Column from September 2, 2010

A final farewell to summer

Summer doesn’t officially end until Sept. 23, but the unofficial end is this coming weekend.

Labor Day is often considered the weekend when we begin getting ready for winter. School is back in session, the weather is cooling down, many families and friends have a final barbecue get-together and those shorts and Ts are sorted and packed away until next year.

It’s also a good time to reflect back to see if you had a good summer. For me, it seemed to go by so fast this year.

However, I did have the opportunity to do lots of fun things. There was a great camping trip to Madras, Ore., several pleasant Saturday and Sunday drives, I finished a few writing projects I had been working on, I read tons of great books and we had some good food using our new barbecue grill.

I also found quite a few new tasty recipes and I had the chance to share them with you through this column.

I feel very fortunate to be able to write Table Scraps. It’s lots of fun and I especially enjoy the comments I receive that tell me people are reading it. I would love to feature more of your recipes, so if you’re willing to share some of your favorites, send them to me at reading_frenzy@yahoo.com.

September is already looking like it’s going to be a very busy month with activities planned every weekend, including my daughter’s wedding on Sept. 17 in Eugene, Ore. It means we’ll be missing part of the fair this year, but we’ll be able to spend a day or two at the fairgrounds before we head south.

We also have a final camping trip planned. That means I’ll have to come up with some easy meals that don’t take a lot of preparation. I’d much rather enjoy being outdoors than stuck at the campsite cooking.

Here’s a fun recipe that is quick and easy. You can prepare some of the ingredients – such as cutting up the pieces and mixing the sauce – ahead of time.

It’s enough for four people and can be easily doubled if you are feeding more.

Sweet barbecue chicken kabobs

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces

2 cups 1-1/2 inch fresh pineapple chunks

1 each: red and green pepper, cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks

½ cup plain barbecue sauce

3 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Using eight long wooden skewer (two, side-by-side, for each kabob), thread chicken alternately with pineapple and peppers onto skewers to make four kabobs.

Mix barbecue sauce and juice concentrate; brush some of the sauce mixture onto kabobs.

Grill 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, turning and brushing occasionally with remaining sauce mixture.

Note: Soak wooden skewers in water 30 minutes before using. Wrap ends with foil before grilling to help prevent them from burning.