For the past four nights, the temperature has drifted down to the mid-twenties. I know it's winter and this is to be expected, buyt that doesn't mean I have to like it. Making things worse is that, as I write this, my roof is being cut out in order to create the mega-dormer that my wife says is necessary to her continued survival. My mind searches for a remedy and finds it, as always, in eating. It's harder to figure out what gives those properties to a dish.
Beef stew is wintertime food, but take the same beef and cook it as a steak, and the effect is lost.
I have a theory. I offer as proof creamed potatoes. Just the thought of it raises your internal body temperature. Unfortunately, the restaurants have mashed-potatoed us to death in recent years, and so the effect has been lessened. But this is still mashed-potato weather.