Our quest for fire started back in the cave days...but today we've learned how to harness those flames in so many ways....One is our love affair with "Grilling".......When warm weather starts, a lot of us can't wait to dust off our grill....fire it up...... fill our home and garden with family and friends and grill up some "Summer Southern Sizzle"........
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| The Cook....... |
As summer heats up, there is nothing like having a great summer barbeque.....and what makes it great for me is I can depend on my brother to do all the grilling....he is "The Cook"......While my brother is conjuring up some fabulous "Summer Southern Sizzle".......I'm busy making sure everything else is done with "Grilling Style" in mind......Like a cool and refreshing mixed drink.....Summer time and lots of color make the perfect mix for a backyard barbeque........I break out my colorful glasses and dishes with picnic style in mind.....and I love using colorful table cloths and fresh cut flowers to accent my fun in the sun atmosphere...Play up the setting with creative ways to ice down some drinks.....I love using garden pots filled with ice to give all my drinks a big chill........using one for bottled water, one for soft drinks and a different one for beer or wine can make interesting table decor ......get creative, set pots at different levels by placing one pot upside down and placing the other on top......it really is barbeque chic...I have a cool insulated cooler that looks like the old coke box use to look and rolls around on wheels .......I use it a lot and it always adds an eclectic feel to my sizzling summer cook outs.......
Make your outside cookout sizzle with color, like these mouthwatering, colorful, vegetable kabobs....... definitely one of my favorites, not only delicious but so easy to serve.....
Add fresh cut flowers from your garden in happy little vases set about and "boom"......summertime feels so refreshing.........Grilling out is as American as apple pie...."Grilling with Style"adds that special summer punch to anyones summer cookout........Sooooooo.....Get up......Get out.......Fire up the grill......and start a fun and festive summer cookout with your own personal style for some great "Southern Summer Sizzle"...............
Delight Your Summer Guest.......Grill something Sweet.............here is the recipe for this delightful grilled banana treat.......................... . Grilled Banana Split
2 tbs. dark brown sugar
cinnamon to taste
butter
4 firm bananas (unpeeled)
vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup pecans toasted and chopped
Heat grill.....in bowl mix brown sugar and cinnamon.....cut bananas lengthwise......leave peel on...lightly oil grill........place bananas cut side down on grill...cook until slightly charred (about 3 minutes).....turn over....brush with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.....grill until bananas begin to pull away from peelings (2 to 3 minutes)........discard peels....place on colorful plate.....top with vanilla ice cream...sprinkle with pecans and mmmmmmmmmmmmm.......Enjoy.........
note: I drizzle a little honey over my ice cream then sprinkle the pecans......."simply fabulous".......
So now that your "Grilling with Style".............just add some "Summer Southern Sizzle" and get cooking Southern Style..................................
Placing objects like the bench in the photo , or flowers at the end of your path, creates a reward at the end of your journey connecting the path with the sense of an adventure.....Using a fountain, grouping of chairs, a tall sculpture, large vase, even a path spilling out to a lone flowering tree can be a reward for the eyes.....It doesn't matter if you have a small space or large it is very easy to create a pathway ...Mulch, gravel, stones, pavers, or concrete are some of the common materials that can be used.....try it....go out in your yard and find a spot .....lay some pavers down....make a path leaving a little room on each side...now plant some bushes down each side ....use your imagination ....plant a few flowers....add a couple of iron arbors ...plant vines to grow on each side of the arbors so they will grow over the top and meet...this will create a top for your path ...I have a path where i planted jasmine to grow over three iron arbors placed in a row about two feet apart....... In the spring it is a breathtaking path of yellow flowers...What a way to leave winter behind and break into spring ....Since I have a large backyard I have several pathways in my yard that lead to different parts of my garden....
Pathways in my garden place reminds me of when I was a child and played in the woods at the end of my neighborhood street....I loved walking on the paths that mother nature made as I found my way into the woods, my childhood imagination running away as I moved along natures corridor with trees and brush along the sides of my path....then I would happen upon a small opening, my reward at the end of the path, usually where the sun would find it's way through the treetops ... I would love to sit there and dream of all the wonderful years ahead and the many paths I would find to follow in my life....then as I would leave , finding my way out among the many tall southern trees, I remember the innocent adventure of it all with every step I took.......those are the kind of memories that we love to bring forward with us if we can ............
Now that I'm all grown up, as a gardener, for me it's all about creating a chance to experience my surroundings....maybe that is why I feel this way about paths...it connects me to moments in my past that I loved as a child.....following a path is always going to evoke the adventurous side of me..........and it will for you to ......if you don't already have one....TRY IT...........This fall, while the weather is nice and being outside is wonderful......let the creative YOU turn an open space into a mystical pathway that will lead to your own imagination....YOUR VISION IS JUST A PATH AWAY............... :D
