It seems the natural thing to do -- cooking out on our little charcoal grill keeps the kitchen from getting too hot on already warm days and besides, compare chicken in the oven to on the grill and it's no contest!
On lovely evenings it's nice to get the charcoal going and just hang out together, maybe with a glass of wine, and just enjoy the quiet in the backyard, where -- if we're lucky and they aren't hanging out too high in the trees -- we can enjoy some of the birds that hang around our cottage.
And it's nice to enjoy a bit of cheese and crackers while we wait. Or if we're in a grazing mode!
Some of the best moments are just sitting quietly, talking, enjoying exactly where we are at that very moment and never wanting it to end.
Rick will often buy a pork roast and cut it into chops. They're thick and delicious!
If Rick has been baking, you can count on some big ham sandwiches for his lunch!
Or, if we're having burgers, he's quite likely to make the buns. Soon these will be golden brown and wonderful!
Some nights are pasta nights. I finally went through all the bags of pasta sauce I'd made last fall. Now we're waiting for tomato season to come so I can start again for the next batch.
Other times, it may be pizza. He makes a wonderfully zesty sauce!
My favorite new recipe of the summer is a gingery grilled chicken with a marvelous marinade. On this plate you'll also see grilled pineapple slices (yum!) and my homemade potato salad.
We had a great deal at the supermarket -- three pineapples for $5. We went through two of them in a couple of days, between grilling and the never-ending bowl of fruit salad with pineapple and Michigan cherries and blueberries (and non-Michigan banana!).
When the good neighbors were leaving, they gave us a bag of apples they wouldn't be finishing. What do you do with a bag of apples? I made apple crisp!
All nice days come to an end.
It's always nice to peek in and see that someone else is doing this dishes.
Am I lucky? Am I grateful? And I happy? Oh yes, I am.
48 comments:
The food looks so tasty and the ambience wondrous. Thanks for sharing. The pictures relaxed me and made me smile.
Jeanie, Please don't forget to tell Rick how sexy he is doing the dishes. That is what I have always told Ted. Sometimes he fell for it. LOL I love when men help with the cooking too. Nice conversation, good foods and pleasant weather.and the evening glow of the lights in your cottage . That's the good life my friend. Blessings to you and Rick, stay safe, xoxo, Susie
I started drooling at the first picture!
Hello Jeanie,
Your dinners look delicious. I would like to try the chicken/pineapple recipe. The salad sounds yummy. Rick's rolls and pizza, all I can say is YUM!! Nice views of your cottage! Take care, enjoy your day!
I would be VERY happy if I had a few plates of that delicious food, looks yummy! Hugs, Valerie
All of your meals sound wonderful. Nothing like cooking and dining outside.
I don't bake bread, Rick, but I always barbecue, in fact I probably do a little more cooking in general than Miriam, and I do the dishes too. I also do all the shopping so it seems to me we have a lot in common, and these women we allow into our lives should be damn grateful!!!!! Now duck!
Oh, that all looks so delicious! And I'm so hungry now! :D
I'm for the burger in a bun; it looks terrific!
(I've become rather sensitive to the smell of meat on the grill; maybe it's age related).
Yum! The eats look very good at the lake!
You are indeed a lucky woman to have a man who cooks, bakes and does dishes but He's equally lucky to have such an upbeat, charming and talented woman. Your chicken on the grill looks so good I can almost smell it.
You are lucky! It looks like you can forget about the outside world when you are there. How wonderful.
Jeanie, I object!! Is it not enough that I just see the lake, but now all that good food too..Oh, how lovely and I am truly happy for you, (almost)..Stay well,, my friend..xxoJudy
Oh you are making me hungry even though I am full to the gills from a nice steak and corn we had tonight for dinner. (On the grill of course.) So much good food. That salad with the pineapple looks amazing. And grilled pineapple is the best. Enjoy those wonderful summer meals! Hugs-Erika
Every single dish on your blog looks simply scrumptious! The chicken especially is tempting — but as we have cut way back on meat, I really am tempted by those photos particularly. Today I did brave entry to a very small and unpopulated store with Michigan produce, so we had good corn and tomatoes for once.
be well ... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I liked seeing your cottage from the outside looking in. Your cooking looks the BEST.
Isn't grilled pineapple good!?! You can even sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar on it while it's grilling. That pizza looks soooooo good. I haven't had barbecue from an actual charcoal grill in such a long time. (Always just propane). -Jenn
Yummy, yummy Jeanie. So much summery, fresh, good food at your place. The grilled chicken looks absolutely scrumptious as does all the baking. I love apple crumble with ice cream and all kinds of home made buns and bread. Enjoy.
Barbecue food is so good. Your blog should carry a warning, "Read this and you will be hungry all day!"!!!
Deb in Wales
Ananas!!!! (That´s how we call a pineapple) - great idea!!!
And nothing is better than a charcoal grill - worst times in Perth, all have gas, bleeehhh...
Sweet, sweet, happy pics, good to see in these days, especially! The smiles!!
OK. Now I´m like really hungry, you should give a warning! ;-)
Pizza, oh, come on, that is "mean"!
Your place looks sooo beautiful! (No stomping neighbours from above, ahhh, I would love this).
Here, many, like us, also, don´t have blinds, let´s people watch us, right? Let´s share the fun!
I love grilled pineapple. Try it sometime with grilled onions (A side dish I make every Thanksgiving). Your mouth watering photos bring up so many happy memories. It's so important to enjoy what we can now.
