Spring has come! First BBQ of this year!!

I have been waiting for this! After a long cold winter, it seems like spring is finally here! The weather was so nice on Sunday and also yesterday, it made me feel so happy! I can smell the spring in the air. Everybody looked so happy and walking around everywhere. It was like "Where were all there people during the winter? " On such a wonderful day, I really appreciate that I am alive and healthy.

I think there is a strong correlation between the weather ( also temperature) and people's mood. At least, it affect me a lot. Just smelling the spring in the air makes my body and soul jumpy :-)

When the weather is nice and warm, what would you do? Yes, you guessed it. "BBQ!!!" Since we bought a new propane the other day, we decided to enjoy the first BBQ of the year.

BBQ is something very luxurious for me because I did not get to do BBQ much when I was in Japan. In Japan, many people lives in a tiny apartment (especially Tokyo) so many people don't have back yard or BBQ set. If you want to BBQ, you have to go the rivers or mountains which has space. As much as it is nice to have BBQ by the river or in the mountain, it is also great to have the convenience of doing BBQ right at your home. I think many people take BBQ for granted because they grew up with it but for me, this is great luxury to have.

Anyway, so BBQ make me very happy. Normally, we BBQ hotdog and hamburger and stuff like that but this time we had Chicken Kebab and Ground Beef Kebab since I am into Middle Eastern Food lately. I made Chicken Kebab using this recipe book which I borrowed from a library.




It seems like Chicken Kebab is called Shish Taouk. It was simple marinade with lemon, garlic and olive oil but it was really delicious!

I think this will be a regular for our BBQ from now on.







For Ground Beef Kebab, I used this Kabab mix which I had at home.

It got lots of different kind of spices in this mix. As directed, I added some chopped onion and green chilies.

Then I shaped small meat balls.

The other day, I have purchased this kebab skewers so I gave it a try. These are huge skewers and it looks almost like a sword. It is flat so that makes easy to stick meat around.

Put the meat around the skewers like this and ready to BBQ!

The photo is a big blur but it looks very good with flames and all.

BBQ completed.

I sprinkled something called "smack" on half of the chicken. This is something I bought in a Middle Eastern grocery store. It has some lemony flavor and it goes great with chicken. I am not sure what kind of plant this was made of...

I also made Basmati rice. I added some saffron but I think it was too little so the color did not come out well.

Pita bread is store bought.

My husband made his favorite cilantro sauce. This time, it tasted a bit too green but it was good. We make it differently every time so you never know how it will come out.

Our Arabian night was a success. I love making these flavorful BBQ. Well, the ground beef kebab kind of fall off the grill (some of them) and it was a bit dry so I need to improve this. Probably because I forgot to add Ghee and did not rest it for three hours as directions suggested. I will make it right next time. The weather will be better and better from now on and I have a whole spring and summer to make it right!

I think it will be nice to invite some friends over and have this kind of BBQ again. I would love to try making some Falafel and Hummus when we have get together :-) Oh, I love summer! (/spring)