Memorial Day in Michigan.

Seasons are a funny thing around here. I basically spend all year waiting for summer to arrive, holing up in my apartment like a ground squirrel and refusing to come out until there's sun. And then, after months of huddling under scarves and hoods, summer comes sailing and whistling its way into an explosion of a fireworks in the sky. The calendar fills up, I'm too busy to make weekend breakfast, my car becomes caked in bug guts from driving on long stretches of road with the windows down and the music blasting, and finally -- finally! -- I can sit outside and breathe the fresh air and know that life is good, and summer is good, and food is always good.





Memorial Day is a beautiful thing. It's a perfect way to kick off summer activities, and I really don't think anyone can appreciate such a kick-off without suffering a long and miserable winter, first. And we've done that. So it's time to fire up the grill.




If possible, it's nice to spend the entire weekend celebrating the arrival of summer. At a lake house in Michigan. With very good people who like to eat very good food. I think you can always tell you're in good company by the food that's served at gatherings. On Saturday, we had burgers and brats on the grill. Sunday was grilled chicken and pulled pork wrapped in tortillas with lots of homemade salsa, along with stuffed peppers and a cheesy bean casserole.




You can't go wrong when the day starts with this...



...and ends with this:


Hello, summer.