Let's Get Grilling!

I originally wrote this over Memorial Day weekend - but for whatever technical reasons, I couldn't get it to post.  So now I'm recreating to share...


Memorial Day Grilling ~


On this day, we remember and give heartfelt thanks for our service men and women who so unselfishly give of themselves for our country's freedom.  It is the recognized start of summer, and we were especially blessed with beautiful weather today.


My day started by making some special BBQ sauce for my dad.  I had sweet oranges, limes, black grapes and strawberries that I stewed together with a bit of Dr Pepper.  Sweet onion, vinegar, the last of the michigan honey, brown sugar and ancho chile powder were combined with the fruit mixture and then mixed with ketchup.  Dad's Sassy Sauce 2011 was created....

I've missed my time in the kitchen creating Sassy Sauce. Must dedicate more time for my cooking and creating endeavors.


And if I have sauce, I must grill!!!! 










Butterflied chicken with a combo of sauce and softened butter smeared under the skin and a bit on top of the skin...

Cold chicken and warm butter means it doesn't spread very well! 

















I protected it with a bit of foil so it wouldn't burn during the grilling. 

Where there's smoke (especially mesquite smoke), there's flavor....

And if I have the grill going, I'm throwing more stuff on to cook for the week.

Last brushing of sauce!








After resting, it cut so easily!  The meat is tender and succulent.  The sauce is tangy and sweet and you can definitely taste the fruit....

The chicken was killer!!!  A great start to the season for sure!

Quiet Sunday

Not much happening in the kitchen lately. It's not that I've lost interest in food, I just haven't really had energy to cook lately! Sad!! Truly sad!! I am making a batch of potato and corn chowder today. I'm pretty sick of eating chicken and brown rice. Again, trying to eat healthier since I've taken up bike riding, but after 4 out of 7 days of eating that.....gimme some tacos or even a cheeseburger! Please!! I made some homemade Salsa Verde for a couple of co-workers earlier today. They loved my roasted red salsa last week (though it could have been the homemade tortilla chips too), so I mentioned that I make killer green stuff. I had people begging. What a great thing to have people enjoy the food you lovingly make.



In the bowl waiting to be jarred.



Hope they like it.

Somehow I feel a nap calling my name. Hard to believe it's been a year since I started the blog, the Sassy Sauces....my food adventures! I still haven't quite found a way to be in the food industry as anything more than a hobby at this point. There are days, as I sit at my computer, staring at another spreadsheet for my company, and can't help but think, "is this it?". But I am focused and have a plan in place to get my finances straightened out and maybe by this time next year, cooking will be my life and the current state of exhaustion will definitely be overshadowed by happiness and soul satisfaction. Life is too short - I need to seize the day for sure!

Sunday night = Mac-n-cheese!!

Fresh from the oven with toasted breadcrumbs and bacon pieces on top.




Plated next to a simple hamburger patty....makes everything special!

Bangers & Mash & Colcannon?

Here's my version...



Homemade English sausage (bangers), rich and creamy mashed potatoes (mash), and on the side sautéed kale (mash & kale mixed makes colcannon). I over-seasoned the kale a bit, but everything tastes fabulous!

Super Bowl Sunday

It's the time of year when the nation goes nuts picking sides. Wearing colors. Planning for weeks their Super Bowl parties. For me, it's really much simpler. It's the one time of year that I break down and eat: Velveeta. Not to offend anyone who truly likes this "cheese product", but it seriously will take an entire year to get the gloppy artery-hardening cheese-wannabe out of my body. But MAN! It just wouldn't be the same watching the game without the Rotel and Velveeta! This year I decided I wanted pretzels with my guilty indulgence. Mistake. It definitely needs tortilla chips to scoop the peppers and tomatoes.

My second guilty pleasure: the commercials! I so can relate to the Bridgestone "reply all" commercial. Only they should have done it in slow-mo. All the better to feel the heart-stopping, mind-numbing terror you endure when you make that mistake..... Yeah, enough said.

I'm like the next person who enjoys licking my cheesy fingers after a snack of Cheetos or Doritos. But please. The Doritos commercial with the office guy doing it? Wrong. And disturbing.

I'm relatively new and nerdy to the world of Twitter, Tweeting and Tweeps. I don't think I'm cool enough to have much of a following, but it's not for lack of trying! I have to say though KUDOS to one of my all time favorite stores Sephora for tweeting highlights to the game. For those that don't know, Sephora = Women's Candy Store.

Wow! Can't believe how many commercial breaks there are. At least though they are advertising a lot of upcoming movies. Transformers looks good, as does the latest installment to the Fast and Furious saga (holy cow....The Rock AND Vin Diesel on screen at the same time....slurp, for sure)!

Mini Darth Vader VW commercial actually made me laugh out loud. The Pepsi Max commercials beat the Coke commercials hands down. Roseanne getting plowed by that log was crazy! Eminem and Detroit commercial was really good. I loved the NFL tv clips commercial the best though - very, very clever and was really cool seeing all my favorite shows (old and new). Gotta love The Fonz hitting the flatscreen tv to get it to work! Brilliantly done!

Oh yeah, then there was the ballgame too. Congratulations Green Bay. Your quarterback played like a star and was surprisingly humble in post-game interviews. Nice to see a lack of ego and arrogance in a professional ball player. It was an exciting game and the better team won despite multiple injuries of key players by pulling together and exemplifying teamwork.

Moody Winter Blues

Everyone talks about the dog days of summer, but I'm hit with a case of winter blues right now. I miss fresh produce - everything green and abundant in my little patio garden and I miss longer sunlit days for sure. Not to mention being hit with a colossal winter upper respiratory infection. I want to sink my teeth into a succulent peach. Yeah, yeah....citrus is definitely in season right now, but there is only so much limoncello one can make! I did receive in the mail a killer jar of Michigan Meadow honey from my aunt and uncle. As soon as I smelled the light floral fragrance of that honey, I was transported to chewing the stems of clover flowers every summer as a child. Isn't it amazing how powerful food is for our memories? I had to make a BBQ sauce from some of it, combining old flavors (the floral honey) and new flavors (chipotle). The result was a rich sweetness with just a hint of warmth that built the more you ate it. I have to say, of all the sauces I've made this is definitely my favorite. I took a bunch of chicken parts and froze them with the sauce - from experience during the thawing process the chicken marinates and becomes tender and so flavorful! Maybe once I'm feeling better and have more energy, I'll thaw some and light up the grill. It's hard to grill these days though....by six it's dark.






Luscious chicken marinated in in the smoky honey sauce and grilled. Was awesome!!


Well, like summer, winter won't last forever. I can't wait for spring with new growth and longer days and gentler weather. Tomorrow seems promising.

The Holiday Sauce

Creative juices suddenly kicked into high gear tonight. I wanted to make a new Sassy Sauce and the ingredients begging to be used were....

Fresh cranberries
Blackberries
Dried cherries
Candied ginger
Brown sugar
Red wine vinegar
Allspice, dried ginger & smidge of cloves
Spicy brown mustard
Ketchup

After simmering low and slow, I whirred it up in the processor. It tastes warm and cozy, with a hint of exotic spice from the ginger and tangy from the vinegar and cranberries.

I have the jars preserving in a water bath currently. I'm definitely saving some of this for the Christmas ham.



Cooked up on chicken!! Yummy!!