use real butter

We had a very summery meal for dinner tonight. While I was preparing the food, I came to the conclusion that I not only like winter for the weather, the skiing, the warm covers, but also for the kind of cooking I can do – filling the house with warmth and good smells from the oven or the slow cooker or a pot of simmering chili… Summer meals involve more grilling, salads, and summer produce.

potato salad begins with potatoes, green onions…

…and ham, boiled eggs, and seasonings

**Jump for more butter**

Tonight I finally got around to making the dinner I had been planning for quite some time: Kansas City BBQ ribs. Cornbread and coleslaw were from scratch, but the beans were canned organic (embellished with bacon and brown sugar).

slow cook over indirect heat and brush with goodie sauce

dinner is served

One of my favorite things to eat is leftovers. What could say summer more than a grilled salad? A grilled salad? Yes! Organic baby greens topped with feta, sliced steak, grilled eggplant, grilled mushrooms, grilled zucchini, pine nuts, and yogurt-tahini sauce.

In my second burst of energy, I made enormous headway packing the kitchen. Now we are really down to essentials. We’re basically grilling the rest of our meals and then dining out with friends at our favorite dives until we leave. I managed to polish off a lot of condiments and liquid ingredients too. Chicken teriyaki: minced ginger root, minced green onion, minced garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, chicken breasts, ziploc. Flank steak marinade: soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, mustard, fresh minced parsley, pepper, worcestershire sauce, oil, flank steak, ziploc.

marinate

chicken teriyaki