September!

Hi! I'm back! Even though Irene missed me the week has been a trifle chaotic, as we unload, unpack and resume our lives after being senselessly evacuated...

And now it is September! We love that here, we have this "Ground Hog Day" feeling about September: Oh, Labor Day, awesome. Six more weeks of summer, yay!

It truly is the very nicest time, as the humidity lessens and the air is clearer, the beach again is mine all mine.

My tiny town has done a wonderful apres-Irene restoration...the golf course is open, the beaches are clean and lifeguards on duty, on their rearranged chairs; even the farmers market was going strong! I have to give these farmers so much credit, they probably had much worse storm effects to deal with but there they were....

So what if the tomatoes are a bit split from too fast growth after to much rain? They're red and yummy!

The cheeses, as always, so wonderful, the fresh breads.... I had to add to my usual produce by shopping at the IGA (who uses local growers too, actually). All veggies showing a hint of storm damage...but delicious.

I planned a holiday BBQ, just for family...a retro nod to some of my fave foods, things my mom made all those years ago.

"Cocktail time'' with artisan mozzarella and fresh tomatoes; marinated goat cheese; French sourfodugh bread.
Main course: my mom's shishkebabs--they were probably unchic even when she made them years ago, but oh so yummy!
Cubes of chicken breast and [prime] porterhouse steak, marinated with lots of meat tenderizer and Good Seasons salad dressing. (I went to get the famous cruet, thinking, no way would I ever find the plastic cap in my utensil drawer...but there it was, just waiting for the past, oh, 3 years? Sometimes it's good to be a laid back, lazy housewife. Some women would have discarded that white lid or put it somewhere safe, lol.)

To go with, rice pilaf, Caesar salad (yes! I used a kit! more LOL), and steamed summer squash.

The kebabs have only the meats and orange peppers, sweet onions---plus Trader Joe's hollandaise sauce, yummy! I find that using tomatoes and mushrooms on kebabs is a waste of time. They fall off and make a mess in your grill. Stick with the peppers & onions.

 

Then for dessert I made (the day before) homemade ice cream sandwiches with gourmet chocolate ice cream and crispy walnut chocolate chip cookies. [Just put the ice cream in the fridge [not the freezer] while you do other kitchen work; when it's soft, blob a couple tablespoons onto the cookies, smoosh another on top, press down. Store in single sandwich bags, pack into a Glad box and refreeze. Easy-peasy...always a big hit.
(if the sloppiness of the melting ice cream bothers you, go ahead and refreeze. When nicely refrozen, unwrap, smooth the edges with a butter knife dipped in a glass of hot water; roll the edges in choc or colored sprinkles and freeze again. But...you know, after dinner, on the candle-lit or moon lit deck, no one much cares how the ice cream looks. We're not Martha Stewart here, are we...?]

This was all DELICIOUS! I make no apologies for using mixes and shortcuts...even this much effort was a lot after a day at the beach. And it tasted just like "home" to me: Aaah....dinner on the deck at sunset, good thing sizzling on the grill. Perfect, just---perfect.

This is The Life, isn't it!

                      

 PS  This is that umbrella that flew through the air after the storm, just missing me, on my deck! .....

 I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend! Tell me what you cooked or did?

love

          lizzy

 gone to the beach....

linked to Beach Cottage's Wednesday Good Life party!. Yay a party! We love a party, be sure to check out Sarah's blog...