Lake Life



Since I was three, our family cottage in northern Michigan has been part of my summers. Now my sister, brother, and I are the third generation of care takers for this little slice of heaven. While some people may take valium or prozac, all I have to do is visualize the view of the lake to get calm when I feel stressed . Certain smells bring it immediately into my consciousness - mint grows along the rocky shoreline and the constant breeze is so clean and fresh. Spending so much time outside makes everyone extra hungry, but I'm too busy relaxing to spend a lot of time and effort it put together a meal. The temperatures here this summer have been warmer than I can ever remember, so grilling and microwaving seem to be a better alternative to heating up the tiny kitchen. Caroline was able to take a few days off to join us, and she and I had a lot of fun experimenting with Mexican "pizza" appetizer and perch on the grill. Later, the extra fixings were spiced up to make some jazzed chili dogs.

We misted heavy duty foil with cooking spray and placed the tortillas on it.

 

 After about four minutes, we flipped them over and put salsa, corn, black beans, tomatoes, and cheese on each.

We closed the cover until the cheese was melted and then enjoyed.

Uncle David is a master of coming up to the lake and grilling salmon on a plank, but Caroline and I had to settle on grilling fish on foil! We prepped the perch with lemon and butter and grilled it skin side up for three minutes. Then we flipped it over, sprinkled some dill on it, and grilled it four more minutes. It flaked easily with a fork and went well with a little cucumber dill sauce. This easy condiment is a combination of 1/2 cup of mayonaise, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 teaspoon dill, and about 1/4 cup chopped and seeded cucumber (skin left on for color).

While grilling some hot dogs,the extra fixings for the Mexican "pizza" were combined in a bowl, along with a can of tomato sauce, a couple teaspoons of Tex/Mex seasoning blend (7/13/11), and some left over taco meat I had saved in the freezer (You could use frozen browned ground beef if you had some stored away in a zip lock bag). I zapped it in the microwave until hot, then spooned some over each hot dog and topped it off with cheddar cheese.



It was yummy!