“
Are you seriously going to walk out of here right now after I just confessed my soul to you, cool as a cucumber, without reciprocating at all?”
“What?” I sent him a blank look. Then I rolled my eyes and reached out to ruffle his amazing hair. “Mason Lowe, if you don’t know by now that I’m attracted as hell to you, you’re freaking blind.”
He stared at me a moment before muttering, “There. Was that so hard to admit?
”
”
Linda Kage (Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men, #1))
“
Watching him from a distance for ten years doesn’t make you an expert, you know!”
“Sleeping with him for two months doesn’t make you one, either,” she said, cool as a cucumber.
Churchill recoiled with a wide-eyed “oh no she DIDN’T” expression that might have been funny under different circumstances.
”
”
Jane Seville (Zero at the Bone (Zero at the Bone #1))
“
I was as cool as a cucumber
”
”
Jenny Han (The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer, #1))
“
I am calm. I’m cool. I’m a cucumber.
”
”
Saffron A. Kent (Medicine Man (Heartstone, #1))
“
Wow, what a cucumber. (Cool, I mean)
”
”
Rainbow Rowell (Attachments)
“
Miss Cornelia dropped in that afternoon, puffing a little.
"I don't mind the world or the devil much, but the flesh does rather bother me," she admitted. "You always look as cool as a cucumber, Anne, dearie. Do I smell cherry pie? If I do, ask me to stay to tea...
”
”
L.M. Montgomery (Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables, #5))
“
August was smoking hot, then September walked in as cool as a cucumber, and made her presence felt.
”
”
Charmaine J. Forde
“
I sucked in a few deep breaths. I could do this. I could.
I am a cool cucumber.
No, fuck that. I am Snoop Dogg. You can get no cooler than that.
”
”
Kate McCarthy (Give Me Love (Give Me, #1))
“
Start her, now; give 'em the long and strong stroke, Tashtego. Start her, Tash, my boy--start her, all; but keep cool, keep cool--cucumbers is the word--easy, easy--only start her like grim death and grinning devils, and raise the buried dead perpendicular out of their graves, boys--that's all. Start her!
”
”
Herman Melville (Moby-Dick or, The Whale)
“
When he was finished, he set his plate down, looked at me, and raised an eyebrow.
I leaned forward and whispered angrily, “I am not going to sit on your lap, so don’t get your hopes up, Mister.”
He still waited until I picked up a fork and took a few bites. I speared a bite of macadamia nut crusted ruby snapper and said, “Whew. Time’s up. Isn’t it? The clock is ticking. You must be sweating it, huh? I mean, you could turn any second.”
He just took a bite of curried lamb and then some saffron rice and sat there chewing as cool as a cucumber.
I watched him closely for a full two minutes and then folded up my napkin.
“Okay, I give. Why are you acting so smug and confident? When are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
He wiped his mouth carefully and took a sip of water. “What’s going on, my prema, is that the curse has been lifted.”
My mouth dropped open. “What? If it was lifted, why were you a tiger for the last two days?”
“Well, to be clear, the curse is not completely gone. I seem to have been granted a partial removal of the curse.”
“Partial? Partial meaning what, exactly?”
“Partial, meaning a certain number of hours per day. Six hours to be exact.”
I recited the prophecy in my mind and remembered that there were four sides to the monolith, and four times six was…”Twenty-four.”
He paused. “Twenty-four what?”
“Well, six hours makes sense because there are four gifts to obtain for Durga and four sides of the monolith. We’ve only completed one of the tasks, so you only get six hours.”
He smiled. “I guess I get to keep you around then, at least until the other tasks are finished.”
I snorted. “Don’t hold your breath, Tarzan. I might not need to be present for the other tasks. Now that you’re a man part of the time, you and Kishan can resolve this problem yourselves, I’m sure.”
He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at me. “Don’t underestimate your level of…involvement, Kelsey. Even if you weren’t needed anymore to break the curse, do you think I’d simply let you go? Let you walk out of my life without a backward glance?”
I nervously began toying with my food and decided to say nothing. That was exactly what I’d been planning to do.
Something had changed. The hurt and confused Ren that made me feel guilty for rejecting him in Kishkindha was gone. He was now supremely confident, almost arrogant, and very sure of himself.
