I won't lie, summers are BRUTAL here in Phoenix. I also won't lie and I will tell you that winters were BRUTAL in Billings, Montana when we lived there for 8 years. I've said it before (and I'll say it again) I was cold in Billings from October until June and their summers got hot (though not as hot as here in Phoenix). Here in Phoenix I'm warm/hot 3 months (June, July, August). September brings a little respite, October more. By November it is pleasant and sometimes a bit cold (but not Montana cold) and February and March and bits of April and May are really pleasant here.
We are entering our 6th summer here. The first one was absolutely miserable. I thought 95 was hot! (Now it is "pleasant") and anything over 100 was insane. Now up to about 105-107 degrees isn't bad, but everything over 110 becomes a bit unbearable.
We have had recently several days at 115+ degrees. Shattering records left and right. It feels at times walking outside like walking in an oven. But you do what you have to do and get inside as quickly as you can.
The air conditioner pretty much runs 24/7 these days. It gets a little break at night but still runs a lot then.
Cooking can be challenging because who wants to use the oven when it is so hot outside? Who wants to warm the house up more than it already is by using it?
We keep the house at 78 degrees. Some people keep it cooler but I refuse to pay a high electricity bill. We have had solar now for close to 3 years and we pay half of what we paid for electricity with the lease for our solar panels and the few months (mainly summer months) when we have to pay the electric company because we use more than we produce during those times.
Because it is so hot we don't often want a "heavy" dinner so salads are wonderful but we need a bit of a variety so we try to be creative. Friday nights are hubby's night to plan what he wants to cook (he does an excellent job in what we have, lots of fish recipes which I never get tired of). Saturdays sometimes we are over at DIL's house with dinner with her and the kids (son working). If not, we usually just bring in some fast food. For the other 5 nights (if we aren't getting together with son/family on Mondays, his day off) I try to plan things that have leftovers so we don't have to cook every night but can just reheat them.
We make a lot of foil pack dinners with aluminum foil with chicken and fish that go on the grill. Grilling can be so hot out there at 6 p.m. and our backyard gets a lot of evening sun. But with the foil pack dinners you just put them on the grill and check them 20-30 minutes later, depending on what you are making.
Last week we had hamburgers as we had some buns to use up. Rather than cook them at dinnertime out in the sun and heat, I told hubby to grill them in the middle of the day when there was shade at that part of the house. He did that and we just heated up the hamburgers when it was time to eat. They came out great!
People who live here in Phoenix are hardy people. There are so many that have been born and raised here and are still living here. I admire them. But then again I know people who were born and raised in Montana and still living there and I admire them too. There are some wonderful places in the country that have "perfect" or "near perfect" weather but then they usually are very expensive to live there (Southern California). Most places have some type of thing, tornadoes, hurricanes and the like. Phoenix is a desert and has the heat in summer. So you put up with it or choose to leave.
Since son/family live here with the grands, we are choosing to put up with it. We sometimes talk about moving some place else but then every place we might consider has something that has us not 100% considering moving there.
So for now we are staying put......
Stay tuned in case that changes :)
The wee one (grandson) is a native here, born and being raised here. It will be interesting what he chooses to do when he becomes an adult (assuming the family stays here which so far that is their plan).
Thankfully the heat here really is a dry one. Low humidity. I would "die" in a high humidity area.
Now it is your turn. Do you like the weather of where you live and would you consider living elsewhere for more weather of your liking? What do you cook in the hot summer months? I'm always looking for new ideas on what do make!
I always say that I love everything about where we live EXCEPT the weather. It seems to control your life, either the snowstorms or the rain. You really can’t count on pleasant weather (my definition of that is sunny and 78 degrees) in any month. It was so humid yesterday, with rain on and off. The dark skies are depressing.
ReplyDeleteWe like corn on cob and BLTs in summer. My daughter loves pasta salad. The crockpot doesn’t heat up the kitchen, but the food can be too hearty for summer.
