August has a way of turning even the simplest task into an act of heroism. It is too hot to cook, too hot to go outside, too hot to answer messages and, honestly, almost too hot to care.
But life insists on continuing: people still need dinner, homes still need tending and we still need small pleasures to get us through the month.
So here are 50 low-effort, cooling, slightly indulgent ways to survive the heat without surrendering completely.
- Roasted cherry tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, poured sizzling hot over cool Greek yogurt. The hot-cold contrast turns it into dinner in five minutes.
- Rediscover fresh pineapple. Slice it thick, sprinkle with a little dried hot chili and salt, and see how the heat intensifies the sweetness.
- Hate us for sending you to buy pineapple, as if we were Rothschild.
- Cold pasta with pistachio pesto, burrata or fresh mozzarella and lemon zest. A refreshing carb that does not weigh down the stomach.
- Declare Sunday evening a no-cooking night. Dinner consists of crackers, good butter, olives, sliced onion, and maybe anchovies or sardines.
- Fall for the sardine trend because they are full of protein. But enough, sardines are disgusting.
- Homemade Israeli cold brew black coffee: Soak black coffee with cardamom in cold water in the refrigerator for 12 hours, strain through cheesecloth and pour over ice.
- Buy a new, soft bath mat. Especially in summer.
- Pickled green almonds or wrinkled black olives you made yourself. Feel like a proud Galilee grandmother.
- Leave annoying WhatsApp groups. The immediate peace of mind is worth every bit of awkwardness.
- A frozen cube of butter melting over a hot corn cob. Science has yet to find a better combination.
- Fresh figs with a little blue cheese or a shard of pecorino.
- Try making flavored vinegar at home: apple cider vinegar with oregano stems, hot pepper and garlic. An excellent gift for tomorrow’s salad.
- Radish and edamame salad: thinly sliced, with a dressing of sesame oil, lime and grated ginger. Crisp, green and refreshing.
- Buy a silk pillowcase or high-quality Egyptian cotton pillowcase. Just for the option of flipping it over at night to the cool side.
- Homemade garlic mayonnaise, or aioli, with an immersion blender in 30 seconds. Dip every raw vegetable in the fridge into it.
- Bring a package of popsicles or a fruit platter to soldiers at a checkpoint or to the guys at a nearby base.
- Sourdough toast with fig jam, thyme and goat cheese. A Friday morning breakfast with minimal effort.
- Learn to say “no” to offers to leave the house between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. A basic civil right in the Israeli summer.
- White fish ceviche with diced cucumber, tuna, cilantro, lots of lime, chili and salt. No oven, no stove.
- Put on a Brazilian bossa nova playlist in the kitchen. Suddenly, all the tedious work feels like a vacation in Rio.
- Black lentil salad: Soak the lentils for 12 hours. No need to cook. Drain and mix with lots of herbs, unsweetened cranberries, lemon zest and walnuts.
- Watch old black-and-white movies in the air conditioning.
- Place frozen cucumber strips over your eyes. Fifteen minutes of a completely free and entirely useless home spa.
- Buy a huge bunch of eucalyptus, lemon verbena, sage or lavender branches, or some combination of them. Gently smack them and put them in a vase. The house will smell like a moshav in the Galilee.
- Arak and lemon ice cream: Blend lemon juice, a little peel, a generous splash of arak, sweet cream and condensed milk, then freeze.
- A simple homemade vanilla-chocolate marble cake. Eat it in the afternoon with a glass of instant coffee or tea with milk and think wistfully of our grandparents.
- Homemade focaccia: Mix 1 kilogram of flour with 800 milliliters of water, 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast, 1/4 cup olive oil and two teaspoons salt. Mix only until combined and no flour remains. Cover and leave to sit in the Israeli heat for 24 hours. Line a deep baking pan with paper, spread generously with olive oil and pour in the dough. Let it sit for another hour, then poke it with your fingers, sprinkle with rosemary sprigs and coarse salt and, if you want, more olive oil on top. Send it into a very hot oven, 200°C, for 30 minutes or until done. What a smell.
- Put glass cocktail cups in the freezer. It does not matter what you pour into them afterward, it will feel like the Ritz-Carlton.
- Dunk your face in ice water for 10 seconds, three times, when you wake up in the morning. More effective than a double espresso and a Klonopin combined — it wakes you up and calms you down.
- Find a shaded corner in the park at 6 p.m. and bring a book. No phone, no notifications.
- Go to the beach at 6 a.m. Swim when there are almost no people, the air is still bearable and return home before the world starts sweating. Tell everyone about the experience, especially those who do not want to hear it.
- Cook legumes in advance, divide them into bags and freeze. Pull them out in a second for a cold, filling salad. Do not pay 25 shekels to Sunfrost. They can come find us.
- Drink water with frozen balls of watermelon and melon. Pretty in the glass and adds a delicate sweetness.
- Buy Shoresh sandals and feel like you are in a pre-military academy.
- Cook Indian dal and eat it with basmati rice and cold yogurt.
- Arrange your bookshelf by color. It is unnecessary and people will act superior about it, but the result clears the mind.
- Green apple carpaccio: thinly sliced with a mandoline, with olive oil, honey and Hameiri cheese.
- Freeze Greek yogurt with a little date syrup and tahini, not fully mixed, in popsicle molds. A healthy, frozen and surprising snack.
- Drive along the coastal highway in the evening with the windows open. Breathe the sea air without getting into the sand.
- Learn to make homemade ponzu sauce: soy sauce, lime juice, a little rice vinegar and a little mirin sauce. It makes any salad or fish feel fancy. You can sweeten it a little.
- Buy a particularly beautiful notebook for ideas and thoughts. Write in it only with a quality pen.
- A plate of local hard cheeses: Tzfatit, kashkaval, herb Gouda — with good country bread.
- Freeze slices of ripe banana and blend them. You get the texture of creamy ice cream without a drop of cream.
- Green gazpacho: cucumbers, parsley, green grapes, garlic, hot green pepper, a little vinegar and lots of olive oil to finish.
- Send a letter or illustrated postcard by mail to people you love. Not on WhatsApp. Real paper.
- Crispy seaweed snack with hot rice and smoked fish. A quick, addictive Asian bite.
- White cabbage salad with dill, lemon and olive oil. The simplest, crunchiest thing, and it will not rot in the fridge even after two days.
- Replenish your stock of short socks.
- Remind ourselves that all previous summers passed, and this one will too, eventually. The days will grow shorter, the air will soften and the autumn breeze will arrive. The present is convincing, but it also passes.