”
”
Colleen Houck (Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga, #1))
“
2. A sea cucumber will vomit its intestines when threatened.
”
”
Tyler Backhause (101 Creepy, Weird, Scary, Interesting, and Outright Cool Facts: A collection of 101 facts that are sure to leave you creeped out and entertained at the same time)
“
He is cool- cool as a cucumber.
”
”
Edgar Allan Poe (Diddling, Considered as One of the Exact Sciences - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story)
“
Mummy calm and cool as a cucumber.
”
”
Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)
“
Miss Cornelia dropped in that afternoon, puffing a little.
"I don't mind the world or the devil much, but the flesh does rather bother me," she admitted. "You always look as cool as a cucumber, Anne, dearie. Do I smell cherry pie? If I do, ask me to stay to tea...
”
”
null
“
This is the part where I should fall asunder, consumed with shock, rage, indignation, terror, horror and any number of other emotions. But I’m as cool as a cucumber. It’s hard to admit to myself that I’m not overly surprised. Because, deep down, I’ve always known I was different, that something wasn’t quite right.
”
”
Siobhan Davis (Saven Denial (Saven #3))
“
...keep cool--cucumbers is the word.
”
”
Herman Melville (Moby Dick)
“
Why did you call me your wife in there?” My voice sounded all weird.
That heavy-lidded, smart-ass gaze was as cool as a damn cucumber. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I thought we were going to keep this under wraps for as long as possible.” And he could have at least warned me he was going to do it so I could have mentally prepared.
The Wall of Winnipeg didn’t look remotely apologetic. “You are my wife, and I don’t have patience for flirts,
”
”
Mariana Zapata (The Wall of Winnipeg and Me)
“
In all our discussions and speculations we had always unconsciously assumed that the women, whatever else they might be, would be young. Most men do think that way, I fancy. "Woman" in the abstract is young, and, we assume, charming. As they get older they pass off the stage, somehow, into private ownership mostly, or out of it altogether. But these good ladies were very much on the stage, and yet any one of them might have been a grandmother. We looked for nervousness—there was none. For terror, perhaps—there was none. For uneasiness, for curiosity, for excitement—and all we saw was what might have been a vigilance committee of women doctors, as cool as cucumbers, and evidently meaning to take us to task for being there.
”
”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“
Just making sure you’re okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, trying to be a cool cucumber.
This got her another mouth twitch. “I don’t know, Speed Racer, maybe because you came in hot and just lost a fight with a manzanita bush. Do you need help?”
“No, thank you.”
He gave her car a look of doubt.
”
”
Jill Shalvis (The Sweetheart List (Sunrise Cove, #4))
“
In all our discussions and speculations we had always unconsciously assumed that the women, whatever else they might be, would be young. Most men do think that way, I fancy.
“Woman" in the abstract is young, and, we assume, charming. As they get older they pass off the stage, somehow, into private ownership mostly, or out of it altogether. Yet these good ladies were very much on the stage, and yet any one of them might have been a grandmother.
We looked for nervousness—there was none.
For terror—there was none.
For unease, for curiosity, for excitement—and all we saw was what might have been a vigilance committee of women doctors, as cool as cucumbers, and evidently meaning to take us to task for being there.
”
”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Herland)
“
Despite the controversy over whether psychopaths exist, psychiatrists generally agree that one of the defining characteristics of those we refer to as psychopaths is the lack of interpersonal empathy, what one might call a flat emotional playing field. Psychopaths may not hate, but they also may not love the way most of us would prefer to love and be loved. Psychopaths are usually manipulative, are champion liars, and can be quite glib and disarmingly charming. They don’t fear consequences the way most people do, and while they may react to the stress of being caught in a lie or violent act like anyone would, some remain cool as cucumbers. Even the most dangerous can appear jovial, carefree, and social at times, but sooner or later they will display a telling distance, a quiet coldheartedness and disregard for others. They are often impulsive, yet lack guilt and remorse, meaning they may invite you to join in on their reckless, even dangerous fun, and then shrug their shoulders if someone gets hurt.
”
”
James Fallon (The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain)
“
They had shared each other the way good friends can't even after forty years of it. He knew the boy and the boy knew him, because they each had a kind of searchlight in their heads, something they hadn't asked for, something that had just been given.
(Naw, you got a flashlight, he the one with the searchlight.)
