My son Ben cooked dinner for us last night. He made a Mayan pork dish, spicy, but served it over brown basmati rice with a cool mango pico de gallo. It was delicious. Like Michael and me, Ben loves to cook and enjoys trying new recipes. He's especially into hot and spicy; he loves hot sauce and cooking with fresh hot peppers. We always have disposable plastic gloves handy for chopping and seeding peppers. Soon will be time to plant peppers in pots around the house so we'll have a handy supply.
Right now, most of our cooking plants are greens and herbs; we have lettuces of several varieties, spinach, flat-leaf and curly parsley, and thyme and rosemary. Onions, scallions, and chives are handy as well.
Sunday afternoon Michael cooked two chickens on the kettle grill; we salted and peppered them inside and out, then sprinkled on poultry seasoning, crushed rosemary, thyme, herbs de Provence, and Mrs. Dash. Two apple quarters stuffed inside the cavity meant they were ready to go on. Less than two hours later--delicious herbed chicken. The three of us ate a leg quarter and a wing each, and the rest was pulled off the bones for sandwiches and chicken salad; the carcasses were boiled down and strained to produce a quart and a half of rich broth that will become a soup.
We tried to get in touch with several different friends to make this a spur-of-the-moment dinner party, but I had waited too long and used Facebook instead of the telephone. We love having people over for dinner. Wine is usually a part of the deal as well. Add some homemade coleslaw, pickled beets, roasted sweet potatos right out of the skin, and iced tea with lots of lemon, and there is dinner, better than restaurant food unless you're willing to travel far and pay a lot.
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