In California , the weather is starting to normalize and that means eating outside! This is the time when many people — who haven’t done much cooking all year begin to dust off their recipe card files and cookbooks and get ready to make some family favorites. Baking season is known to start in October, but the barbecues and the smokers are already firing up and this is an entirely different kind of cooking!
For us this means making our own corned beef and pastrami, smoking a salmon or two and cooking various cuts of beef over hickory and mesquite. It is a good time.
Preparation means serving either buffet or family style. Personally, I like to have a separate table just for the food, iced down troughs for the beverages and wine on the table. It’s the old keep it simple system. Personally, home baked rolls ( baguettes) and pies help add some diversion too the meal. And what isn’t a barbecue without garlic bread and your favorite recipe for baked beans ( with a secret ingredient or two from the liquor cabinet)!
Here is a few of what I like to prepare!
So, with summer just around the corner… plan a picnic!