What better way to invite our family, friends and neighbors over to see our beautiful gardens than to host a cookout? Our anemones, astiibes, coneflowers, grasses, hostas, lilies, roses, sedums, vines and more are blooming abundantly. My honeysuckle vine is covered with flowers that the hummingbirds feast from daily. Remember that green is a color, too. Ferns, for example, add texture and after the peonies are done, the remaining plant looks like hearty bush with glossy foliage. Let’s give “green” some credit for its contribution to the beauty of our gardens.
Mike Mills is one of the greatest barbecue cooks of all time. Kent and I had the pleasure of meeting him while dining at the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, close to Southern Illinois University, when visiting our sons who were students there. 17th Street is so well known that when Bill Clinton’s trip to Illinois was cut short, Mike and his staff were summoned to bring dinner to him aboard Air Force One at a nearby airport. Mike’s awards are so numerous that his nickname in the word of barbecuing is simply, “the legend.” No capitals, reflecting the humble guy from Southern Illinois that he remained until his recent death in 2020.
Mike and his daughter, Amy, have included recipes for everything we would want to serve at our cookouts- appetizers (My Sister Jeanette’s Deviled Eggs), soups and salads (Mike’s Steamy, Spicy Chili), side dishes (Shout Hallelujah Potato Salad), main dishes (The Perfect Sandwich), barbecue (Apple City Barbecue Grand World Champion Ribs) and desserts (Watermelon Ice Cream with Chocolate Seeds) as well as sauces, rubs, beverages and recipes that use barbecue (17th Street Tangy Pit Beans).
I’m craving barbecue just writing about it!
This cookbook as well as Mike and Amy’s second cookbook – “Praise the Lard: Recipes and Revelations from a Legendary Life in Barbeque” have transformed the Krueger cookouts. We can purchase some of 17th Street barbecue sauces at Whole Foods on 75th Street.
