For the past three Wednesdays in a row, Bee and I have been grilling for dinner. This, of course, now means Wednesday = BBQ Night. We’ve been preparing a lot of food, which is great for leftovers. Last night’s menu was jalapeno cornbread, coleslaw, salad with homemade basil dressing, grilled corn, grilled purple peppers, baked beans stewed on the grill, and BBQ tofu. Oh, and of course s’mores. It’s fun. We sit outside with a beer, putz around in the yard, and eat until we’re stuffed. I didn’t take photos last night, but here is last week’s BBQ:
Perhaps most significantly, we finally did cut and eat the lettuce we had grown in the yard, as well as a couple little yellow cherry tomatoes:
That alone wasn’t quite enough, so I added a spinach mix, carrots, and some nuts and cheese.
I made my go-to ginger soy dressing and it was wonderful.
I should note that we are not the only ones interested in eating from our garden. This one cracked me up, as devistated as I was to lose the tomato:
I call it Nightmare Before BBQ.
OK, so what else did we have?
We had Bee’s great little grilling setup.
And Bee. And grill.
And our very last summer lily, reaching toward the sunset.
Oh! And we had more food!
Grilled corn, from the farmers market.
Grilled new potatoes, also from the farmers market.
Beans, which I didn’t take a photo of because I was stuffing my face, and of course grilled tofu slathered with Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce:
I kid you not, it tasted like chicken. Better.
And of course, no BBQ is complete without roasting marshmallows over the coals and making s’mores:
Next week we’re going to try grilled polenta, to shake things up a bit.
Cheers to Wednesday night BBQ!
-Me
Bee has done a lot of landscaping, and other than a sick tree in front which has brought us an early November, things are looking good.
We have done a lot of weeding, and Bee really cleaned it up with chunk bark, flowers, pepeprs, etc.
He also planted corn, beans, and squash, which sprung up really quickly! This small planting bed is in that front area.
We have a variety of lilies all over the yard, including these along the front of the house. It is my new hobby to pull the shoots after the flower has died, only yanking the ones that come with a gentile tug. I get a few more each day.
Also along the front of the house is a gorgeous hibiscus that my chair brought us as a housewarming gift. Every day there seems to be a new flower on there!
This is back in the front bed near the street. What is it? Does anyone know?
Bee also really cleaned up the front porch area. He planted everything that’s in there, and on the porch you can see the mint that Sandie gave us.
We also have some corn along the side of the house…
…and beans. Actually both (plus squash) are planted in various places all over the yard. It will be fun to harvest in the fall!
Also along the side of our house is that gorgeous sage plant, to which we have done almost nothing. Yum.
Bee also recently transferred some later seeds from the starter tray into bigger pots. We think / hope we inched in just under the clock to allow these to be edible before winter.
We’ve had to make more room for growing, plus the alley needed cleaning up. So Bee did that just a few days ago. This was mid-way through the project. It looks even better now.
The Hive has a new sign, many thanks to Karen…
…and all sorts of Bees like it. (Mes too.)
Our lettuce seems ready. It is hard to pull after so much effort (these were born in our apartment in Chicago) –but that’s what we grow it for, right? This week. We will eat it this week.
We also have about 6 full-size tomatoes, and some smaller ones on their way.
Some peppers are ready, too, with some jalapenos not far behind and, we hope, also some Thai chilis.
We also have this great old bird feeder hung on our freshly painted trellis. Since this photo Bee has done another coat of paint and replaced and painted the top beams.
Both the feeder and our seed storage container came from Grandma Shirley. So cute!
These first two photos are of as you enter. The top photo shows the oldest graves, often called ovens due to their appearance.
Like many other parts of New Orleans this cemetery is a mix of their colonial past, the present, and rebuilding after disasters. This cemetery was originally filled with many who died in widespread disease. Although the cemetery was flooded during Katrina it suffered little damage.
I found a small serated knife worked best, but really it’s just about patience and agility. Two things I rarely have, I know. But for this, it was worth the commitment.
If nothing else, they make cute little hats while they’re roasting on the grill.
4. Mix cream cheese, cheddar (I used an applewood cheddar), bread crumbs, salt, and pepper to taste in a large bowl.
Many recipes call for bacon, but this tasted like bacon to me already! I credit the applewood cheddar, which has a smoked flavor.
I have photos of neither the grilling process nor the end result. Both times Bee tended the grill and I was too focused on enjoying them to even consider a photo. Perhaps that’s the best testament to their taste I can provide. They were GOOD! A wise investment, that roaster. Money well spent.
