The Great American Cookout

I don't know of many things that are more "American" than cookouts.  I have been giving it a lot of thought.  Now, I know that we Americans probably didn't just dream it up all on our own, but I know we do it well.  Spring is a great time for cooking out.  The thing is, even here on a base in the middle of the desert, we cook out.  I have been to the Air Force living area a couple of times for farewell cookouts, but in the past 2 weeks, I have been invited to a couple more.  They were totally voluntary-and very fun.

The first was 2 weeks ago and there were several people from my step aerobics class getting together.  I was invited and decided it would be nice to get away from the usual suspects.  One guy dreams of opening a BBQ place one day.  The food was fantastic.  It was nice to take a break from the norm and spend a couple of hours just hanging around talking.

Last Sunday, a woman who works for my company, but not with me, invited me over.  She had people who backed out at the last minute and I got lucky.  I didn't have to bring anything.  I showed up just as it was getting dark.  There were only 4 of us there, but it was a perfectly lovely evening.  The temperature was perfect.  She made potato salad with food repositioned from the d-fac.  It was so good.  As I was sitting there enjoying the crazy stories from life as a contractor, I was thinking about how nice it was to escape the norm.

It seems that there are many people around base who have been cooking out since the weather improved.  This is the perfect time of year.  It is warm during the day-I don't dare say hot because every single time I do, I am reminded that the hot hasn't started yet-and very comfortable in the evenings.  The chill the evening/night brings is no longer in the air.  I like going for a walk at dusk and smelling all of the delicious food people have on their grills.  It seems like such a simple thing, but for a little bit of time, we can forget we are surrounded by T-Walls, barbed wire and fried catfish and simply enjoy the evening with good food and friends.  Happy Grilling.  Love, M.