Anna's No-Cooking at Home. It was just too hot today in the San Francisco bay area! The forecast called for a high of 92, and it felt it. It was still 85 degrees at 4 p.m. when I was deciding what to do for dinner. It felt too hot to drive around, and much too hot to heat up the kitchen, so I decided to do a cold plate dinner al fresco. Looking at those strawberries above, don't they make you feel cooler?

So I chose a number of things at Molly Stone's to supplement things that I already had and set the table on the deck with a plate of savories: luscious lemon hummus, pita bread, Dubliner cheese, roasted garlic cloves and fresh carrot sticks. To it's right was a plate of sweet tastes: Asian pear slices, American pear slices, cold fresh cherries, and fresh strawberries.

These products made my life easier: Christopher Ranch Roasted Garlic cloves, Sabra's luscious lemon hummus, Dubliner cheese, and for dessert Choctal.

And in this heat, the only drink should be water, and I served Metromint Spearmint water - for a very cooling sensation which matched the lightness of the savory and sweet items. This casual dinner was a hit with my Dad, and we enjoyed the coolish sea breeze, much cooler on the deck than in the house. I lingered, reading my assignment "The Essential David Bohm", to prep me for discussion with professor tomorrow. I stayed out until there was no light left to read by, and a little bird trusted me enough to hop around the railing tilting his head and gazing at me for some minutes before flying off into the sunset.