Corn: A Love Story and Cookbook Giveaway
Posted: May 18, 2012 Filed under: Table Talk: Janet – posts by Janet | Tags: Andrews McMeel Publishing, cookbook giveaway, corn, Dougy Center, food, I Love Corn, Lisa Skye, Martha Stewart, summer, summer cooking 9 Comments »Are there two foods that scream summer more than corn and tomatoes? Not for me. The first bite of either one — and on really perfect days, both — fresh from a garden is part of summer’s most amazing allure. So I was pretty very excited to get a review copy of Lisa Skye’s new book, I Love Corn — first because I am totally with her on this love and secondly because I wanted to get some new corn ideas. Oh, because we are going to give one of you lucky readers your very own copy for FREE!
Right now my main corn plan is sticking it in boiling water for about two minutes, salting it and chomping down. I know there’s waaaayyy more to it than that, as Lisa shows in spades. Get ready to be inspired….and of course enter our little contest.
Obviously We’re Adults, We Have a Grill
Posted: June 29, 2011 Filed under: Table Talk: Rachel – posts by Rachel | Tags: foiled meal plans, grilling, summer cooking 1 Comment »Rachel here.
This post was planned to mark our very first grill purchase. Strapped for cash these days while I transition from school to work, we waited out our local Target and victoriously snagged a grill the other day for half-price. YUP–HALF. We waited them out and the arrival of our new grill onto our little back patio was all the sweeter for it. Of course, we were itching to get cooking.
I didn’t purchase briquettes when I picked up the grill, fantasizing that John would be that spectacular combination of persnickety and salt of the earth that he sometimes offers up. He didn’t have strong feelings about the charcoal, though, so today I stopped and picked up some standard stuff while running errands. He promised to develop feelings about what he’s grilling over as the summer progresses. Obviously, we’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, any suggestions?
Tonight was supposed to be the christening of our grill. Chicken kabobs with apricots, onion and zucchini (and chicken marinated in jerk seasoning, olive oil and lime juice) were on the menu, as was grilled asparagus. To say I was excited is probably an understatement. I was more like a kid who’d just found out Christmas just might pop up at the end of June this year. One of my absolute favorite things about being alive is grilling and sitting outside. For the first time in my adult life we have both the space and the equipment. We’ve got the grill (did I mention that already?), and Adirondack chairs, and strung white lights through the trees. We’ve got a little table and a patio and a nice stretch of grass with a little garden doing its darndest to grow. We’ve got it going on this summer, as far as I’m concerned. And tonight was supposed to be the moment it all finally came together.
Except it rained. From ten o’clock this morning on, the entire day has been relentlessly drenched. If you don’t live in California you probably figure this is standard summer weather. But not us, not here. We’re only supposed to get rain 6 months of the year. The other 6 are supposed to be gloriously and reliably dry. Summer falls in the dry 6, in case you were at all uncertain.
And so the chicken will stew in its juices a little bit longer, until tomorrow night. If it’s raining then, I’m handing John a raincoat and umbrella and telling him I can’t wait for dinner.
Marinades
Posted: August 25, 2010 Filed under: Table Talk Times Two - posts by Janet and Rachel together | Tags: Balsamic vinegar, chicken, grilled veggies, marinade, olive oil, recipes, summer cooking Leave a comment »
Rachel here: Oh, summer. We’ve had an abnormally cool and grey summer here in the Bay Area with the heat finally arriving this week as we begin to consider the start of fall. This has left me and my fellow Bay Area dwellers scrambling to soak up these summery days before they disappear into the rain and fog that dominates…well…the rest of the year. Anyway, nothing is more summery than grilling and grilling is often best when done with marinaded food. Below you’ll find a veggie marinade of my mom’s followed by a chicken marinade of mine. What’s one of your favorite marinades?
When You Have Lemons….
Posted: August 4, 2010 Filed under: Table Talk Times Two - posts by Janet and Rachel together | Tags: Barefoot Contessa, blue cheese, chicken, Coleslaw, Cook, grilling, lemon, lemons, Marination, olive oil, recipes, salad, summer cooking Leave a comment »
Janet here: It’s hot, hot, hot again on the East Coast and the idea of turning on an oven is pretty much a non-starter for me. While I would like to believe everyone in my family would just eat this incredible blue cheese cole slaw for dinner (click here for recipe), in fact I do have to serve up something else. This lemon chicken, adapted from the Barefoot Contessa, is mighty tasty as well as being a good excuse to serve the cole slaw. It does require planning ahead a little bit — you have to marinate the chicken overnight — but then you can send someone else outside to grill the chicken while you stand by the fan and stay cool!
