Summer Days and Grilling: Days 4 & 5

The past couple of days have not been that inventive in regards to grilling. We had my parents over on Saturday and the neighbors over yesterday. That meant hamburgers, hotdogs, and more meat for most people. There are a couple of simple things that made the meals memorable that I would like to share.

On Saturday, D made ribs for my dad. We whipped together an extra tasty sauce that he later used on the chicken. I tasted the chicken and it was GOOD (which is a compliment considering I don't enjoy animal flesh all that much). We mixed together barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and some granulated onion and garlic salt. We don't measure on things like this, so just go by your taste preference. I am sure that others have used this mixture before, but this is something worth sharing.

We like potatoes in my house. We were very proud of our first potato harvest and are looking forward to our next. In the meantime, we bought regular old russet potatoes. D likes to put them in the microwave for a few minutes before cooking on the grill because it makes the cooking time faster. This isn't rocket science, but who says food has to be? He sliced the potatoes in half, topped with slices of onion, and when they were done, we put extra sharp cheddar cheese slices on top. It is amazing how different something cooked on the grill tastes! The charred flavor and the cheese flavor mix so well with the onion.

We found a melon at the store that was weird looking. It wasn't labeled of course, so we had to buy it. It tastes kind of like a mix between cantaloupe and honey dew. The skin was wrinkled like it was old. I cut it up for our cookouts, and we all enjoyed it. Whenever I cut up a melon I hate how wasteful it is to throw away the rind. Growing up, the only thing you could do with the rind is to give it to the pigs. We do not have pigs, so I searched online for recipes and found some pickling recipes. I had to make up my own based on the ones I read. I won't share my recipe until I know it is a success, but here are some links to others.

Our weekend was fun, a lot of work, but fun. My husband is more social than I am, so I get more tired, but we finished the day off with a short trip to the river and lake. Our dog loves to swim and chase things in the water. We pulled over to watch the sunset on the way home and finished our day off peacefully. It is the simple things in life that make us as humans become a more joyful bunch. Take time out to appreciate the simple things like a tasty sauce, experiments in the kitchen, and impromptu trips to the river as messages from the universe of how lovely life really is. I know I need to do this more often!