Broccoli with our dinner

I haven't written about dinner or new dishes we've tried lately.

Lately, we haven't tried new dishes. I haven't written about dinners we've had.

We've eaten dinner, but lately haven't tried anything new.

It's clear as mud now, right?

I told you we had hot dogs Wednesday night. It turns out it was National Hot Dog Day!

Thursday night I had our Quota summer celebration.

Last night we had B.L.T.'s and corn on the cob. You know that is my favorite combo/summertime dish.

Tonight we had brats and… I made cornmeal broccoli cakes.

It was like a pancake, with cornmeal and flour. It had eggs and baking powder in it. It had a little bit of milk. And, it had cooked broccoli. Except Bill grilled it. So it was grilled broccoli. But it was still cooked. Just on the grill.

I'll stop now.

We had these broccoli cakes. The recipe said it makes 4 servings. Apparently a serving was eight cakes. I made them into pretty good size cakes. Seriously, it made almost two dozen cakes.

I know, my math is incorrect.

They were really good. They were different, but tasty.

Oh, we topped them with goat cheese and crumbled bacon, of course! I also chopped up fresh herbs (oregano, parsley, and thyme) and sprinkled those on top for flavor.

I hope we liked them because we'll be eating them for the next few days.

In a bun or on a stick

Welcome to 2014 where it costs money in fancy, ritzy hotels to use wifi. Except in the lobby. But because you're in a fancy, ritzy hotel everyone stares at you in disgust because you're blatantly using the free wifi in the lobby.

I got over it, but didn't have time to write. Convention ended with our Installation Banquet which was a lovely event as always. Our new president is Karen Murphy from Australia. Convention 2016 is in Brisbane. I'm going to start saving my pennies so I can go.

Speaking of pennies, I found a nickel on the street in Cincinnati. Yes, I still stop and pick up any change I see.

Did you know today is National Hot Dog day? I heard that on the radio today (although for all I know it was a playback from yesterday). Bill and I celebrated by eating hot dogs for dinner. The more important part of the story is that I grilled them. And they weren't burnt. They were also hot all the way through.

I'm not known for my grilling. The one other time I grilled anything it was burgers (at a friend's house) and I cooked them until they were leather. That has been the extent of my grilling experience. This is the reason why I'm so ecstatic that I cooked hot dogs successfully.

I don't think I'll continue grilling regularly, I'll leave that in Bill's hands. But I do feel as though I accomplished something.

Everything but the ribs...

Dinner tonight was all homemade.

Everything that is except for the ribs.

What did we have?

A salad with lettuce picked from our garden plot and dressing made from scratch. The dressing is light; made with mayo, lemon juice, olive oil and a few other ingredients that make it perfect for summer.

The croutons were also homemade. I frequently buy Italian-style bread at Meijer for croutons. If I don't use it right away, I freeze it. Then I pull it out when I want to make croutons. Of course it's best when you can let the bread sit for a day or two before making croutons out of it. The older the bread, the better the croutons.

The tomatoes and olives were from the store. But we are growing tomatoes in the garden so we'll have homegrown ones soon enough.

I made my slightly famous beer-battered onion rings. They are always good, but tonight they were especially good.

Then there were the ribs.

In case you hadn't noticed; most of the food wasn't homemade. We didn't grow the onions, grind the flour, or brew the beer. But nothing came preassembled, so we're calling it homemade.

Back to the ribs. Bill made his special dry rub. Then he made his special sauce. We call it, "Bold Bill". It's not too hot (as in spicy), but it starts out sweet and gives a little kick at the end. It is delicious. Together, the rub and the sauce, make these ribs superior to anything I've ever had.

That is saying something. After all, I am the girl who, at her Junior Prom, wore white gloves and ordered a full rack of ribs at dinner. I didn't spill a drop.

I know ribs. Don't worry, next time you come visit, there's a good chance we'll make them for you.