It’s summer along the California coast. Throw on a sweater and get ready for something warm from a hot oven. I made these Stuffed Bell Peppers with Black Olives and Sunflower Seeds to celebrate our unique west coast summers.
I woke up this morning to June-Gloom. I know it’s July, but June-Gloom is not strictly a June phenomenon. There’s also May-Gray, No-Sky-July, and Fog-ust. But mostly I just call it all June-Gloom.
If you don’t live in coastal California you may not know what June-Gloom is. Well, it’s a summertime weather pattern that often casts a very un-Californian gray over our coastal areas. This prompts raised eyebrows from newcomers, but once you’ve lived here long enough you come to expect a few chilly mornings when the rest of the country is sweltering.
The recipe for June-Gloom requires equal parts cold Pacific Ocean water, onshore currents, and high pressure. Winter, spring, summer and fall, the air in the atmosphere typically cools as you go higher. However, when a cold current comes onshore in the Pacific, and high pressure builds on top of it, then an inversion of the typical pattern develops. This creates a gloomy haze– technically known as the marine layer. What you might call fog, and I would call June-Gloom. Wow. Cool, huh?
I can’t believe I’m discussing the weather on my food blog. I used to think people only talked about the weather when there was nothing left to say. While it’s possible that after 5 1/2 years of blogging I have nothing left to say– the truth is the older I get the more fascinated I am by the Weather Channel. Of course the older I get the more fascinated I am with insomnia, colonoscopies, and black socks with sandals too. But let’s just concentrate on the weather, okay?
First of all: the weather, perhaps more than any other mitigating factor helps determine what we feel like eating. No-Sky-July has me craving Stuffed Bell Peppers. I hadn’t considered Stuffed Bell Peppers until I woke up this morning and saw all that gray mist in the sky. Suddenly I craved summer flavors in a warm-from-the-oven package. June-Gloom makes Pacific Coast cooks want to crank the oven and get cooking.
Still it is summer, so my June-Gloom remedy is Stuffed Bell Peppers sprinkled with sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds may be the only sun I see today. GREG
Stuffed Bell Peppers with Black Olives and Sunflower Seeds
I hear you about the June gloom. The really good thing about it, though is that the workmen at my home do not have to suffer the July sun.
I love stuffed vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini. We enjoy them all summer long. Your peppers look fab. Bravo!
I hope you are enjoying your summer. By the way, the bit about the socks and sandals made me laugh out loud. The older i get (and I just celebrated a birthday) the less I worry about things like that, and the more I look like the old women at whose fashion sense I so used to marvel.
I live in SF, so yeah…June Gloom, and July Gloom. I wish someone would tell tourists about it though!
I actually sort of, kind of love it — I like cloudy weather.
The stuffed peppers sound great.
I always pictured California summers to be just warm enough for the beach and sunny every day — what do I know!:) Your peppers are gorgeous and love the stuffing. I’ve never thought about using anchovies, thanks so much for sharing.
Greg, I haven’t had a stuffed pepper in sooo long, and never one quite like this. Sounds like something I need to make soon.
Insomnia, colonoscopies, and black socks with sandals… I resemble that remark. (Actually, Mark is the one who wears the black socks with his Birkenstocks…)
When we left Maine and moved to Tucson for its 340+ days of sun each year, we had to make certain concessions, one of which was that we would need to eat rainy day and wintry foods while the sun shone. Next up for this sunny berg? Your stuffed peppers. Love the anchovies!
Yummy, Greg! It’s just the kind of thing we’d make here on the East coast — especially northward (like Cape Cod), where they get more than a fair share of that June Gloom you talk about, and it’s kinda nice to turn that oven on during those chilly nights!