It is amazing how daily life can take over and suddenly you find yourself completely overcome by everything and simply accomplishing nothing. Work schedules, kid, spouses, pets and everything in between are our daily routines and yet we all still have to eat.
I love my fun food, that doesn’t just mean sweets and snacks, to me fun food is all food. I’m on vacation by my family in Wisconsin and being surrounded by all the styles and traditional foods, favorite restaurants, new places to try and summer get togethers where everyone brings their favorite dish to pass; it’s all Zen-like to me
The “man” of the house fires up the grill, puts on his silly “Kiss the Cook” apron and stands at the ready with a mountain of meats from burgers, brats and hot dogs to ribs and chicken. Tongs in one hand, long fork in the other, cold beverage at his side. He brags how it’s best to pile the charcoal like a pyramid while the grill heats and then spread them out so everything cooks evenly. His neighbor says it’s better to push them all around the side and cook in the middle, and so begins the fun bantering of the Grill Masters. The women all have 911 dialed into their phone, ready to hit send if their theories really ” fire up ”
I love the pot luck concept, a cook gets to show off his or her family favorite, get praise on how good it tastes and while reveling in the asking for the recipe, proudly shares it. The tables are loaded to the point of collapsing with everything from pasta, potato and vegetable salads, every kind of baked bean options you can think of, Jell-O salads, banana puddings with the vanilla wafers in it and brownies, cakes, bars and cookies that will send your blood sugar into the stratosphere.
Grandma’s sweet and tangy lemon bars are always a crowd favorite while Aunt Ethel shows up with her famous mustard potato salad loaded with hardboiled eggs and Aunt Carol rounds it off with her ultra rich chocolate brownies with the elusive flavor no one can quite put their finger on no matter how many they eat. Cousin Roy proudly puts his bourbon smoked baked beans on the table and Uncle Bert’s ” never fail ” saucy ribs all hold a place of honor amongst the rest of the delectable dishes calling out to us.
So here’s to summer, Welcome back old friend! We are looking forward to a season of sultry days by the pool, icy cold lemonade, frosty beers, the gathering of great friends and family laughing about old memories and making wonderful new ones to share and enjoy with generations old and new for years to come and the most amazing food imaginable.
My husband loves this SUMMER FRUIT CUCUMBER SALAD. This can be done with either watermelon or pineapple and is so fresh and pretty on any table. The combination of the sweet fruit, mild cucumber and the tang of the lime bring it together for the most refreshing fruit salad you could imagine. Play around with the addition of different fruit for more color and make it your own. It assembles in no time at all and stashing in your fridge for a few hours will allow the flavors to meld nicely.
SUMMER FRUIT CUCUMBER SALAD
