Category: Summertime

Weekend Things: Summer Kickoff BBQ

Lauren3 Comments

You know how it’s seemed like we’ve been working overtime to get our front yard in tip top shape?  Well that’s because in preparation for throwing a Summer Kickoff BBQ, we have been working overtime to get our front yard in tip top shape!  Nothing like hosting a party to motivate you to get a big project done.

The good news is we got the landscaping done, the grass looking green and lush, the fence painted and reassembled and all six tons of rock moved by Saturday at 5 PM, then it was straight summer BBQ-ing time!

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Curtis is our new door stop.  A few people had never seen our house before so Joey was impressing them with the opening line of “we have a black widow!” and I was saying stuff like “welcome to our 85° home!”  What is wrong with the both of us?  P.S. My house was/is so clean right now, that I’m afraid to do anything that will mess it up.  I want it to be this way forever!

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Also, we both managed to pick out sherbert-colored shirts.  Like Bobby so honestly put it, it was mostly embarrassing because we were in our own home and one of us easily could’ve changed but didn’t… I’m claiming we were just trying to make it easy for everyone to locate the party hosts.

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This way to beer!

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My tried and true sangria recipe.

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Thanks for showing me how to cut a watermelon, Geoffrey Zakarian.

We brewed a “knockoff Blue Moon,” hauled the kegerator outside, mixed up some sangria, cut a watermelon and cooked some baked beans for the occasion.  We also grilled burgers and brats and may or may not have run out of propane mid-BBQ.  We definitely knew better than to not refill the propane tank.  Joey claims I drank that entire pitcher of sangria by myself.  All I know is I had a wine flush like whoa.

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We did things pot-luck style and everyone brought such good stuff.  I’m still kicking myself for not grabbing a deviled egg right away because they were totally gone by the time I got a plate of food.  I should’ve known they’d be the first thing to go — they had bacon in them!  Mom brought coleslaw, potato salad and mini oatmeal cookies.  Then she left the leftovers with me.  I’m not complaining.  And Becca made sangria cupcakes!  They were so good that I was immediately compelled to hug her.

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Of course we broke out the fire pit later in the night.  Then we listened to Third Eye Blind, talked about Ashley Parker Angel’s butt and you know… drank some more sangria.  Or was that just me?  After everyone left, Joey and I cleaned up, hauled the kegerator back inside (which, for the record, is harder to do after you’ve had a few drinks) and chilled in the hammock while John Mayer played in the background.  Translation: PERFECT NIGHT.

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Joey left to go golfing at 7 AM the next morning and I was like “okay cool, I’ll just sleep in then.”  Then I rolled out of bed, took myself on a slow and steady 3-mile jaunt — I must’ve been in a good mood because twice someone’s dog ran after me and I wasn’t even mad — then ate breakfast and read on the front porch.  It doesn’t get better than that.

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I’ll be real honest, I basically read, napped and watched TV for the rest of the day.  Though I did get Joey to go on a post-nap evening stroll with me.  I was saying how nice it was to basically do nothing all day and Joey pointed out that this was our first taste of real (yard work-free) summer.  More, please!  Wrapped up the evening with a summer squash soup, Food Network Star, Big Brother and a slice of cherry pie because, SUMMER.

Happy Monday!

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That Time I Cooked Dinner on the Grill

Lauren1 Comment

For the most part, life without air conditioning isn’t so bad.  (Though you wouldn’t know it based on the reaction people have when you tell them your house is stuck at a permanent 85° in the summertime.)  Still, when you could probably advertise your house as a bikram yoga studio, doing things like brewing beer ON THE STOVE for three hours or TURNING THE OVEN ON to bake cornbread feel absolutely insane.  And sometimes you will go out of your way just to avoid creating any extra heat in the house.  Like grilling your entire dinner!

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We had twice baked potatoes and green beans on the menu and the thought of roasting those potatoes in a 400° oven for 45 minutes sounded HORRIBLE so I said “why not” and just tossed them on the grill.  Yeah the skins got burnt as hell a little crispy, but otherwise this was so dang easy.  Just poke with a fork, toss on the grill over medium heat, flip every 15-ish minutes for an hour and bam, fully cooked sweet potatoes!

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For the green beans, I decided to go the cast-iron skillet route.  Mostly because we don’t own a grill basket, but partly because I felt all “home, home on the range” sautéing in a skillet over a flame.  Do you think cowboys in the Wild West chopped up fresh tarragon to add to their butter-roasted green beans??  Alls I did was melt some butter and sauté the beans, then I added about 1/2 cup of vegetable broth, salt and pepper, closed the lid and let that liquid cook out before turning off the heat and tossing in a couple tablespoons of tarragon.  Seriously, once you add tarragon, you’ll never go back.

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I ended up splitting the potatoes open and mashing butter, Greek yogurt, cinnamon, maple syrup and a generous pinch of salt together right inside the skins, then served it up al fresco.  Because it’s summer and that means it’s time to eat all meals outdoors.  I’m not going to lie, I was pretty impressed with myself.  Especially because there was a point when I saw those charred potato skins and thought we were going to end up ordering pizza for dinner.

And the best part was that I didn’t make the house hot!  Or, at least any hotter than it already was…