Hot, Hot, Heat

It's sooo hooot!

I know, I know, it's nowhere near as hot and humid as it was last week, but I still leave work all sticky and quite grumpy from having spent the entire day fighting with clothes that insist on clinging to every inch of my body. As soon as I step out from work, the only thought to inhabit my mind is  the ice-cold water that awaits in my fridge.

It's not imported French or Italian mineral water that comes in pretty glass bottles; nor is it fizzy water that so delightfully tickles one's nose when the glass approaches one's lips... It's not recycled, filtered and bottled tap water either... It's just a pitcher filled with my city's vintage. In an effort to reduce my waste output, I pretty much gave up on bottled water, though I must confess I do still buy the occasional bottle of sparkling water -just one or two every couple of months, no more, I promise!

Granted, it wasn't really all that hard to give up the bottle: I'm not much of a water drinker. In fact, I only started to drink water when I lived in France, where water with bubbles takes up entire aisles at the supermarket. It was the bubbles that got me, and the fact that mineral water in France is a little salty... But I digress.

My long standing objection to water had always been its lack of flavour. I could not see the point of it, when tea, coffee, milk and juice fulfilled the same job and tasted so much better. I have changed my mind since then, especially now that I work in sweltering kitchens. I do feel the hydrating benefits of a tall glass of water. I know that my body needs and craves water. But my taste buds are still not excited by water. At home, I will sometimes adulterate my water with syrups and squashes, though I must say that in the midst of a killer heat wave, I don't want my water to be sweet.

Just plain water could do the trick, but now that the market stalls are overflowing, and that gardens are abundant oases, one would be remiss not to throw a little something in the water from time to time... Mint and basil usually take over the garden at this time of the summer, and I often feel overwhelmed at the sight of them on my way to the compost bin. (By mid-winter, I'm usually kicking myself for not having made enough pesto, but that is another story.) Harvesting summer herbs often seems like an endless endeavour: you pick and pick and pick, and then they just sit around, waiting to be eaten, while what is left in the garden goes on growing.

So I've partially solved my herbal glut by throwing a few sprigs in my water pitcher. It's not the end-all-be-all solution, but it is a quick fix. And I do mean quick: there is no need to let the herbs steep for hours before enjoying a refreshing glass of herbed water. The herbs impart their aroma within minutes of hitting the water. If your pitcher is already chilled, you can help yourself to a glassful more or less as soon as the last sprig hits the H²O.

It's also a good way to get rid of a few extra cucumbers you may have lying about. If you've signed up for  a CSA basket, you are probably being invaded by the cucumbers right about now. Or maybe you would prefer something sweet: if you have left-over bits of fruit sitting in the fridge, they can go in the water too.

All those bits and pieces won't keep forever in the water though, they will have to be strained out after about 3 days, but in the meantime, you will have refilled the pitcher several times, and drunk lots of tasty water.

À votre soif!


P.S. Before bringing the sliced cucumber out to the compost pile, they could have a second life as eye masks or as a soothing compress for sunburns. Or you can blitz everything, and have a tall glass of green smoothie.