Labor Day Weekend at Home and Away

It could have been a big party. The weather was perfect; both hot and dry with a great breeze in the woods. Throughout the week I kept thinking of more people to include but as the day neared, the list still hadn’t grown beyond its original and ideal occupants – Liz and John and Joe. We started with fresh cream of tomato soup (is there anything better?) and then ate our fill of grilled citrus-marinated chicken on skewers, Japanese eggplant, summer squash and pizza dough with rosemary and sea salt all prepared over a hardwood fire on our old workhorse Weber. Additional flames leapt from the fire pit and sparklers amused the kids. It was a great night to be outside and a melancholy end to summer.

All in all it was a mellow long weekend where time actually seemed to stretch a bit further than usual with an underlying theme of friends and fires. We enjoyed an evening beer with Rachel and Gardner and many girls around a roaring hibachi in Asbury and two kinds of pulled pork with corn on the cob cooked over a hand-built outdoor fireplace with Nancy, Dan, Andy and friends at home in Lebanon Township.

We left local comforts behind for a Sunday evening in the City with my wonderful, crazy-in-a-good-way friend Karen, husband Fran and kids, Annie and Jake, who were visiting from London. After roaming the Village from their hotel on St. Mark’s Place and through SoHo to the west side, we ended up at an old haunt and one of few still standing, the Ear Inn. We sipped wine on the sidewalk with a motley crew on folding chairs and enjoyed the wind off of the Hudson River before heading inside for burgers. The kids loved the seedy place, the tattooed and the pierced and found it “very New York.” Having been forewarned about the potential for conversation to turn to the earth’s demise in 2012, they also loved Karen. Thibault even declared her “cool” when we got in the car that night for the journey home.

It has been suggested that I include some simple recipes with my posts. I can do that, but please know that the measurements are loose and if I have to tighten them up I'll lose interest in this part of the blog entirely.

Marinated Chicken on Skewers adapted from Anna Pump's "Summer on a Plate"

• 4 lbs. boneless chicken thighs (I am way into chicken thighs right now) cut into large chunks
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 2 cloves mashed or minced garlic
• 2 Tbs. dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp. harissa or other hot sauce
• 1 tsp. sea salt

Mix all ingredients together for the marinade and pour over skewered chicken 15 mins. before grilling. Once the skewers are on the grill, reduce the marinade by 2/3. Drizzle this sauce over the chicken before serving. Don't ask me about the temperature or cooking time. My use of a grill is pretty intuitive. You'll know when they're done and if they're cooking too fast.

http://earinn.c0m/

http://www.jibjab.com/view/164564