Tess Vigeland: How ’bout with a weather forecast?
Robin Williams in “Good Morning, Vietnam”: Weather today? Hot! Tonight? Hot! Tomorrow? Hot! Hey, guess what big surprise tomorrow night? Hot!
That’s what I hear. And hot equals expensive, especially if you’re having a dinner party this weekend! I mean all that air conditioning and ice, which is why we have our friends from the Dinner Party Download with us today. Brendan Francis Newnam…
Brendan Newnam: Hey Tess.
Vigeland: Hey Rico Gagliano.
Rico Gagliano: Hey Tess. Expertly done, great segue.
Vigeland: Thank you so much. Gentlemen, I do have to ask: What qualifies you to broach the subject of hotness?
Gagliano: Well, we both hail from Pennsylvania, which is this time of year is not exactly known for coolness, let’s say.
Vigeland: Indeed.
Gagliano: My parents called me up today and it sounded like they were swimming under water and they were just standing outside. It’s very humid out there.
Vigeland: Well, maybe that’s the solution. Just have your dinner party underwater.
Newnam: That’s not a bad idea. You know, one of my dinner party tips when it’s hot is actually to go have your dinner party in a public building. So like, the library, the lobby of a courthouse.
Vigeland: Police station?
Newnam: Yeah, because air conditioning is expensive. Public buildings have to have air conditioning. So you just have people rendezvous, kind of like a flash mob, at the public library.
Gagliano: That might be a short lived picnic. What if those security cops come?
Newnam: I think you can buy them off.
Vigeland: They’ll already be there if you’re in the police station.
Newnam: That’s right.
Gagliano: That’s true. And mine is a little bit more complex and less elegant perhaps: What you do is you have people over and instead of running the air conditioning, you build what is called a “bubble house.” Have you ever heard of this?
Vigeland: No.
Gagliano: It’s something I used to do as a kid. For a large number of people, you want to get the biggest sheet that you can find. You tie one corner of it to a fan and then you weigh down the edges with books and then turn the fan on and it makes kind of like a cooled igloo. And maybe serve some iced beverages.
Newnam: I didn’t know you were raised in 1950s Brooklyn.
Everyone laughs.
Gagliano: My dad was brought up in ’40s Brooklyn. Maybe it filtered down. And also don’t go for — a lot of people will say, “Oh just make some gazpacho or something.” And nobody is satisfied by gazpacho in my experience.
Vigeland: No, you’re hungry like a half hour later.
Gagliano: Exactly.
Newnam: Which leads to another cold dinner party suggestion: Ceviche is actually a fantasy warm weather dish. Rico and I had lunch earlier this week at a Peruvian restaurant where we had ceviche. But here’s the cool part: It was served in an ice bowl.
Vigeland: That solves the problem that I was worried about. Because if you take it out of the refrigerator and in this weather, back east…
Gagliano: Instantaneously, it’s cooked.
Newnam: That’s right. And so you can eat the ceviche in this ice bowl and whatever’s still remaining, you can put a little gin and lime in there, and you’ve got a little cocktail!
Vigeland: Well, as long as you’ve got enough gin in it, it’s not gonna matter how hot it is, right?
Gagliano: That’s right, or frankly, what you had in it before. You’ll forget it immediately and you’ll think it was awesome.
Vigeland: Alright guys, stay cool.
Newnam: You too Tess. Thanks for inviting us.
Gagliano: Always, thanks.
Vigeland: It is my pleasure and actually, before you go, we usually do this at the end of the show, but you’ve done such a great job…
Newnam: You’re going to buy us a Roth IRA?
Gagliano: I’ve been waiting…
Vigeland: I’m gonna do you one better. Hang on a second.
Sound of pig squealing
Gagliano and Newnam: Oh my goodness, what’s going on?
Sound of coins jangling
Vigeland: You are this week’s winners of the Marketplace Money piggy bank!
Newnam: What? This is fantastic! Thank you. Can we make bacon out of it?
Gagliano: Plastic bacon.
Vigeland: Only if you serve it at your dinner party.
Newnam: Alright, we promise.
Vigeland: Thanks guys.
Gagliano and Newnam: Thank you.
Vigeland: And if you want to win your dinner party, do not miss their podcast, the Dinner Party Download.
If you’re a member of your local public radio station, we thank you — because your support helps those stations keep programs like Marketplace on the air. But for Marketplace to continue to grow, we need additional investment from those who care most about what we do: superfans like you.
Your donation — as little as $5 — helps us create more content that matters to you and your community, and to reach more people where they are – whether that’s radio, podcasts or online.
When you contribute directly to Marketplace, you become a partner in that mission: someone who understands that when we all get smarter, everybody wins.
