Fire Up The Grill

I used to look like that once upon a time when we had a big back yard, a grill and loved to eat out of doors. I don't remember my aprons having frills though, more like a complete coverall that took care of everything from hot handles to wiping up a quick spill. We used to have a garden and grew red radishes that were crisp and spicy. My family ignores radishes in any dish and turn up their noses, but I think they are missing out, three of those crunchy radishes a day and you get all the vitamin 'A' you can handle.

Many years ago, my Rhode Island neighbors would drive home from the hot city, after working all day, and be greeted by me holding a spatula in the air inviting them to 'dine' with us. Hobo, as we called our friend Hobart, grew every vegetable and flower imaginable and we were always first on their give-away list. Minnie Mouse as we called Minnie Florence, invited us over on Sunday mornings to home made pancakes and we became family. Whenever I write my novellas they are in it somewhere . . . see what a picture of radishes can do . . . memories . . . right where they belong. I hope you have some favorite foods that bring along memories to make you smile.

I was checking out some other blogs yesterday and was amazed to find so many cooks out there. The pictures are mouth watering and the recipes read like a master chef is in the kitchen. It is so good to know that there are so many interested in cooking from scratch, a far cry from the chemical eating that goes on with some of the younger crowd. I wonder how expensive they are to make as the recipes call for ingredients I've never heard of. I have been a pinch and snip cook all my life and find that I'm losing my touch now that I no longer have a family to cook for. Eating alone is a challenge and it has taken me a long time to cut the recipes down to size. I love spaghetti and still make enough sauce to feed a family of six. A good thing there is a freezer to put the excess in. I wonder if it is wishful thinking when we don't cut our recipes down to size, but then left overs do have a special place in the refrigerator and sometimes sit a whole week before going down the garbage disposal. One area of a store I used to shop in had special packages in the meat department for one or two people. It was so easy to find something to fix for a dinner. They do not have it at Fred Meyers here but they do have a butcher counter and the lady is really great about picking out a special pork chop or a tiny steak for me. so I'll stick to my pinch and snip cooking and continue to buy my fifty cent bunch of radishes and cut them up in my salad and enjoy and leave the large scale cooking to the lucky ones with families to eat it all up.

I hope you have favorite vegetables to add to your salad and stay healthy and happy. Pull out the grill, put on your apron and cook up a storm. Don't forget to invite a couple of friends over and who knows they may bring along something crispy in red, hopefully in a bottle. I think I know where the cork screw is.