What’s a long weekend if you can’t enjoy the wondrous bounty that the good Lord provides for us?  Special weekend means special menu for us.  Let’s see, to start the weekend off on Friday night, we had a hot turkey dinner with mashed herbed cauliflower/potato mix and spaghetti squash.  You have to have dessert after that, so I made some raspberry/almond tarts (from the fresh raspberries in our garden, of course) served with a scoop of soy vanilla ice cream.  Saturday has been a relaxed menu, but the day started early.  The  man of the house was up early to get the smoker going so we could do a 12 hr Texas smoked brisket.  So the day started out with GF (gluten free – because it makes the BEST pancakes ever!) blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup and scrambled eggs, delicious coffee is a must, of course.   Lunch was quite awhile later, and started out with a 1/2 pita each – he chose greek-seasoned chicken salad, hummus and greek salad but I went for hummus, deli ham and gouda cheese.  Odd combo, I know, but boy did it taste good!  It was necessary to try one of the raspberry tarts from Friday to make sure they were still good – and they were!

Sometimes relaxing can be the hardest job there is when you’re used to working non-stop.  It was a tough day for the man of the house: gardening, picking berries, tending the smoker, talking to the cat and napping in between.  Oh, and he took the hose to the windows for a summer washing too!  Beautiful weather, beautiful time to spend just enjoying the garden and puttering.  Really, isn’t that what a long weekend is for?  But back to the menu, which is the most important part, of course and what ties everything together.  A mid-afternoon snack was absolutely necessary.   Thai shrimp summer salad rolls were perfect:  shrimp, veggies, avocado all rolled in a soft rice paper wrapper with Thai dipping sauce.  Perfect for a summer afternoon and totally different from everything else.

The day goes on, more gardening, more napping, more tending the smoker…cocktail time came oh so soon!  What could be better than sitting on the deck on a perfect summer afternoon, sipping a fruity rum cocktail with fresh mint from the garden and wondering why you would ever spend time doing anything else?

The smoked brisket still had a way to go when it seems like it should be dinner time, so we opted for tapas instead – also our favourite summer dinner!  We threw a head of garlic on the smoker to get it smokey and spreadable soft, while I threw together some toasted homemade baguette, smoked salmon, soft goat’s cheese spread, olives, smoked red peppers, green pepper strips, marinated & fresh cucumbers and, of course, slices of fresh tomato.  A rose wine went perfectly with this Mediterranean feast.

We decanted some homemade raspberry wine that has aged beautifully to enjoy for the weekend and watched the evening arrive. By the time it started to get dark, the brisket was almost done, but not quite.  It’s finishing off in the oven now and will be even more enjoyable tomorrow!  In the meantime, we’ve had a great day, terrific and healthy food.  Can’t wait for tomorrow!  How about you?