No doubt about it, you guys are hardy! I loathe heat, and even with the pool, the last few years out there was nearly my undoing. Ingenious about your foil packets! We've never done that, but I want to Google and learn more. Do I like the weather out here? Surprisingly, yes! The humidity isn't so bad -- I keep telling myself it's God's sauna. Like Phoenix, Summer's the most uncomfortable. Tornados? Well, I no longer jump like a scared kitten when weather forecasters use the 'watch' word; all we can do is prepare and pray. Gosh, I haven't turned on our oven since November! I know you don't care for your InstantPot, but I use it all the time. Yesterday Tom wanted a potato side, so I just threw in a head of broccoli for me, hit the timer for 60-seconds and enjoyed with butter. 😋
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visits. I hope your weather cools a bit. Has to be suffocating.
ReplyDeleteI seldom talk or write about the weather as I believe we, can do nothing about it. We can do a lot about pollution, but in spite of what people might think, pollution has little impact on the climate. (Climate change,by the way, just like vaccines, is a golden mine for politicians).
ReplyDeleteIn cold weather I get the flu (with or without the jab), and this is a nasty thing. Other ailments like 'arthritis' are also more frequent in cold weather. So I never considered moving to a cold country.
In the long run, those who live on islands have reason to worry. The melting of glaciers are raising the sea water, and islands are in danger of getting "swallowed".
I have lived in Michigan my whole life. One thing we always say is we rarely get extreme anything. No extreme heat, no extreme cold (with the exception of a few years ago when it went down to -14 one night!), no extreme snow (except in the UP where they can get 400 inches in a winter). We do get humidity in the summer but compared to Florida it's not bad. Also we don't get earthquakes or hurricanes, and only a very rare tornado, I do love our weather here however if my daughter and SIL move to another state we will follow wherever they go. My cousin has lived in Phoenix for 30 years and she loves it to this day! Oh, and I use the heck out of my slow cooker in the summer too!
ReplyDeleteOh I should add that one thing that bugs me it the unpredictablilty of the weather here. You can''t count on it being nice when you need it to be! RE: my post on Maxwells T-ball game.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this info, about living where you live.
ReplyDeleteHow about having your 'big' meal at 1PM or so? Since one can do a grill, then? That's what we are doing today... Since it is to be exceedingly hot/humid from noon to 6pm.
We were born/bred in the NE. Heat/humidity wipe me out, so we could not live, where this is usual.
We deal with the snow/ice in winter. We enjoy with the lovely spring and autumn. We deal with, when it is hot/humid in summer. And enjoy the summer days, when the humidity is low.
For eating we deal with whatever the daily conditions are.
Oh girl I would die with those temperatures. I don't know how you do it. That said, it is miserable here in South Carolina in July and August ... and sometimes (though more rarely) even in May and June, and September and October. But July and August are what you'd call crunch time, with humidity off the charts, which really is awful. We make great use of our pool, in the early evening when no sun is on it.
ReplyDeleteBut we lived in the Chicagoland area for 17 years and I can honestly say, I could not go back to bitter cold winters. I could not live where you live either but definitely not in the north again. It's just too cold and the wind cuts you in half. I do not miss that at all. There were times when I just practically despaired of the ice and wind ... January was just plain depressing up there.
I keep my house very cool year round. It's set on 68 in summer (making the actual house temperature more like 72 in the daytime, in the hot hot months). But, we balance it out by keeping it on 62 in the winter. Our winters are notoriously mild but it does occasionally get cold. We just bundle up. I am not going to be hot in my own house, if I can help it. A little tiny bit of heat coming from the registers goes a very long way for me. Our bedroom registers are closed in the winter. I want to sleep in a cold room requiring comforters and snuggling.
I doubt that there's anywhere with perfectly ideal weather; I know that many people long for strictly defined four seasons, and I understand that. But we do have beautiful spring and fall color. I do wish we had ever-so-slightly more winter here (maybe a dusting of snow more than once every ten years), but I am really not complaining. I love it here.
