Not sure if you noticed or not, but Wednesday was officially the first day of summer.  For those of you who are Wiccans or Furries or otherwise into these things – the ball officially dropped at 7:09 p.m.  The first sign for us was when folks asked us to close the barn doors and let some air conditioning cool down The Urban Farmhouse.  It’s funny:  In the winter every patron entering our place gets a dirty look as the frigid Arctic breeze blows in from the Great Cary Street.  In the summer we see the same looks as someone lingers in the doorway and lets some cool out.  Never fear, dear patrons!  One day it will be juuuuust right!

Instead of ranting today about Big Ag or the merits of heirloom apples, we thought that we’d offer some friendly advice about some foods and drinks that can help to hold back the tide of the heatwave.

Okay.  Read this article in The Atlantic about GMO foods.  Those suckers are feeding us a bunch of hooey in addition to a bunch of FrankenFood.

There.  I said it.  Now, moving on…

Fruits and vegetables.  Duh.  Many of them are mostly water anyways, so is this such a brain dump?  Unlike the stuff that they’re talking about in The Atlantic article, our strawberries come from Agriberry CSA and Farm, so they’re free of hormones and stuff.  They’re not officially organic, but pretty darned close.  And how about cucumbers?  If your eyes are worn out you put some cucumbers on them, right?  If your taste buds are worn out a cuke will perform the same miracle.  Zero fat and the skins are actually a great source of fiber.  They also have a ton of water.  These are all reasons that we love them and load them into our salads and sandwiches.  You want to know what else is great about the mighty cucumber?  You can turn it into a pickle.  Now it’s refreshing and puts a bit of healthy sodium back into your body.

We’re also great fans of peppers.  They’re another moisture-laden food to quench the thirst.  They are also full of capsaicin.  This does two things:  adds a bit of spice and boosts your metabolism.  The spice causes our body to heat up (like sweating over a jalapeno) which actually helps us to cool off.  The metabolism booster comes in handy because our bodies actually get kind of lethargic in oppressive heat.

Hummus and sweet pepper sandwich?  You get the double-bang from the peppers and we dose it with some fresh lemon.  The lemon gives it a nice tart, is full of water, and gives you a great dose of Vitamin C.   And it tastes good.  Any of our dishes with citrus fruits will give you this same boost.

Have we mentioned that we go through a ton of Hanover tomatoes in executing our menu?  No?  Well we do.  So there.

How about a shout-out for the beverage department?  We know that the thought of a piping-hot cup of coffee gets you steamed on a hot day, but what about a delicious Iced Latte or Mocha?  And you can grab one of our smoothies or a nice shake for a cool-down.  Fresh berries, fresh peaches, local honey, and milk from happy free-range cows from Homestead Creamery right here in old Virginia.

All of the guys in the lab coats and that Gupta guy on CNN tell you to avoid alcohol when it’s hot.  Like everything, we say explore in moderation.  Maybe a nice Starr Hill on a hot day?  It’s made with water, is loaded with hops and grains, so it’s basically a food group.  And wine.  Grapes, the flavors of berries and fruit, and a bit of smokiness to give it some pizzazz.  It was good for the Romans during the dog days of Claudius, and it’s good for you.

We’ll crank up the air conditioning for you during the hottest days of the summer.  The ceiling fans will be spinning, we’ll have plenty of fresh produce to play with, and there will be adult beverages in the cooler.  When it gets hot enough to melt tar, wander down the cobblestones and visit us at The Urban Farmhouse.  We can cool you off.

Then you can go jump in the river.  That’s what we do after work.

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