And sometimes that light, that shine, seemed like a pretty nice thing. You could pick the horses, or like the boy had said, you could tell your daddy where his trunk was when it turned up missing. But that was only dressing, the sauce on the salad, and down below there was as much bitter vetch in that salad as there was cool cucumber. You could taste pain and death and tears. And now the boy was stuck in that place, and he would go. For the boy. Because, speaking to the boy, they had only been different colors when they used their mouths. So he would go. He would do what he could, because if he didn't, the boy was going to die right inside his head.
But because he was human he could not help a bitter wish that the cup had never been passed his way.
”
”
Stephen King (The Shining (The Shining, #1))
“
I sprinkle some flour on the dough and roll it out with the heavy, wooden rolling pin. Once it’s the perfect size and thickness, I flip the rolling pin around and sing into the handle—American Idol style.
“Calling Gloriaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa . . .”
And then I turn around.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Without thinking, I bend my arm and throw the rolling pin like a tomahawk . . . straight at the head of the guy who’s standing just inside the kitchen door.
The guy I didn’t hear come in.
The guy who catches the hurling rolling pin without flinching—one-handed and cool as a gorgeous cucumber—just an inch from his perfect face.
He tilts his head to the left, looking around the rolling pin to meet my eyes with his soulful brown ones. “Nice toss.”
Logan St. James.
Bodyguard. Totally badass. Sexiest guy I have ever seen—and that includes books, movies and TV, foreign and domestic. He’s the perfect combo of boyishly could-go-to-my-school kind of handsome, mixed with dangerously hot and tantalizingly mysterious. If comic-book Superman, James Dean, Jason Bourne and some guy with the smoothest, most perfectly pitched, British-Scottish-esque, Wessconian-accented voice all melded together into one person, they would make Logan fucking St. James.
And I just tried to clock him with a baking tool—while wearing my Rick and Morty pajama short-shorts, a Winnie-the-Pooh T-shirt I’ve had since I was eight and my SpongeBob SquarePants slippers.
And no bra.
Not that I have a whole lot going on upstairs, but still . . .
“Christ on a saltine!” I grasp at my chest like an old woman with a pacemaker.
Logan’s brow wrinkles. “Haven’t heard that one before.”
Oh fuck—did he see me dancing? Did he see me leap? God, let me die now.
I yank on my earbuds’ cord, popping them from my ears. “What the hell, dude?! Make some noise when you walk in—let a girl know she’s not alone. You could’ve given me a heart attack. And I could’ve killed you with my awesome ninja skills.”
The corner of his mouth quirks. “No, you couldn’t.”
He sets the rolling pin down on the counter.
“I knocked on the kitchen door so I wouldn’t frighten you, but you were busy with your . . . performance.”
Blood and heat rush to my face. And I want to melt into the floor and then all the way down to the Earth’s core.
”
”
Emma Chase (Royally Endowed (Royally, #3))
“
The next forty minutes are a festival of soul eating. I know many immigrant families incorporate their traditional dishes into the Thanksgiving feast, but not my folks. Our menu is Norman Rockwell on crack. Turkey with gravy. Homemade cranberry relish and the jellied stuff from the can. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole. Cornbread stuffing and buttery yeast rolls. The only nods to our heritage are mustard-seed pickled carrots and dill-cucumber salad, to have something cool and palate-cleansing on the plate. A crazy layered Jello-O dish, with six different colors in thin stripes, looking like vintage Bakelite.
Jeff and the girls show up just in time for desserts... apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan bars, cheesecake brownies, and Maria's flan.
”
”
Stacey Ballis
“
Maria winks at me, takes a mouthful of stuffing, and rolls her eyes in ecstasy. The next forty minutes are a festival of soul eating. I know many immigrant families incorporate their traditional dishes into the Thanksgiving feast, but not my folks. Our menu is Norman Rockwell on crack. Turkey with gravy. Homemade cranberry relish and the jellied stuff from the can. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole. Cornbread stuffing and buttery yeast rolls. The only nods to our heritage are mustard-seed pickled carrots and dill-cucumber salad, to have something cool and palate-cleansing on the plate. A crazy layered Jello-O dish, with six different colors in thin stripes, looking like vintage Bakelite.
