I Love Summer

Baby birds are everywhere.  Gazillions of woodpeckers:  downy, hairy and flicker.  Baby tufted titmice, baby goldfinches, baby robins.  I hope we have baby hummingbirds.   Isn't our ruby throat the sweetest thing?  He dive bombs me when I'm working near the feeder.

The tomatoes are coming in, joining the beans and all the fresh herbs.  Tomorrow I'm whipping up a bunch of Pesto Genovese.   We've been grilling corn directly on the grill, and brushing it with a mixing of mayonnaise, lime juice and chili powder.  Yowza!  Is that ever good.  Last night we also grilled salmon, fresh WILD Atlantic salmon, so good, almost a different fish from the farm raised.  Like real maple syrup and the not so real maple syrup, there's a huge difference.  Tonight we grilled a rib eye and served it over baby arugula with a parmesan butter. More corn.  And yes, peach pie for dessert.  I really do love summer.  Here is a photo of the pie.

Peach Pie - even  the crust is Home Made

Summer at our House

"Low key" describes our summer routines. Gardening, reading and drinking (everything from lemonade to margaritas) on the deck. Bird feeding, bird watching (see photo) grilling, informal cooking (see photo), swimming (eventually), writing, entertaining, houseguests, trips to New England sights. Lately, we have had soccer, golf, hockey, basketball, baseball on television.  Sports overload.

I watched the season finale of Treme last night. Very moving. What a great show. The actors are so fine.

At last I'm getting into I-Bank, which I have bought to replace Money 2002, after a not-so-good experience with an Intuit product which did not have the functionality I have come to expect. You wouldn't think home finances would be so difficult. Why Microsoft didn't just sell Money continues to mystify me.

My soul loves working in the garden, but my back and knees don't. What to do? Leftovers from grilling tonight: chicken breast, zucchini, peppers. We have a salad of tomatoes and avocado with lettuces from the garden. Black beans (cooked with onion and garlic) are garnished with Mexican cheese and cilantro and basil from the garden. I love those three little words "from the garden."

We grilled corn in its husks yesterday, a first for me, and it came out with an excellent smokey taste.  Now back to writing and associated tasks.  There are a lot of "associated tasks" that go with writing.  Who knew?

Grapeshot

Smoking

We broke out the smoker on Friday, and smoked a nice hunk of salmon. Easy as pie, just start a fire, dump 1/2 cup whiskey into the water and put the salmon on. Two hours later, it was done, perfectly moist and tender, incredibly tasty.

Today I took it to a meeting with paper thin slices of red onion, capers, dill (lots of dill) and a cream cheese spread made with chives, scallions and yes, dill! Served with rye bread and lemon wedges. Looked beautiful, tasted better.

The best part? There was just enough left for our dinner. What a treat. Love them capers.

We'll do some kielbasa and maybe a turkey breast if we can get started early enough. Smoking isn't like throwing some burgers on the grill. You have to check the fire, check the progress, add more charcoal. It's a process. Of course the salmon, smoking quickly, was easy.

I wasn't sure what would chips I was using, because the bag had lost its label. Maybe apple or alder. Whatever it was, it went perfect with the salmon. A mild smokey flavor, not overkill.

So, here's to a summer of activity on the grill and with the smoker. Maybe I'll try to smoke some mozzarella. Now, there's a thought.

Grapeshot