food and drink are desired. We're looking for cold dishes rather than dishes that would be good in cold weather. For instance, a cold pasta salad would be much better than chili (which sucks, because the name would go much better with the theme).
posted by Willie0248 at 10:53 AM on August 12, 2008

Chillier weater + Solstice = Chillstice. Or Coolstice.

I prefer Chillstice. It even looks cold as a word.

I don't know about food, but you need fables! Every good holiday has fables around it. Spin some good yarns about how it was founded, about great travails that occured, about pioneers and creepy characters and near-hot experiences. You can include one story with each email or card you send out. You can crank up the air conditioning, gather around the hole-in-the-ice (you were planning to make that the centerpiece for the evening story-telling, right?) and tell some mystical tales of Foilus Trafoe who trekked non-stop through 110 degree weather for 12 whole days before finding a restaurant and tunneling into their walk-in freezer just in the nick of time.
posted by cashman at 10:53 AM on August 12, 2008

Coldtillion is the name of the party you throw on Chillstice.
posted by cowbellemoo at 10:56 AM on August 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

An idea for the name and theme:

"Mistral" is the name of the cold september wind that rushes down the Rhone river valley in France to the Mediterranean and blows all the hot, humid air out to sea.

From the Wikipedia page:
The Mistral plays an important part in the life and culture of Provence, The Mas (Provencal Farmhouse) traditionally faces south, with its back to the Mistral. The bell towers of villages in Provence are often open iron frameworks, which allow the wind to pass through. The traditional Provençal Christmas crib often has a figure of a shepherd holding his hat, with his cloak blowing in the Mistral.

Why not do some Provencal themed foods, while you're at it?
posted by LN at 11:03 AM on August 12, 2008

If you want to celebrate for your area, take a look at the daily averages on weather.com.
Awesome! The 17th for us, when the average high drops from 95 to 94! Relief is in sight!

For that matter, the day you turn off the A/C can be another holiday. Although, as I am thinking you're not far from Houston, *do* you actually turn off the A/C at all?
Maybe at the end of October, for us...
posted by jschu at 11:10 AM on August 12, 2008

Do you drink some nice cold eggnog at your holiday?
posted by inigo2 at 11:11 AM on August 12, 2008

Coolio.
posted by metastability at 11:14 AM on August 12, 2008

Cucumbers! Mangoes! Cube, throw together. Squirt in a little lime juice and dust with cayenne.

On the menu!

Do you drink some nice cold eggnog at your holiday?

We will now. ;)
posted by Willie0248 at 11:14 AM on August 12, 2008

Hot chocolate popsicles or ice cream? Or maybe a sort of hot chocolate mudslide/blender drink, with peppermint schnapps?

I would strongly recommend a big tray of sliced good farmer's market tomatoes, since the tomato season - the only good thing about summer in Texas - is winding down. A little farewell, with salt and pepper.

This is a fantastic idea. I may have to steal one of these names for my personal holiday, which falls on the first weekend it is possible to sit outside at night without sweating.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:48 AM on August 12, 2008

You can pre-chill the cuke&mango salad in the fridge before serving.

How about freezing berries? Or frozen grapes.

Antipasto is also good in hot weather.
posted by porpoise at 11:56 AM on August 12, 2008

vodka soaked watermelon! alternatively you could make a cold watermelon soup (puree and add whatever liquid you want)
posted by purpletangerine at 12:13 PM on August 12, 2008

Penguins! Snowmen! Or these awesome hot and cold themed cupcakes.
posted by purpletangerine at 12:17 PM on August 12, 2008

I think you should invent cold versions of hot foods associated with winter. Mulled wine or glogg re-interpreted as sangria. Instead of roasted chestnuts, some sort of maroon glace ice cream. Cold cuts of roast beef. Chilled minestrone. Hot buttered rum on ice (hold the butter).
posted by Mngo at 12:44 PM on August 12, 2008