I have been having trouble with my garage freezer again. Don't know if it
is starting to give up the ghost or it's just the danged heat. Heat
advisory yesterday and worse today. Came home to the alarm going off. And
it did it again today. Did actually reach an unsafe temp today (I think at
24 degrees). Yesterday was 20 so that was iffy. So far only the things on
the very top seemed to be slightly thawed but the rest were still frozen
solid. That would be some sausages, fruit pops and three burritos. I ate
the sausages last night. The package felt a tad mushy but the meat inside
still felt frozen through. But I did screw up and left the ones that I
didn't eat out in the heat. Didn't remember it until hours later. What's
that stinky smell? Oh yeah!

So today was going to feed the burritos to Angela and husband but she
balked. They're hot! I want COLD food! So we went to Central Market for
cold stuff. They have a cold food bar, salad bar, and an Italian food bar.

Got probably 10 prepared salads. Coleslaw, bean salad, beet salad, some
kind of filled pasta salad, corn salad, macaroni salad, pea salad, something
with little whitish grains. Not rice. Not quinoa. Can't remember but I
wasn't allergic to it. I think I forgot some. Got myself vegetables and
some real bacon bits from the salad bar. Used up the remaining chicken
salad on a bun for husband and randomly plated small amounts of some of the
prepared salads for him. He pronounced them all to be horrible and refused
to eat them. *sigh* I have eaten some of those things before and they were
all good! But maybe it's just him! A couple of weeks ago I got some Thai
noodle salad from Costco. Gave it to him and left because I was in a hurry
to get somewhere. Can't remember now. He said that was horrible and that I
hadn't even cooked it! It was actually cooked and chilled. I was like...
It's salad! Salad isn't usually hot! Yes there are some exceptions. But
over the course of the next two days he did eat the Thai salad so it
couldn't have been too bad!

And this heat wave is only supposed to get worse tomorrow. Because our two
cats have gone missing, I don't want to leave the house for long. Normally
we'd stay out all day to find AC somewhere. And we do have appointments
that will eat up about 3 hours of our time, including travel time. But...
I am looking for ideas of cold foods.

I got myself some bean dip. Daughter and husband like fruit. I love cold
baked beans but have none and am not going to bake any now! Heh. I did get
canned for the 4th. I prefer the ones I make myself but husband and
daughter won't eat those. They prefer the canned. Actually everyone
preferred the canned to mine except for me and my nephew. Like me he
doesn't like sweet foods. Perhaps because mine are not overly sweet,
getting most of their sweetness from the caramelized onions. I also got
some big tomatoes. They were only 98 cent per pound! I like those with
onions. Just slice, salt, pepper and eat.

Although it will cool off slightly later in the week, it's still supposed to
be hotter than usual. I did get Angela a cold cooked chicken breast and
Albertsons sells cold pulled chicken that she likes. No sauce on it. Some
plain and some that says BBQ flavored but there is obviously no sauce so I
don't know what would make it be that.

I will be looking for recipes online. Have made a potato and onion salad
with a vinegar dressing that I liked. Think I have seen a potato and green
bean salad with same. I can't eat any egg or dairy based dressings but they
can. Technically Angela shouldn't even be eating potatoes. So if I make
that for her I will fluff it out with extra onion, egg and whatever else it
contains and less potato. Is there such a thing as a cold sweet potato
salad? That might be a possibility.

I know there are cold soups but nobody here is really into those. I haven't
really had to think about this much because our last two summers have been
so mild. And normally if it was hot, we would seek out a place with AC for
dinner. But I can't do that now because of the cats.

I have contacted a Pet Detective and he is helping me but basically we have
been having a problem with a raccoon. Have contacted an exterminator about
that! Still waiting to hear back. Raccoon has been coming to the windows
and doors and tormenting the cats. But what happened on the 27th happened
so fast I couldn't stop it.

I was on the computer. Heard Jazzy growling. She was by one of the two
lower windows in this room. On her perch. Both windows (sliding) were open
about 4" and locked. But apparently that was enough for her to squeeze
through. She began ramming herself furiously at the window at whatever was
out there. Then the screen popped out and so did she! Bali was hot on her
heels and being much skinnier, I was shocked to see her have no difficulty
getting through. And that's really all I know.

We have seen them both but they are hysterical and very frightened. Last I
saw Jazzy was on the 28th in the neighbor's yard but she kept going into the
blackberries. Turns out we made a mistake in calling to them. And shining
a flashlight on her. That only pointed her out to predators. I think maybe
Bali tangled with the raccoon or perhaps another cat. Found three clumps of
tabby fur on the steps to the deck. Felt like her fur but looked longer.
Of course it appeared to have been ripped out at the root.

As you can imagine, we are quite distraught. We have two traps that we will
set tonight, if they don't come back. Detective said for us to sit in the
neighbor's yard on lawn chairs as the sun is going down and just have a
normal conversation. That might bring them out. This is the house they are
remodeling so nobody currently lives there but I have spoken to the owners.
They are fine with this. Two doors down from them there is a stream
running through the yard so they can get some water if it isn't dried up. I
don't really know those people, but have spoken to the other neighbors.
*sigh*

Anyway... What sorts of things do you eat when it is hot? As in cold
things? We don't do BBQ stuff and don't even own one. I will pick up some
more food on Tues. when I take Angela to her private dance lesson. Alas,
everyone else bailed out on dance this summer so there are no classes. So
now I will just have to pay through the nose for these. But there is a
grocery store in the strip center where the studio is so I can pick up some
more stuff if I need to. Thanks!