Jeff and the girls show up just in time for desserts... apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan bars, cheesecake brownies, and Maria's flan.
”
”
Stacey Ballis (Off the Menu)
“
But the crown jewel was the columned Greek Revival mansion, which dated from the mid-1800s, along with the manicured boxwood gardens that would serve as the backdrop for the couple's ceremony.
Of course, everything was not only very traditional but also a standard to what one might imagine an over-the-top Southern wedding to be. As I said, "Steel Magnolias on steroids." The ceremony would take place outdoors in the garden, but large custom peach-and-white scalloped umbrellas were placed throughout the rows of bamboo folding chairs to shade the guests. Magnolia blossoms and vintage lace adorned the ends of the aisles.
White, trellis-covered bars flanked the entrance to the gardens where guests could select from a cucumber cooler or spiked sweet tea to keep cool during the thirty-minute nuptials. It was still considered spring, but like Dallas, Nashville could heat up early in the year, and we were glad to be prepared.
By the time we arrived the tent was well on its way to completion, and rental deliveries were rolling in. The reception structure was located past the gardens near the enormous whitewashed former stable, and inside the ceiling was draped in countless yards of peach fabric with crystal chandeliers hanging above every dining table. Custom napkins with embroidered magnolias on them complemented the centerpieces' peach garden roses, lush greenery, and dried cotton stems. Cedric's carpentry department created floor-to-ceiling lattice walls covered in faux greenery and white wisteria blooms, a dreamy backdrop for the band.
”
”
Mary Hollis Huddleston (Without a Hitch)
“
This time, I asked a mortal Israeli girl what sort of things she liked to eat. She led me to a something called a falafel stand.” Phil shrugged and his voice lilted in a question at the end.
“Are you saying I’m looking at a solid brick of falafel?” Roland raised a doubtful eyebrow at Vincent’s bulging bag.
“Oh, no,” Vincent said. “The Outcasts also purchased hummus, pita, pickles, a container of something called tabbouleh, cucumber salad, and fresh pomegranate juice. Are you hungry, Lucinda Price?”
It was an absurd amount of delicious food. Somehow it felt wrong to eat on the altars, so they spread out a smorgasbord on the floor and everyone-Outcast, angel, mortal-tucked in. The mood was somber, but the food was filling and hot and exactly what all of them seemed to need. Luce showed Olianna and Vincent how to make a falafel sandwich; Cam even asked Phil to pass him the hummus. At some point, Arriane flew out the window to find Luce some new clothes. She returned with a faded pair of jeans, a white V-neck T-shirt, and a cool Israeli army flak jacket with a patch depicting an orange-and-yellow flame.
“Had to kiss a soldier for this,” she said.
”
”
Lauren Kate (Rapture (Fallen, #4))
“
Try Evan,” he suggests. “Apart from numbers and heaven, which gets old very quickly, there’s practically nothing.”
“Numbers? Oh! Eleven…seven…” I furrow my brow.
“Devon,” Kelly calls over. “That’s a county in England.”
“Leaven,” I add. “You do it to bread.”
Evan’s expression is comical, his blue eyes stretched as wide as they’ll go as he plucks a string and, in a singsong nursery-rhyme voice, intones:
“From the age of seven to eleven
Before he tragically went to heaven
Evan leavened bread in Devon.”
He throws his hands wide. “See? Not much to work with.”
“At least you don’t have rude stuff that rhymes with you,” Kelly says gloomily. “They called me Smelly Jelly Belly at school for years.”
“And Kendra isn’t that great either. It sort of sounds like bend-ya,” Kendra adds.
I can’t help smiling that Kendra and Kelly are competitive in everything, even down to whose name rhymes with worse stuff.
“Kendra,” Evan sings, playing a chord, “I would never bend ya,
or lend ya
or send ya…
Oh, the words I can engender
thinking about Kendra…”
“‘Engender’!” Kelly exclaims. “That’s really good!”
I pull myself out of the pool and walk over to a lounger, picking up a towel and wrapping it around myself; I sit on one side of Evan, Kelly on the other. Even cool-as-a-cucumber Kendra has sat up to watch Evan playing his guitar.
“What about Paige?” I ask, looking over at his sister, the only one uninterested in her brother’s talent. She’s got a moisturizing pack on her hair--her head is wrapped in the special leopard-skin towel she uses when she’s doing a hair treatment--pink headphones on her ears, and a magazine in her hands as she reclines on her lounger.
