When I was growing up, the most poignant harbinger of winter wasn't the smell of fallen leaves or the slowly shortening days; it was the first time I came home from school to find a pot of my mother's homemade chicken soup simmering gently on the stove. That pot would be the first of many. As long as the thermometer outside the kitchen window hovered around freezing, my mother's weekly pot of soup remained a household staple.
I've noticed much the same seasonal shift in my own kitchen. When summer's heat starts to make cooking oppressive, I turn off the oven and embrace the outdoor barbecue. But winter's chill sends me back indoors to become reacquainted with all those kitchen appliances I've been neglecting for months. Before long, I've got my mother's soup recipe out and my own stock pot on the burner.
I'm not alone in my love of hot and hearty fare on cold winter evenings. As the weather cools, the average American kitchen churns out a veritable bounty of food, and most of it – from soups, to casseroles, to holiday feasts – is of the slow-cooking variety. While all these hearty favorites are a comforting part of colder weather, the energy required to cook them represents a small but significant part of our monthly energy bill. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that cooking alone accounts for 4.5% of total home energy use, and this figure doesn't include the energy costs associated with refrigeration, hot water heating, and dishwashing. Added together, these costs mean that as much as 15% of the energy in the average American home is used in the kitchen.
