August.
Much has been written about August. According to the Farmers’ Almanac, July 3-August 11 are some of the hottest days of the year. The dog days, where colloquial wisdom explains that is because the dogs are panting in the shade because it’s so hot.
I mean, yes, but wrong.
Yes, these are the hottest days of summer.
No, that is not why they are considered the dog days of summer. The ancient Greeks noticed that the hottest days of summer coincided with the rising of Sirius, the dog star. Hence, these are the dog days of summer. Am I Sirius? You bet, and don’t call me Sirius. (Any Airplane! fans reading? just me, okay)
In my house the cats do not lie panting in the shade. They do, however, lie on the floor, eschewing the cat beds and furniture.
Yes, I don’t want to turn on my oven to bake cookies. It is too hot to add more heat to our house.
That is the origin story of No Heat August, a Cookie Thursday is a Thing exclusive. (I mean, I think)
Every week will be a different no bake make. Today’s cookie is the fudgy cocoa no bakes. I know I had these growing up, did you?
Of course, since Cookie Thursday is a Thing is about experimentation, I wondered a couple of years ago if I could add unsweetened coconut to the cookies. Would they firm up as much? Would there be any substantive change to the cookie? The answer is yes, they firm up just fine, just a little softer, and no there is no real change to the texture of the taste. There is a very slight coconut flavor to them.
There is another meaning to the word august. It doesn’t mean the 8th month of the Gregorian calendar. It also means marked by majestic dignity or grandeur according to Merriam-Webster. For men I think it is a double-edged insult. It sounds majestic, I mean that is in the definition, but I think it is as much an insult as calling a woman’s features handsome. This is done in many 19th century books and if you read between the lines the woman is to be pitied for not being pretty. Saying a man has an august bearing belittles them for not being handsome. At least it does to me.
Okay, tangent city.
The bake of the week is no bake cookies with peanut butter, oatmeal, cocoa. No flour or eggs required. Or oven, which is the point of no heat theme for August.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 