Things have been quiet around the site for a few reasons. One is that my son is out of school for the summer so I don’t get a lot of contiguous time in front of the computer without the constant, “Mommmm! What can I do??!!” ringing through the house.

The other major reason is this is the state of my kitchen at the moment:

I set up a makeshift kitchen in my garage. I have my grandfather’s butcher block which I’ve designed into the layout of the new kitchen but for now it’s being stored and used as my prep area. I have my 2-burner Coleman propane camp stove which really does kinda kick butt as far as heat output. I have my appliances, my toaster oven, even a functioning dishwasher and my BBQ. So it’s really been working out quite well.

I’ve been posting pictures of my #outstandinginthegarage meals on twitter but just haven’t had the time to post here.

One thing I rediscovered when packing up my pantry was the jar of preserved lemons I made and never opened. I now know my favorite way to eat zucchini: grilled and topped with parsley and preserved lemon.

My first garage meal was grilled ribeye, grilled zucchini w/ parsley and preserved lemon and a salad:

The I got a little more creative and made Petrale Sole en papillote, quinoa salad, grilled fennel and onion.

And then I went back to the summer barbecue theme with Chili beer sausage, potatoes and zucchini.

All in all it hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be but it’s only been a week and we have 7 more weeks to go!!