Oh, this gives me such a warm glow inside - just to think of you enjoying the summer in this way and a BBQ! It just looks so lovely not to mention all the delicious food! One day I'm coming over and I'll bring the wine!
Wren x
Jeanie, all looks wonderful and happy. This virus has really made us all look and be grateful for our many blessings. Hubby brought home cherries from the store and I found a recipe for a Cherry Galette, it should be good.
I am enjoying the lake with you, so keep the "Postcards" coming. Happy day, Jeanie.
Wow lot's of yummy summer fare ~ Love the wine and cheese set up too. Doing dishes also..?!.. amazing ~ Enjoy ~
Jeanie,
Everything looks delicious!! We do not have a grill outdoors as the gas grill we had many years ago caught fire and nearly burned our house down!! Hence, we never got another one and my yard, with everything in it, does not allow for proper distancing to have a charcoal burning grill...So I am on my 5th George Foreman grill which I love!!Thanks so much for stopping by!! And YES!! I do have Joe trained very well!! It only took 42 years to do so!!
Hugs,
Debbie
A nice nice nice kind man:) And great in the kitchen!
Cottage life is the best.
I LOVE grilled pineapple.
This has me yearning for time away. Good food, no office, no construction. Times gone by but not for the time being. I think 2020 is a wash for getaways. Looking forward to 2021.
Yum. I want some.
Such a great way to spend time together, it doesn't get better. The food looks delicious and he makes buns!!!! And, does the dishes, I'm impressed. Soak up all the love of the lake now, hard to believe August is already ticking away.......
It all looks soooo good, Jeanie. Your BBQ and potato salad look delicious. You and Rick have such a great time together.
I love grilled pineapple - it kind of sparkles in my mouth. The chicken also is a favorite.
oh! ohhh! ohhhhhhh!
I could almost smell the charcoal fire, the good food grilling.
Thank you for sharing these lovely evening meals with us.
Would you share your tomato sauce recipe? The plate with linguine, bacon and artichoke just impressed the heck out of me.
Maybe you should paint a picture of the cottage from outside, after dark, with the lamplight glowing. (Maybe?)
XOXOXO to you Rick and L.Cosette
Wow, your food looks delicious. I would love some of your potato salad. I haven't had any in ages and it looks very good. Also, that yummy apple crisp and pasta salad. All of it actually looks delicious.
Rick's buns and sandwich bread is impressive.
I'm glad y'all are enjoying being at your cabin and relaxing at the lake. I wish we had a getaway place.
That grilled pineapple looks delicious.
Isn't grilled pineapple the best? Have you ever dried dipping it in caramel? That's so good! Would you share the recipe for your potato salad??? Mine is decent, but nothing to write home about. Most of the time I just buy it instead. I'm glad you're able to grill out and spend so much time outside. And a little jealous! Our afternoons/evenings seem to be full of thunderstorms. I think we do most of our grilling in the fall.
I should know better than to visit when I'm hungry, but I'm so late visiting, anyway, I didn't take time to eat. I'm a big fan of grilling, too. However, I grill fruit and veggies. Your chicken looks good, though. I can't wrap my head around all those people who are getting sick and dying so I can have a chicken breast, though. I'm off to find something to eat, even if it's just a peach (grin). Would LOVE one of those buns, though.
You and Rick have not only really made many people hungry with this post, Jeanie, but also a bit envious of spending time at a lakeside cottage and being able to cook outdoors. The food and the company both looked wonderful and having someone do the baking and the dishes was very nice. Kudos to Rick.
The food tastes so much better eaten outside too.
My husband is great in the kitchen too, does a lot of the cooking and washing up too, but not bread baking, that is me.
I've had grille pineapple but with ice-cream, never as an accompaniment to grilled chicken.
Enjoy it Jeanie.
Re your reply to my last comment - we are lucky in Western Australia, no covid community transmission for a while. Borders have been closed for months and anyone arriving from other States or overseas returnees have to go into hotel supervised quarantine for 14 days.
Sadly cases in Melbourne (State of Victoria) are climbing, because of a breach in quarantine protocol, etc and they are now under strict rules - they have to wear masks, police visit people who have been tested positive to make sure they are home... They've had from about 400 too 700 cases a day in the last couple of weeks. Other states have closed borders with Victoria too.
Jeanie, the food looks so delicious. Food is always a comfort, but especially now. Lake life suits you and Rick perfectly...enjoy!
Your fruit and cheese appetizer and grilling choices look delicious. Your lakeside cottage life sounds like heaven. It's wonderful to have a life filled with gratitude and happiness :)
That grilled chicken looks sooooo good, Jeanie. All the food on here is making me hungry haha. The buns and the pasta and the pizza, YUMMY! I like how you added pineapple on the side. And that last photo of Rick doing the dishes is a keeper. That is a cool picture, and I would frame that one. ; )
~Sheri
That looks so delicious. Cooking outside, with the vigor of nature--what could be better.
Makes me hungry looking at all your creations.
Gives me ideas too.
Love your relaxing, ease and love . . .
How lovely by the lake. I think this time does make us a bit retrospective with all that's going on around us. Enjoyed your roadside flowers too, quite a few when you stop and look. Take care, have a lovely summer.
Oh my, the food looks delicious.
All the best Jan
Yum!! All of the food looks delicious! You are eating very well! We are super well at the lake, too. We had some nice snacky lunch meals and several from the grill, too. I always eat well up there!!
Everything looks so good, especially knowing dinner is out of doors.
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