Baking in the Fall… Except I’m Near the Equator

Unlike people in other hemispheres, my mind already turned to Christmas in June. Our summer was over, after all, and the rainy season had commenced. We were already halfway through the year, and it’s time to turn our mind to the end of the year holidays. We’re a little (a lot) over-the-top about Christmas over here. 😀

We don’t really have seasons in our corner of the tropics. We have hot and hotter, some would say, but that’s not really accurate. There’s usually a stretch of time, typically in the months of December to February, when we have really nice, cool weather. Word has it that it’s a cold front coming all the way from Siberia, but I don’t really know much about that. As a rule, we credit Amihan (Northeast Monsoon) for the lovely nip in the air.

In any case, around this time, a sweater may even be necessary outdoors. That’s based on our standards, of course. It could go lower than 20 degrees Celsius. People from colder climates might argue that it’s perfect weather for lounging around in a bikini.

Generally, we grew up being taught that we had sunny and rainy seasons. Again, this is not accurate. Unless there’s a raging typhoon, it remains really sunny all year round. The rainy season does seem to have a more set schedule, except it is wont to deviate from it, sometimes starting early and other times finishing late. And, honestly, there’s rain all throughout the year. 

I guess that’s just life in the tropics. It’s just different levels of hot and wet (prime condition for microbes to flourish :D). If I were to romanticize it, I’d say balmy or sultry, but they all mean I’m dripping sweat and verging on an asthma attack. At any rate, this is basically why the argument that what we really have are the wet and dry seasons doesn’t fly either.

The thing about me is that I don’t like doing “hot” things when it’s hot. For instance, I don’t like to have soup when it’s hot. I also prefer to have cold tea or coffee when it’s hot, except in the morning when I have to warm my tummy up. It’s pretty delicate (doesn’t look it though) and gets easily shocked. If it doesn’t transition gently to receiving mode, there’s a world of pain to follow.

There’s always a qualifier to these generalizations, of course. Thanks to technology, we do get artificial respite from the natural temperature. In an air-conditioned setting, I can have hot soup, drink hot tea, etc.

In any case, the point that I’m trying to get to really is that I don’t like toiling in the kitchen when it’s hot. This is why even though I love to bake, I usually bid it a temporary goodbye after Valentine’s and simply resume the activity come September. It’s still hot here, but not oppressively so. It just means I wouldn’t go insane having the oven on. The month is also usually much cooler because the Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) likes to unleash its fury on our region around this time.

More importantly, September is the start of the -Ber Months, a concept that seemingly only exists here. I’m no meteorologist, so I have no say whatsoever in determining the actual seasons in my country, but if I were to make that determination, I’d divide our seasons into the -Ber Months and the other months. It doesn’t have much to do with the weather and has everything to do with the atmosphere. It certainly adds to the festive vibe that most of my family’s birthdays fall in the -Ber Months.

We might not have a proper fall, but it doesn’t mean that we in the tropics don’t aspire to autumnal hygge. We take advantage of the slightly cooler weather to get that cozy feeling that most of us crave. Pumpkins might not really grow here, but try and stop the local coffee shops from offering pumpkin spice drinks.

As for me, I hashtag posts with “fallbaking” but that’s mainly because no other nationality would understand “-bermonthsbaking.” Baking does so much to make my home manifest hygge. To begin with, my kids get to enjoy home-baked treats. They’ve come to associate this time with specific goodies, usually of the apple, pumpkin (we get canned or substitute with squash), and spiced kind. It really warms my heart to know that they’re making happy associations with these desserts.

All the baking envelopes the kitchen with a soothing warmth. It’s a nice kind of heat because it’s often storming outside. This also means, of course, that the house is suffused with the aroma of baking. These scents (usually cinnamon and vanilla, sometimes also chocolate) naturally have garnered their own happy associations.

Partner baking or eating the resulting treats with another fall hygge activity like reading a cozy story; watching a cozy show, movie, or vlog; listening to a cozy playlist, etc. and you’ll have a lovely little moment, oozing with warm charm and probably rendering it Instagrammable too. 😀 That brings me to a case in point of sorts – here’s a collage of pictures from recent baking-related posts on my Bookstagram. 🙂

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P.S. I cheated a little on the featured image. I included apple ring fritters and churros, which are fried and not baked, but you can forgive that, right? 🙂