Out of doors

Where have the last few weeks gone?  Oh, that's right.  They have been spent in the yard!  From yard work to gardening to landscaping to dining to soaking up the sun and petting the dogs for a few minutes, many hours have been spent out of doors and much has been accomplished.

I'll share more about the work later, but let's cut to the fun and the food for now.  To kick off the outdoor dining season, my sister came over for dinner and a bonfire.

We made our own ginger ale using seltzer water and ginger syrup and I improvised a risotto with what I had on hand.  Jessy is a very particular eater, so when I can cook a meal we both enjoy, it is a special thing.  Of course, I left the mushrooms, blue cheese and pine nuts as optional add-on toppings so as to not offend her supertaster mouth.  We followed up dinner with a fire.  It is nice to put the firepit to use as it takes up so much prime backyard real estate.

Paul was out of town when I had Jessy over, so it wasn't long before we had the grill out and Paul made us another outdoor dinner.  Portobella for me, some sort of fancy steak for Paul.  Paul tried out something new by grilling the asparagus on a cedar plank.  It imparted an interesting smoky, savory aspect to the fabulous local purple asparagus.  If we keep up this outdoor dining pace, I may find the time and energy to replace our hand-me-down plastic table with one of these.  We've been trying to find outdoor furniture we both like for 3 years and that table may be the one!

Some of the days where we had outdoor work planned had to be cancelled due to the large amount of rain and thunderstorms we have been having recently.  All of the rain has made the ground hard to work at times, but the positive part is that the Siberian Iris plants in the rain garden are happily in bloom. Their petals are so delicate and so full of detail.  I had to cut a few and bring them inside!