?Waiting for a second wave

Wow, what an outstanding heat wave hit us this weekend. It started out rather gently, you could say that it tricked us so we were not prepared for such hot weather: If we get rain in early May, we don't expect 38 degrees in the middle of May!

So we had rain, then a few days of quite pleasant weather, such that the Europeans get every summer for a few months (although in recent years they too have experienced unpleasant heat waves), and then Bang!mid-August heat.

I didn't see it coming, the workers in the garden didn't see it coming, theentire leafy green department werewondering whether the weather had gone completely mad, before they turned their face to the ground and wilted. In a few days the weather will allow a fresh breath of air again (this is the best time to go camping, if you’re into that), but it is definitely a glimpse and a polite reminder of the Israeli summer. It sure is hot here, no less than in Uganda.

So what do we do when it's hot? We cool! I am not very fond of the air conditioner (for a number of reasons – for starters, because the body gets used to the narrow temperature range to which it is exposed, and then it feels extra uncomfortable when outside of that range.

It's a bit like a muscle – the more the body is required to cope with a wider range of temperatures, the less it needs a controlled climate in order to feel comfortable. After all, most tribes around the world probably do not turn on the water heater before they bathe in the river…) and rather provide the body with something cool. Just like the penguins do at the zoo…

So, what do we have that is cool in the fridge?

First comes first, the melons and watermelons are here! The watermelon is the perfect summer cooler. It is both loaded with liquid and blocks an entire shelf in the fridge so there is no choice but to eat it first to makespace.

The sugars are easy to digest and it is considered a diuretic (makes sense, with so much liquid content) and is even soothing. Nowhere else in the world have I seen watermelon served with cubes of salty cheese besides in Israel in the summer, but maybe I just haven't traveled enough (for the campers I mentioned earlier – remember the trick of placingthe watermelon inside a plastic bag and tying it to a branch or root in the cool stream while setting up the tent? Just remember that the flow can easily drift the watermelon away if you do not tie it well…).

What more will refresh us this summer? When you get tired of drinking ice water, it's time to drink flavored ice water. Squeeze some citrus fruit, use it to fill the ice cubepan, and make chilled juice whenever you come in from the heat. Louisa and Melissa leaves go wonderfully inside the ice, but picking fresh and adding isequally tasty.

What do we do on days when it's too hot to even look at a cup of coffee in the morning? We have a cool green smoothie instead. Prepare the smoothie for everything we have stored in the freezer for precisely this purpose: some strawberries left over from spring, pineapple cubes (soon, be patient) and add the frozen citrus cubes we mentioned before. Some people like their wheatgrass juice frozen, but I think that is not for beginners. By the way, frozen grapes are a delicious snack.

What more can we do on those days when the freezer becomes man's best friend and we feel like briefly relocating ourselves to Northern Canada or Russia? Remember the bananas. Yes my friends, the bananas.

On hot days, when bananas ripen almost before we manage to bring them home (unlike during the winter, when we try all kinds of combinations inside brown paper bagsto make the fruits ripen faster – banana and avocado? Banana, avocado and apple?).

Another question is, what do we do when we have more ripe bananas than mouths ready to eat them? We freeze them! (Important tip – peel them first. Peeling a frozen banana is a task for advanced Zen monks).

If you remove it from the freezer directly into the blender the frozen banana turns into ice cream. Variations include peanut butter and chocolate chips. Also, they will readily become ice cream on a stick!

Take care and stay healthy!