Last night's dinner and how to grill corn on the cob

We have some more chicken and corn to make, but this time we are doing a different marinade on it (BBQ rub and olive oil) and instead of steaming the corn we are grilling the whole cobs. To make grilled corn on the cob, remove the husk and silk, rinse and remove any additional silk from the ears. Soak the corn in water for 15 minutes, making sure cobs are completely covered. Remove cobs from the pot and shake off any excess water, brush ears with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, roll in aluminum foil. Place the wrapped cobs on the grill and turn frequently allowing the cobs to be over direct heat for about 5 minutes. Then remove cobs to an indirect heat source (or cooler edge of the grill, cover and allow to cook for another 10-15 minutes, when an individual kernel pierces easily the cobs are done. Serve with a light coating of butter and enjoy! We are also making s'mores over the grille for dessert, a s'more (for those who may not know) is a lightly toasted marshmallow, placed on a graham cracker with a piece of chocolate and then topped with another graham cracker. I remember having them for the first time as a Girl Scout (I had only ever had toasted marshmallows before) and it was a revelation to me. I literally thought it was the best dessert ever!

Last night's dinner was pizza, delicious veggie topped pizza. A tip on covering your pizza with veggies, pre-cook them in a separate pan. The veggies (especially mushrooms!) give off a ton of water as they cook and can make your pizza unappetizingly soggy. Also, chopping those veggies into small pieces makes them more easily eaten, larger pieces tend to slide off the slice. Broccoli can be lightly steamed and then chopped small to make a delicious pizza topping, especially on a white pizza. Another great pizza variation is to try a roasted bell pepper sauce instead of the usual tomato sauce on top of the pizza, yummy and fairly easy to do. Simply blacken a red bell pepper under the broiler of an oven, over the open flame of a gas burner, or on an outdoor grill, cover it with wax paper (loosely) after grilling and then remove the blackened outer skin, and seeds, Chop the pepper into rough pieces, throw it into the blender with salt, pepper, roasted garlic and sauteed onion and hit mix to combine, slowly drizzle in some olive oil (as if you were making an emulsion) and use in place of tomato sauce on pasta, on pizzas or even in lasagna!

Friday: No Fish!

No Fish Friday this week, but we did have a very nice night. Our daughter's softball team celebrated a very successful and fun season with a picnic, wiffle ball game (parents versus kids) and a projector showing of "A League of Their Own". It was an awesome party!

It was a potluck; I brought watermelon and s'more fixings.

Potluck Menu:

Fried Chicken
Hamburgers
Hotdogs
Grilled onions
Grilled mushrooms
Macaroni and Cheese
Baked beans with apple chunks (delicious)
Homemade hummus and carrot sticks
Spinach artichoke dip and crackers
Chips and onion dip

The grilled mushrooms and onions were delicious and made possible by a flat cast iron skillet on the grill, they basically sizzled in the run off of fat from the hamburgers. Everything everyone brought was absolutely delicious. After we all ate dinner and played wiffle ball for awhile we made s'more as the sun set, when it was dark we went up to watch the movie and have some popcorn. We didn't get home until midnight, but the kids (even the toddler) held up and were very happy.

A return to Fish Friday next week!