Flag Day - Start Of The Barbecue Season

 Today is Flag Day and it's really the start of the barbecue season. What will work this season of getting back together. Everything and anything goes.

Barbecue is coming back in a big way. We can now have family get togethers and pool parties again. You can go huge with bison burgers and rib eye steaks, For a smaller get together think of grilled lamb chops. These are over the top but affordable. Keep in mind to let them warm up to room temp before putting them on the barbecue.Another over the top meat to grill is lobster. The tail is the best for this so you can easily buy the tails at your local fish market. Preparing it is not as hard as some home chefs think.Use the same cooking shears you use for butterflying chicken to cut away the shell. It's then using a knife to split the tail meat. THis will curl up when cooking so put it on wood skewer to prevent this from happening. You could also use the skewers for shrimp kebobs too. Intersperse grape tomatoes and pepper chunks for more flavor.This works for scallops too along with London Broil.

 It's also time for fancy  summer drinks since we are celebrating again.Many would just prefer beer  but what  about some of the fancier IPA(or India pale ales). Get the best like the San Diego brewed Ballast Point Sculpin. This has a tropical fruit flavor, a great thirst quencher for a hot night. The company has gone out on a limb with such diverse flavors as habenero, grapefruit and coffee.Another IPA is the popular Dogfish Head Flesh and Blood. Try this with good old fashioned burgers and dogs.It's brewed with lemon flesh and blood orange juice. Lemon and orange peels are also added in to give this a grown up lemonade vibe. Another grown up lemonade is the actual stuff with a shot of vodka. Just make the lemonade fresh and add what you feel is a good and heady amount. Want something tamer? Try mocktails. You can create a refreshing one using pureed watermelon, lime juice and seltzer. Garnish with mint leaves.A non'alcoholic punch made up of cranberry and orange juices and spicy ginger beers. Float orange slices in it for a more festive look.

Flag Day begins the barbecue season. Celebrate with a good old fashioned barbecue and a fun drink. It's time to enjoy the grill again.

Happy Birthday ,Poppy.

Flowering Fruit

There’s a new trend right now with fruit. Baskets. Gone are the traditional towers full of apples, pears and oranges. In their stead are new fruit “bouquets’, strawberries, pineapples and apples cut to look like daisies and roses. It’s an interesting idea and let’s face it a real money maker too. A bouquet can cost as much as three hundred dollars. That’s quadruple of what you would pay for a bouquet of actual flowers. The good news is that you can recreate these at home.

It doesn’t take brains to turn a pineapple slice into a daisy. It just involves a good knife (preferably one of Cutco quality) and some chocolate for dipping the petals into. As far as making strawberry rosebuds,, again a no brainer. Make two diagonal slits around the bottom of the strawberry so that it looks like a tight bud, then insert a toothpick where the hull is. These are also easy to dip and you can dip them into white chocolate dyed pink for added beauty. If you want you can also put in fresh picked mint leaves (if you have them growing in your garden) for bouquet greenery.

Fruit bouquets are actually easy to make if you have the time and creativity. There a new spin on the old fruit basket idea. It’s a fresh way to celebrate or comfort a person however you can make the bouquet yourself for only a few dollars.