Outdoor Grilling and Summer Fun

Birds chirping at all hours, nearly 24 hours of daylight, and mosquitoes buzzing around our ears, yep summer has come to Interior Alaska.  It’s almost impossible to believe that only last Sunday the birch trees had just budded and I pulled the taps, and now they are fully leafed out and the grass is greening up.  Even after all these years of living here, it still amazes me how quickly we go from brown to green every summer.  We celebrated summer’s glorious arrival with a camping trip and hike.  

 

We hiked our favorite trail, the Angel Rocks trail, an uphill climb with wonderful views at the top.  The kids start talking about hiking this trail before the snow has actually melted, so when we finally make the hike, it signals that summer has truly arrived. 

 We took Bailey who is 12 weeks old now, she was wiped out and needed a rest at the top, but recovered quickly and was ready for more when we headed back down.  

This time of year I move from my comfort foods of soups and baked casseroles, to craving lighter fresher foods.  One of our favorite family summer meals is shish kabob’s.  The weather has been beautiful, perfect for outdoor dining, so we brought everything outside and made them there at the table then cooked them on the grill.  I love any meal that the kids get involved in making, each can build theirs exactly the way they want them.  

Shrimp Kabobs

Marinade shelled shrimp for at least 30 minutes in:

 Juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp of sugar

2 tbsp of soy sauce

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 garlic clove pressed

And grated fresh ginger to taste

Any veggies you like – we had on hand red onion, red pepper, zucchini and pineapple 

Soak bamboo skewers in water or use metal skewers, alternate shrimp and veggies and fruit on skewers as you like.  Brush with marinade, grill 3-5 minutes on each side until shrimp is pink.  Serve with brown rice.

 

I also had some asparagus that needed to be eaten so I tossed it with some olive oil, salt and pepper and grilled it too.