Summertime officially begins!



I know this doesn't look like my normal Mediterrean fare. It isn't. It's a flashback to summer days in the midwest when we had cookouts on the Weber and a gathering of family for fantastic weekend feasts.

With a three day weekend, cooking and  eating with friends for Memorial Day was at the top of my list {just after doing NOTHING!} I got a wild idea to recreate one of my family favorites- sloppy joe's.  We always had canned baked beans, embellished with yet more ketchup and bacon, but this time I thought I give it a try from scratch. I soaked the beans, made the molasses sauce and cooked them down with a rasher of bacon until they were dark and rich and thick. {maybe too thick?}

As a foodie,  I know I'm not supposed to say I like hot dogs, but I do. Always have and always will. The difference now is that I buy all-natural and the best of the worst mix of meat.  Guess I'm not a foodie after all. Glad to be off the hook.  Oh, but we did make a minted yogurt slaw with fresh cucumbers as the topping for the dogs. Sounds kind of foodie, doesn't it?   And the potato salad wasn't a kroger special. It was fingerlings with a chestnut honey mustard dressing tossed with fresh arugula from the garden. Yep, definitely foodie food.

Actually, I prefer to eat whatever I want and simply enjoy good food. Summertime is not about pretense or production. It's about hanging out with friends and family, sitting out by the pool, and enjoying the warm weather while it lasts. This is a good start.




Buon appetito! copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

2 comments:

The Italian Dish said...

I totally agree! I'm a fellow Midwesterner, too and I like hot dogs! :-)

Alisa Barry said...

Elaine,

So glad you agree! Now, we have more in common than we already did. You're my kind of foodie friend!