Balcony Bar-B-Que

Our new residence has two balconies which is a very useful feature to us. The smaller balcony, which is off of our living room, we use for our deep freezer (the other one has no outlet) and we also have a large wooden shelf for all of my tools and storage etc. We rarely go out on that one except when we need something.

The other balcony, which is much larger, has two sliding doors; one coming from our dining room and the other off of my office. The only things we have on that one is a bench, a small table and our bar-b-que. There is an empty lot overlooking our balcony, full with trees and foliage which diffuse a lot of the noise from the busy road and the navy base on the other side. At night we hear dear rummaging around in the bushes and during the day there are squirrels and birds galore. We go out there every morning to sit and have our coffee -- it's beautiful. It is mostly covered so we can sit out there comfortably when it's raining. I have a couple of planters and plan to have some flowers to brighten it up a bit. The nice thing is that it doesn't get direct sunlight until about three o'clock in the afternoon so it stays cool on hot days. It is a perfect spot, a sanctuary, to sit and visit and forget that we live near the city.

Because the balcony is so big and is located near our kitchen, it makes the perfect spot for cooking on the bar-b-que and we try to do that as much as possible. Our grill is nothing fancy and very old but it does the trick. We can fit just enough food for our family on it at one time, although if we have company we usually have to do some cooking indoors as well.

The best thing to cook on the bar-b-que, I think, is steak. When they are grilled just right, seared and flipped only once, they are tender and juicy, practically melting in your mouth. Our whole family likes their steaks cooked on the rare side so that makes it easy. A bit of HP sauce, some salad and potatoes, maybe a vegetable, and we have a quick and simple gourmet meal. I like to cook other things on the grill like salmon, burgers and smokies, chicken and ribs. All of these are delicious but steak will always be my favorite!