Grilled Baby Zucchini

I'm still not really cooking. And for the same fairly lame reasons. Time, picky kids and all those other typical excuses. My shopping trips lately revolve around purchasing food that is healthy, cheap and very easy to prepare. Bananas fall into that category. So does wine.

On Saturday when we headed over to Theo and Emel's to welcome baby Sjor, I brought some wine, but I didn't feel like bananas were appropriate for a summer BBQ. Luckily I have also discovered the packages of baby zucchinis at Trader Joes. They are pre-washed and due to their 'babyish' nature, you don't even have to trim off the stem. It doesn't get any easier than that. Since this was a celebration, however, I decided to rally some of my old enthusiasm for new recipes and try a new marinade.

Slice about two pounds of zucchini in half and marinate with 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1/3 cup olive oil and salt. If you have some fresh herbs (not me!), you can throw those in too. Let them sit at room temperature few a few hours and then grill. And then hope that somebody else is cooking a giant leg of lamb!

Grilled Spareribs and Frozen Coconut Limeade

I have done a lot of eating this summer, especially in Lima, but I haven't done a lot of cooking. Between the travel, the park picnics and the unappreciative kids who would prefer plain pasta, it just isn't happening. I had plans over the 4th of July to try some new summer recipes, but between the parades, the parties and the beach, I was too wiped (just like Xavier apparently) But I did, however,  manage to get some boys to cook for me!

Peter made great pork spareribs based on a recipe I researched so I feel I can take some credit. And Ryan made frozen coconut limeade with rum from the Smitten Kitchen blog which I follow so I take credit for that too. Kind of a stretch?

Peter  had made ribs before many times but they never quite worked out. This recipe calls for using a dry rub, wrapping them in tinfoil and baking them at 250 for 3-4 hours. You then smear them with BBQ sauce and finish them on the grill. They were awesome with the coconut limeade which is like lighter, tart pina colada. Summer heaven!