Spring/Summer Preview

I'm already looking forward to the warmer weather and all the great food-related stuff that warm weather brings. Cookouts, barbecue, grilling, gardening and fresh, local produce!

And yes - there is a difference between grilling and barbecue. Grilling is a faster cooking method at higher tempteratures for smaller cuts of meat. Barbecue is a long cooking process at lower temperatures for larger cuts of meat. Last summer I barbecued a pork shoulder on a couple cedar planks. I would have liked more of a smoky flavor to it, but my husband loved it.

To remedy the lack of smokiness, I bought a couple bags of smoking chips in preparation for grilling season! I have one bag of hickory chips, one bag of mesquite chips, tons of ideas, and an appetite waiting for the delicious results!

A smoked barbecue turkey breast is probably highest on my list, though I'm not yet sure if I want to use the hickory or mesquite on the turkey. I think I'm leaning toward hickory.

I also have a hickory smoked ham in my freezer, and I don't always find that it's smoked ENOUGH. So that's another thought for my hickory chips.

Other great things about the warm weather - planting your own veggie garden. I've already started an indoor herb garden of basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary and thyme. I have chives and sage that grow WILD and CRAZY outside in my yard. I also plan to plant a couple varieties of tomatoes, some squash, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, and peppers, and hope to have a better harvest than last year when some sort of critters ran off with my biggest eggplant, and kept eating the zucchini and squash blossoms before they could turn into veggies! I already have my asparagus plant in the ground from last summer and need to remember not to dig it up when I plant this year's garden.

I also have a few baby raspberry bushes (more like miniature stalks) that a friend of ours gave us last summer along with one of those 'still alive but dormant' raspberry mini bushes that I happened to find one day when I was shopping recently. That one needs to be planted, though.

With the expanded 'crop' I think I will try to use the little area along my fence to plant a few of the things that spread as they grow rather than trying to confine them to the area that was my garden last year. I just need to fill in with a little dirt and I'll be ready for fresh produce in no time!

Once I get around to starting my seeds, I'll post an update with what I actually decided to plant! 'Happy Eating' until then!