“Paige goes into a rage when you tell her she’s not yet legal drinking age--” Evan sings immediately, and Paige, who must have been listening after all, promptly throws her magazine at his head. He ducks easily, and it flies past and lands on the tiles.
”
”
Lauren Henderson (Kissing in Italian (Flirting in Italian, #2))
“
AVOCADO CHICKEN SALAD BOAT A great appetizer or a light yet filling meal! Makes 4 meal-size servings or appetizers for 12 2 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled, and shredded 2 large avocados, pitted, peeled, and roughly mashed ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro ¼ cup chopped fresh chives Juice of 1 lime 1 tablespoon pink Himalayan salt 4 Belgian endive heads, separated into leaves, or 2 cucumbers, halved lengthwise 1. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, avocado,
”
”
Kelly LeVeque (Body Love)
“
The Vestal took another sip of the cucumber water, hoping it would help her face cool from the quiet confrontation. Livia had retreated, but she wouldn’t wait long to advance again. They both knew it.
”
”
Debra May Macleod (Brides of Rome (The Vesta Shadows, #1))
“
My garden grows in its own good time. Every plant has its season. Lettuce comes up early and must be picked or else it will bolt. Kale gets planted late in the season because it loves the cool weather of fall. Asparagus takes years to prosper, and strawberries can take up to two seasons to provide a harvest. Frost-sensitive crops like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini love the sweltering, sultry heat of the depths of summer, when they propagate so passionately that the bees can barely keep up.
Even though I know all of this, sometimes I can't wait to find out what's going to happen next.
”
”
Vivian Elisabeth Glyck
“
she had once whispered to Cordelia, sprinkling a pinch of pepper over a dish. “Food can heal all manner of maladies.” Cook would stir up herby stews to soothe hurt feelings, bake honey cakes to mend broken hearts, make crinkle-crusted pies for courage and melting-cheese pastries to bolster tired souls. Her cucumber soup could cool a hot temper and her bread-and-butter pudding inspired kindness in even the grumpiest person. Her roast potatoes seemed to help with everything.
”
”
Tamzin Merchant (The Hatmakers (Cordelia Hatmaker, #1))
“
Ieat lunch in the parking garage. I’m not usually a loner. Today, I want to be alone. The parking garage is dark, cool, and private—the perfect place to cry behind my steering wheel. I’m sobbing and shoveling Greek salad into my mouth. I pause crying to chew (these cucumbers are crunchy) and resume sobbing after I swallow.
”
”
Teresa Yea (Awkward in October (Bookish Romantics #1))
“
Kristen and I always have a lot to celebrate at the end of June. First there’s Father’s Day, followed by our wedding anniversary and my birthday. But prior to the Best Practices this two-week season of parties didn’t inspire much of a celebratory mood. It always felt strange celebrating Father’s Day, given that my parenting skills had been something of a disappointment for the first three years, and the tears that Kristen had shed on our third wedding anniversary spoke rather poignantly to the fact that our marriage hadn’t been much to celebrate, either. That left my birthday, a day that was all about toasting the birth of the very person who had made Kristen’s life miserable. But after fifteen months of hard work and soul-searching, Kristen and I were finally able to look forward to this season with real anticipation. We were communicating again, and I was beginning to hit my stride as a father and as a husband. I was folding laundry, Kristen was taking her first uninterrupted showers in years, and when America’s Next Top Model wasn’t on during its regularly scheduled hour, I stayed cool as a cucumber. And that gave us plenty of reason to break out the streamers and party hats. Heck, we could have made a layer cake. In light of all this, I decided that June would be the best time to embark on my most ambitious Best Practice yet: being fun.
”
”
David Finch (The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband)
“
Cat watched Seth’s face for any reaction but the guy was cool as a cucumber. Or a radish. The saying didn’t make sense anyway; she might as well change the vegetable to something she liked to eat. “Jealous?
”
”
Lynn Cahoon (A Story to Kill (Cat Latimer Mystery #1))
“
Tiffany was cool as a cucumber. She hoped he didn’t catch her bluff because she was lying through her teeth.
