Once the weather starts to warm up, time seems to exponentially disappear on me. The warmer months of the year are the busier months of the year, for everyone I supp0se. But, somewhere in amongst camp days, school days, soccer and t-ball games, treks to the pool, weekend road-trips and the seemingly unending picnics in the park, I do find time to cook.
I adore warm-weather cooking for its simple arithmetic: (meat + veggies) x grill = fabulous dinner. I find the scents of grilling and all warm-weather cooking irresistible: all those fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables make me lightheaded (in a good way). The flavours are diverse and splendid…and tempt my palate well into the cool crisp months that follow (we Canadians bar-b-que all winter long, it’s a part of our genetic makeup.)
I LOVE a good bar-b-que. Give me just about anything that’s been cooked on a grill or open flame and I’ll gobble it up. There is something wholly satisfying about how completely relaxing it is to cook in this manner.
Of course, part of the relaxation for me is that I don’t actually do the grilling. I do all the prep work and someone else usually heads out to the grill and does their job while I sit, sipping a glass of wine, eating crackers and cheese and watch, breathing in the delicious smells from the grill. Quite different from the meals I cook indoors. It’s more than just a way of cooking — it’s a way of life.
One that starts now (get those grills heating up!) and doesn’t have to end until the snow is at least a few feet deep, if at all. Let’s hope this winter is warm enough to keep the grill going at least a few nights a week well into December.
Recipe: My Awesome BBQ Chicken Wings