Ah, yesssss. ‘Tis Summah time, and the livin’ is easy. Or should be, lest you raise a sweat and begin to, shall we say, *glow* in the summer heat and humidity.
OK, true confessions time. This has been, for the second year in a row, an uncommonly cool and cloudy summer here in SoCal. NOT THAT I’M COMPLAINING. Not at all. I tend to get cranky when the temperature gets too much above about 85°, and downright surly and churlish (LOVE that word) when it approaches triple digits. So mid-seventies to low eighties is just ducky by me. Granted, my roses look a bit forlorn and ratty, they do like their hot days and clear nights, and my tomatoes were damned slow to set and ripen, but me, I’m diggin’ my very cool Left Coast Summer and hope it lasts.
The rest of you, especially those in the middle of the U.S., babe, I feel for ya. I see the news reports, and, having spent my early years in Chicago, and having visited the South and D.C. in the summer, I sure don’t envy you. And I hope all y’all get some relief soon. I’d love to send you my marine layer. Some screwy weather going on for sure…
Anyway, for most of us, even those of us still sleeping under a blankie (with two hermetically attached fuzz bombs), in Mid-July, Summer certainly means grilling, because who the heck wants to turn on an oven, or heat up a range-top when the mercury’s about to blow out the top of the thermometer like it used to in the Loony Tunes. (Do they still even PUT mercury in thermometers any longer? I’d bet not….hazmat and all that stuff…but again, I digress.)
No single day, of course, speaks more to grilling and cooking outdoors than the 4th of July. Here’s what went down in the little kitchen, and the larger patio, for that commemoration of our Independence. As you can guess by the header shot, there was an adult beverage (or 2….maybe 3) involved and these guys made an appearance….