”
”
Ms. Brii (Love And A Thug 3: A Hitta's Love Story (Love And A Thug: A Hitta's Love Story))
“
While we waited, Patrick and I chatted quietly with Ambassador and Lady Wight, who were dignified but very natural and gracious at the same time. The three grown-ups engaged in polite small talk about the royal visit, the weather, Diana, and our connection with her. Patrick appeared as cool as a little cucumber, answered the Wights’ questions politely, and patted their large friendly yellow Labradors. He was so calm and collected that the Wights commented enthusiastically on his poise and manners. I was so proud of him I could have burst! No wonder he was calm. He was eager to see the person he knew only as his former nanny.
”
”
Mary Robertson (The Diana I Knew: Loving Memories of the Friendship Between an American Mother and Her Son's Nanny Who Became the Princess of Wales)
“
Wow, what a cucumber. (Cool, I mean.) Did he know all along that you were watching him?
”
”
Rainbow Rowell (Attachments)
“
Julian cruises after her, cool as a motherfucking cucumber—pauses in front of me. Squints, cocks a smile. Reaches over, closes my open mouth—smacks me on the face twice—technically playfully, technically hard. “Happy new year, bruv.” Gives me a shit-eating grin. My jaw goes tight.
”
”
Jessa Hastings (Magnolia Parks: The Long Way Home (The Magnolia Parks Universe, #3))
“
Be a cool cucumber. Picture someone who is so nonplussed about everything they are like Teflon; nothing sticks to them. They shrug often. They are indifferent. This is how you must react to Mind, even if you don’t have that personality.
”
”
April Arthur (But what if? Accept and overcome health anxiety)
“
Outside, he portrayed the coolness of a cucumber. Internally, he was a squirrel in traffic.
”
”
A.J. Sherwood (Fated Mates and When to Keep Them (Fated Mates, #0))
“
His face is flushed, but he looks calmer than I feel. He just shot a guy and he looks cool as a cucumber. Who the hell is this guy? Super Manny?
”
”
Beau Brown (Omega in Hiding (MM Mafia Romance Mpreg #3))
“
Two cool cucumbers, aren't they?
”
”
Emma Cole (The Degradation of Shelby Ann (Twisted Love #1))
“
Inside, I was shaking like a Chihuahua in a snow storm. But outside, I was so cool cucumbers were jealous.
”
”
Kimberly A. Bettes (Held (Held, #1))
“
To recover an intuitive sense of what will be in season throughout the year, picture a season of foods unfolding as if from one single plant. Take a minute to study this creation—an imaginary plant that bears over the course of one growing season a cornucopia of all the different vegetable products we can harvest. We’ll call it a vegetannual. Picture its life passing before your eyes like a time-lapse film: first, in the cool early spring, shoots poke up out of the ground. Small leaves appear, then bigger leaves. As the plant grows up into the sunshine and the days grow longer, flower buds will appear, followed by small green fruits. Under midsummer’s warm sun, the fruits grow larger, riper, and more colorful. As days shorten into the autumn, these mature into hard-shelled fruits with appreciable seeds inside. Finally, as the days grow cool, the vegetannual may hoard the sugars its leaves have made, pulling them down into a storage unit of some kind: a tuber, bulb, or root.
So goes the year. First the leaves: spinach, kale, lettuce, and chard (here, that’s April and May). Then more mature heads of leaves and flower heads cabbage, romaine, broccoli, and cauliflower (May–June). Then tender young fruit-set: snow peas, baby squash, cucumbers (June), followed by green beans, green peppers, and small tomatoes (July). Then more mature, colorfully ripened fruits: beefsteak tomatoes, eggplants, red and yellow peppers (late July–August). Then the large, hard-shelled fruits with developed seeds inside: cantaloupes, honeydews, watermelons, pumpkins, winter squash (August–September). Last come the root crops, and so ends the produce parade.
Plainly these don’t all come from the same plant, but each comes from a plant, that’s the point—a plant predestined to begin its life in the spring and die in the fall. (A few, like onions and carrots, are attempting to be biennials, but we’ll ignore that for now.) Each plant part we eat must come in its turn—leaves, buds, flowers, green fruits, ripe fruits, hard fruits—because that is the necessary order of things for an annual plant. For the life of them, they can’t do it differently.
