Bone-in pork loin chops, first marinated in a brown sugar, vinegar and soy marinade, then grilled and brushed with a pepper jelly glaze to finish. Shown here with my chargrilled corn and grilled veggies.

Grilled Pork Chop with Pepper Jelly Glaze

Everybody around the country who gets snow in the winter waits for the summer ritual of opening up their patio grill, but we grill all year round in the Deep South and honestly, summers here are really our least favorite time for grilling. Oh we do it, but it's hotter than hot, and not super pleasant.

Now that I have a nice, shady covered patio with a ceiling fan though, it's made a huge difference, and I have sure been working my grills around here! I think I've grilled more this last year than I did in years at my old house. Grilling is fast, easy and doesn't heat up the kitchen - which is a bonus in this summer heat. I've even baked on my Traeger pellet grill {affil link} instead of using my oven! But... for me, there is one issue.

 

Frozen chunks of watermelon stand in for ice cubes in this refreshing lemon-lime frozen watermelon slush.

Frozen Watermelon Slush

Here we go, another southerner whining about the heat, but frankly y'all, it's been unbearable for me this summer and it doesn't seem to get any easier as the years go by.

Part of blogging on a full-time basis, means that you work from home, and I tell ya, it's gets mighty comfortable here in more ways than one, air conditioning certainly being one of them.

A homestyle gravy, made with a flour roux, bacon drippings and broth or water here, or for a creamy version, use milk. Shown served over a baked pork tenderloin and rice.

Bacon Gravy

Sunday I made a pork tenderloin. You know the ones - the packages of pre-seasoned pork loins that you literally don't have to do a thing to except pop in the oven or on the grill? Yeah, that's the one. My mother in law picks them up on sale from Winn Dixie all the time and the Cajun happened to comment how good one was when we were over there one Sunday. Lo and behold, next thing I knew she was sending him home with a couple. I told y'all, she's like that!

 

A hot pork BBQ dip, made easy with leftover pulled pork.

Hot BBQ Pulled Pork Dip

Summer means BBQ and one of the biggest BBQ holidays of the summer is just around the corner - Independence Day! It's one of my favorite holidays with time spent with friends and family and festivals galore along the Gulf Coast the entire weekend.

For those of us who live here, it often means time spent on the boat out and on the barrier islands, followed by backyard cookouts with all of our favorite summertime foods and songs like Lee Greenwood's classic "God Bless the U.S.A.," droning in the background.