I smoked a chicken recently. Spatchcocked it, applied Simon & Garfunkel rub, into the smoker, and finished on the grill to crisp the skin up.
It was marvellous, as was the smoked potato salad and grilled asparagus.

Faye came up with this simple yet nutritious main course. Beans on naan bread, topped with cheese. Yum.
We recently travelled to Toronto for a weekend in the Big City. After delivering the dogs to our boarding kennel we rode VIA (the Canadian passenger train) and chose Business Class for the trip there. That meant we were treated to dinner – for me, cod in a tomato and caper sauce with green beans and potato wedges, an olive roll, skewered cheeses and cherry tomatoes, and strawberry slices with strawberry ‘squish’ topped by a mint leaf. All washed down with a glass of pleasant white wine.
What a civilized way to travel and so much less stressful than a three hour drive in the dark on very busy freeways.
Pizza on a home-made crust with a pesto base, chopped bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, smoked chicken, and mozzarella.
Yum.
Pan-roasted salmon garnished with cilantro and quick-sauteed diced jalapenos, oven-roasted skin on sweet potatoes, and jasmine rice also garnished with cilantro. Delicious.
Pizza for dinner. Our own dough, home-made alfredo sauce and basil pesto. Topped with mozzarella and cheddar, fresh spinach, bell pepper, cremini mushrooms, grilled balsamic chicken, black olives, and feta.
It is as good as it sounds.
The vast majority of what we eat, we prepare ourselves. It’s healthy; nutritious; tasty; the way to control ingredients; and a very important skill/art to engage in.
Dinner on the way. Clockwise from top: garlic; roast pork loin; potato; carrot; onion. Offstage and waiting to play their parts: salt and pepper; turkey stock; crushed tomatoes; Hatch green chilies; ground cumin.
It’s quite good.
I will return on Thursday.
A recent dinner: Smoked pork tenderloin, smoked mashed potatoes, scarlet runner beans from the garden with red pepper grilled in a foil packet, and picked-that-day grilled corn slathered with a mayonnaise and sriracha sauce aioli.
It was as good as it looks.
Pork ribs slow cooked then finished on the grill. Accompaniments: sliced potatoes and onions grilled in a foil packet with a little butter and pepper; and cauliflower rolled in flour, egg washed, rolled in panko crumbs, then sauteed, served with feta, and mint fresh from the garden. Followed by greens fresh from the garden.
Enjoyed outside on a very pleasant evening.
Yum.