Some minor deviations and a bit of overlap are allowed, but in general, picturing an imaginary vegetannual plant is a pretty reliable guide to what will be in season, wherever you live. If you find yourself eating a watermelon in April, you can count back three months and imagine a place warm enough in January for this plant to have launched its destiny.
”
”
Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life)
“
Can’t help it. You’ve got a face like an open book.” Unnerved by how throaty his voice is, how sweaty I am, and how my traitorous ovaries have decided to stage a coup on my entire nervous system, I shake my head. “No, I don’t. I’m as cool as a cucumber. I’m an ice cube. I’m a cat.
”
”
J.T. Geissinger (Carnal Urges (Queens & Monsters, #2))
“
He’d just walked into a lion’s den, found the head lion and tweaked his tail. And now he sat opposite, cool as a cucumber.
”
”
John Flanagan (Halt's Peril (Ranger's Apprentice, #9))
“
EASY FIRST FINGER FOODS FOR BABIES • steamed (or lightly boiled) whole vegetables, such as green beans, baby corn, and sugar-snap peas • steamed (or lightly boiled) florets of cauliflower and broccoli • steamed, roasted or stir-fried vegetable sticks, such as carrot, potato, egg plant, sweet potato, parsnip, pumpkin, and zucchini • raw sticks of cucumber (tip: keep some of these ready prepared in the fridge for babies who are teething—the coolness is soothing for their gums) • thick slices of avocado (not too ripe or it will be very squishy) • chicken (as a strip of meat or on a leg bone)—warm (i.e., freshly cooked) or cold • thin strips of beef, lamb or pork—warm (i.e., freshly cooked) or cold • fruit, such as pear, apple, banana, peach, nectarine, mango—either whole or as sticks • sticks of firm cheese, such as cheddar or Gloucester •breadsticks • rice cakes or toast “fingers”—on their own or with a homemade spread, such as hummus and tomato, or cottage cheese And, if you want to be a bit more adventurous, try making your own versions of: • meatballs or mini-burgers • lamb or chicken nuggets • fishcakes or fish fingers • falafels • lentil patties • rice balls (made with sushi rice, or basmati rice with dhal) Remember, you don’t need to use recipes specifically designed for babies, provided you’re careful to keep salt and sugar to a minimum.
”
”
Gill Rapley (Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater)
“
The immense dining room table all but sagged under the weight of the dishes: tureens of beef madrilène, bisque of shellfish, and cold cucumber soup mingled with heaving platters of beef ragout, scallops smothered in puréed chestnuts, salmon en sel, and ramequins of cheese soufflé. All the dishes perspired in the July evening heat under the glow of a thousand candles, but thanks to the duc's priorities, the champagne was pleasantly cool.
”
”
Emma Theriault (Rebel Rose (The Queen's Council, #1))
“
My name is Paul.
and I am cool.
cool as a cucumber
and a swimming pool.
was fired for being annoying
but that won’t bring me down
for I am Paul!
and it won’t make me frown!
Paul! Paul! all the way!
comin’ to make the bad guys pay!
I am Paul, and I am good,
more solid than a block of dark oak wood.
so let me say, this rap’s gonna end,
but I am Paul
and I am your friend.
but depends on who you are, really.
(please note that my real name is not Paul.)
”
”
Write Blocked (The Savage Six (The Mob Hunter #6))
“
Serves 2 Prep Time: 10 minutes 1 avocado, pitted and peeled 2 cans (5 ounces each) tuna, drained 3 green onions, thinly sliced Juice of 1½ limes ½ jalapeño, minced 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro ½ teaspoon chili powder ½ teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon black pepper 1 head endive, separated into leaves This dish makes for the perfect lunch—just pack up your tuna in a glass container and wrap your leaves in a slightly damp paper towel inside a resealable bag to keep them crisp. Or, stuff the tuna salad inside a romaine lettuce leaf, hollowed-out bell pepper, tomato, or cucumber cups. This dish would also work with canned chicken or salmon and would taste amazing with a drizzle of cool Ranch Dressing or Avocado Mayo. In a medium sized bowl, mash the avocado with a fork, leaving it slightly chunky. Add the tuna to the bowl, flaking it apart with a fork, and mix to combine with the avocado. Add the onions, juice of 1 lime, jalapeño, cilantro, chili powder, salt, and pepper and mix well.
”
”
Melissa Urban (The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom)