“Grilling, broiling, barbecuing - whatever you want to call it - is an art, not just a matter of building a pyre and throwing on a piece of meat as a sacrifice to the gods of the stomach.” ~ James Beard

BITE seems to have rolled around a bit more quickly this time, but no complaints here!  Our summer theme for this month was "Barbecue".  A perfect theme for a 90+ degree day!  I must confess that I'm getting pretty weary of the hot weather that we have had this summer - and there are a string of 90+ days still in the forecast.  

For our appetizers, Chris prepared two different dishes.  The first was Italian Flat Bread with Roasted Eggplant Spread, and the second was a Corn Dip (please see the BITE page for this recipe).

Delicious and right up my alley!  Served up with chips, I could see taking this to any cookout that I am invited to - fresh and cheesy!

Flatbread with roasted eggplant - I apologize for not getting a very good picture (nor did I get any decent picture of our beverages, strawberry lemonade and peach margaritas!)  The roasted eggplant was in turn tangy and with a bite - just delicious!

As host, Ellen prepared  Grilled Chicken Breasts with Spicy Peach Glaze, a delicious affair.  The sauce was the perfect accompaniment on a hot day!

I was in charge of the side dish and did Barbecue Baked Beans.  I deliberately chose a recipe that I could do in the crock-pot, not wanting to turn on my oven in this weather.  I must say that I was disappointed by this dish.  The only other time that I cook beans from scratch is when I make black bean soup.  In that case, I always soak the beans the night before.  I carefully checked this recipe and did not find instructions to do that.  Thinking that because they were going into the crock-pot for 8 hours, I decided that soaking them might cause them to be mushy.  I followed all of the directions and had everything in the pot and turned on low at 8:00 am.  By 2:00, with only two more hours till they were supposed to be done, the beans were still very firm.  I turned the pot up to high, and with dinner at 6:00, it was able to cook on high for a few more hours. The beans were definitely edible by that time, but I am glad that I got them started earlier.  Also - I was not all that keen on the flavor.  I will admit that when I serve beans at a cookout, I open a can of Bush's Baked Beans, doctor them up with a little bit of brown sugar and bacon, and call it done.  So - I am no bean connoisseur - but I like my quick beans better.  It's all part of the experience though - which makes trying new things worth it.

Lastly, Tierney made Blueberry Hand Pies.

Delicate, buttery crust with a firm, sweet blueberry filling - just delicious.  The taste of summer!

So - all in all - another BITE success on a warm summer's evening!  Next month it is my turn to host again, and in an attempt to continue with our summery themes in ths summery weather, I have chosen "Luau" as our theme.  I think that this lends itself to an endless variety of recipes to try - and drinks as well!  A Blue Hawaiian anyone?