We are grilling steaks and potatoes and corn on the cob tonight; the kids got TG a new Char-Broil grill for Father's Day. He's had it for a few weeks but wow it is really nice not to have to cook in the kitchen. It's not overly hot here right now and tomorrow we will only be in the high 70s, with rain. Stay cool, my friend! Love to Winslow! xoxo
Wow, you've lived in some extremes - Montana and Arizona! Smart that you have the solar panels to take advantage of all that sun and save on your electric bill. Nice creativity with your meal planning too.
ReplyDeleteI've lived in Colorado for the majority of my life and enjoy having all 4 seasons (sometimes all in one day :P). I have lived in a humid climate - upstate NY - and agree with you. Dry heat beats hot and humid any day!
It's nice that you're close to your son and his family. I guess that makes the summers more bearable. Stay cool!
Well that heat and that hot is not really for me. I had family live there and they said it was hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. I bet the low humidity helps and the pool. I have to say I live in GA and I really do like the weather - except for July and August.
ReplyDeleteI live in a hot and humid country but I can't imagine living anywhere else - I hate it when it's cold.
ReplyDeleteOver here, we cook a lot of soupy dishes (yan) that are believed to balance the yin(hot) in our body.
Hi! We live in Central Florida and experience high temps and high humidity every summer. It does seem to be getting hotter each year.
ReplyDeleteDuring the day I keep the AC on 78 and in before bed we turn it down to 75.
We grill and or eat large salads. It is too hot to use the oven. On occasion I will use the crockpot for soup, but not too often.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Lisa
I just found your new blog. i followed you when you had the bench. anyway, i understand heat. it's always the humidity that gets me. just unbearable at times. hubby has copd and it's hardest on him. moving is something i'd like to do but it's where one of my daughters and grands live so for now we are also staying put. Havent been posting or commenting alot cause of my hubbys, my kittys and my bad health. but i havent forgotten my dear blog buddies and it was so nice to rediscover you again.
ReplyDeleteI heard about that record breaker. Sounds similar to my sister in laws in Arizona. No oven in the summer. Thankfully you don't have the humidity. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Winter was winter and summer was summer, it was just life at that time. However I don't care to live in a winter climate anymore or with the summer humidity and storms. Of course I love Southern California but the costs are just so high!! You know me, I need to be near James. Definitely love the weather and fear the earthquakes.
ReplyDeleteOh that's HOT! It's been in the 90s here in Louisiana but we have the dreadful humidity. It's awful to walk outside and be hit with damp smothering hot air. I don't even know what dry heat feels like ~ haha! I'd love to have nice weather year round but I can't imagine living anywhere else. We keep the a/c on 76/77. I kick it up to 78 if we aren't going to be home all day. I don't blame you for not wanting to turn on the oven and heat up your kitchen. I can't say my cooking habits change much in the summer, but lately I've been doing my best to NOT cook unless I have to. Having an air fryer that the kids can use helps a lot.
ReplyDelete6/26/21
ReplyDeleteConcerning my problems with my Header... I do the same thing... Use another blog, to try out different things. When "perfected" there, I put them on my main blog. :-))))
🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓 🍓
on wow, talk about hot, you have some really hot days there don't you!! it sounds like you are learning to live with it, doing some things that help. i would think cooking would be a huge challenge...grilling sounds like the best option!! we have been having some very humid days, with temperatures in the 90's here in new jersey.
ReplyDeletei have been in the hospital, in rehab now. it's a long story, but i am starting to do well!!
Thank you for visiting my blog. I've lived in various places as an adult, so experienced various weather. Florida - pleasant winters, April through early November were awful, so I hear you (except it doesn't get as hot as Phoenix). Wichita Falls, Texas - HOT summers, and prone to tornadoes. They had a bad one a couple of years after we left. I've been in New York State over 30 years now. Last December we had 44 inches of snow from one storm. But if you can withstand the winters, summer can be pleasant and early fall is wonderful, with fall foliage and all kinds of delights. It's 93 right now, which I suppose you would consider cool. We try to minimize summer cooking even here. The grill gets used a lot. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDelete