This week began what will be several weeks in a row we have visitors.  My parents arrived on Wednesday and stayed through Saturday morning.  While I wasn’t able to stick to my normal routine including exercise and focusing a good amount of hours on Uncorked Ventures, it was an enjoyable week none-the-less.

Saturday morning marked the arrival of my sister.  She traveled to the bay area to attend a friend’s wedding while also fitting a good amount of time in to visit with me and my family.  With the excuse of my sister being  in town, I took it upon myself to light up the grill once again today.  The weather was perfect, somewhere in the mid-60s and the backyard is starting to take shape once again as the leaves are returning to many of my Japanese maples and other trees.  With the sound of the NCAA tournament in the background, I lit up the bbq in preparation for the three racks of baby-back ribs that were in need of some smokin’.

There are moments in time when all things seem perfect (or at least good enough) and for me, it happens to be when I am bbq’ing in my backyard.  Something about hot coals, being outside, and usually a tasty beverage in hand just puts my mind at ease and allows me to be in the moment.  Today was no different.

Besides the baby-back ribs, we were treated to a green bean pecan salad, middle-eastern couscous, grilled bread, a bottle of Turley zinfandel, and some homemade lemon bars.  We have a 30 – 40 year meyer lemon tree in our backyard that aides in the creation of wonderful lemon bars as well as incredible mojitos and margaritas.

All in all this has been a great week with today’s late lunch / early dinner being a nice way to cap it all off.

Take care.