I don’t know what the weather is like where you’re at, but we are about to hit a major heat wave here in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, with forecasts to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). Considering I am happiest at about 20 C (under 70 F), I am really not looking forward to the next couple of weeks!
The main floor of our house keeps fairly cool, but the upstairs bedrooms, including my home office, get untenable without the noisy window A/C units installed. Note to self: remove those from storage and make sure they’re working!
Some of the ways I’ll keep cool:
• Hang out downstairs!
• Go the lake and immerse myself
• Take a cool shower before bed
• Stay inside during the heat of the day
• Drink lots
Ah, yes, drink lots. Always good advice. That reminded me of the many jars of raspberry vinegar concentrate I have in my canning cupboard. Making raspberry vinegar is quite simple. It’s a refreshing drink made from three simple ingredients: raspberries, regular vinegar, and sugar.
Here’s how:
Click here if you want step-by-step written directions for raspberry vinegar.
You can substitute blackberries for raspberries. Friends with a huge patch let me pick lots last year, and they are SOO good in blackberry vinegar.
I’ve been making this favorite family beverage for over 30 years, so it’s not surprising my mind went to the recipe when planning a farm-set summer romance novel a few years ago.
Raspberries and Vinegar became the first novel in my Farm Fresh Romance series, and I gleefully wove the recipe as well as sweet/tart characters into the plot. More than one glass of the beverage went into the writing of this story.
Sweet like Raspberries. Tart like Vinegar.
Josephine Shaw: complex, yet singleminded. A tiny woman with big ideas and, some would say, a mouth to match. But what does she really know about sustainable living as it relates to the real world? After all, she and her two friends are new to farming.
Zachary Nemesek is back only until his dad recovers enough to work his own land again. When Zach discovers three helpless females have taken up residence at the old farm next door, he expects trouble. But a mouse invasion proves Jo has everything under control. Is there anything she can’t handle? And surely there’s something sweet beneath all that tart.
This novel is the springboard for the entire Farm Fresh Romance series which includes Wild Mint Tea (#2), Sweetened with Honey (#3), Dandelions for Dinner (#4), and Plum Upside Down (#5, releasing in August). There will be one more book after that.
If you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for? Make a batch of raspberry vinegar, find a cool place, and start reading!
Kindle | Nook | iBooks | Kobo
The audiobook and paperback versions are also available.
Now I want to know how you stay cool when the temperatures soar! What’s your favorite way to chill out?
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
I need to try that recipe. My cherry tree which usually gives bucketfuls is sadly showing about ten cherries total. But I have loads of raspberries!
You’re guaranteed to love raspberry vinegar! :) Sorry about your cherry crop.
We are about to end our heat wave, at least temporarily. LOL I live in Florida, so it gets especially hot here, of course. The things you mentioned are all good ways to keep cool. Another good one is to put something cold on your wrists when you start to get too warm or even on your forehead. But I have found that running cool water over my wrist is especially helpful. Stay cool if you possibly can!
I enjoy your books. May God continue to bless you richly! ;)
Thanks so much, Faith! I’d have a lot of trouble living in the American south, I think, because of the heat (let alone the whole different country thing!). Cool water on my wrists. I’ll have to try that. :)
Thankfully here on the Oregon coast we don’t get the extreme temperatures like a lot of places do. We usually get the nice cool ocean breezes to keep things mild. Plus, the house we are in, I can open up all the windows and get some great cross ventilation. I grew up in Illinois where the summers can be unbearably hot & humid, and I don’t miss it! You HAD to have either air conditioning or central air in your house :-)
When we do get the occasional heat here, I keep my windows shut for the morning hours, and then open them as the sun starts to go down in the evening and cools off a bit. I also have a huge fan that cools the air and I put it in my living room pointing it down the hallway. I also can take a cold washcloth and put it around my neck, it does help to keep me cool. And lastly, like you said, LOTS of water, or in my case, iced tea. Always keep hydrated! It’s definitely on those days that I wished we did have air conditioning!!
I’ll have to try that raspberry vinegar recipe, I’ve never heard of it! But it does sound refreshing!
Yes, keeping windows closed during the day really helps, as well as blinds drawn on the sunny side! We have a dual thermometer on our north wall showing indoor and outdoor temps. When outdoor is cooler than indoor, the windows go wide open! That makes a HUGE difference on our main floor, but nothing seems to help upstairs. Not enough attic insulation, not enough windows (or they point the wrong way), or something.
I love the west coast for moderate temperatures. We just got back from three weeks on Vancouver Island, where we’re usually very comfortable. Unfortunately, hubby’s job keeps us well inland for now!
I’m always so tempted by this recipe when I read your book or see you talking about it. I just need to remember when I have raspberries around!
I use frozen raspberries all the time!
Loved this book and kept the recipe. Haven’t used it yet, but I’ll give it a try one of these days. The only way I’ll get anyone in the family to take a drink, though, is if I keep the ingredients a secret until after they’ve decided they like it! :)
Enjoy!
Hence when my kids were small we called it raspberry punch to their friends, who suddenly all loved it. My kids thought that was funny.