Man salad.  This is a salad that a man could love, not some frilly girly salad.

It features steak, the flavors of buffalo wings, and fried onions.

According to hubby, the fried onions add just the right touch of “unhealthy” to make it enjoyable to eat a salad for dinner (and the baby spinach provides enough nutrition to make up for it).

He was thrilled with the flavors and textures, and pronounced it a satisfying all-in-one dinner.

Yes, I said shredded brisket tacos recipe.  You make it in the crockpot and it’s amazing.  If you’re trying to beat the summer heat, just pop the crockpot on the back porch.  The recipe works equally well with any cheap roast (pork or beef), so use what’s on sale.

This is brisket y’all.  Since I can still buy a big hunk (35 pounds) of brisket for 99cents a pound, I’m going with brisket.

In Texas, that normally means one thing… getting lovingly rubbed with herbs and spices and then sloooowly smoked for hours as the meat is transformed into Texas Bar B Que.

You can always judge a good bbq’d brisket by the line of pink (almost red) that marks the smoke penetration in the meat, the crispy top (bark), and the delicious melt-in-your-mouth goodness that doesn’t even need sauce.  (But I put sauce on there anyway, because I want to.)

But sometimes, I manage to sneak some of that lovely brisket meat to use in other ways.

This is about three pounds of brisket meat.  If you’re worried about all the fat, the by all means cut it off.  Or, leave it on and then drain all the liquid at the end of cooking (before you shred the meat).

I will get a dozen servings off of this one tiny hunk of meat.

I love this grilled pineapple salsa recipe.  It’s one of our favorite summer treats when we’re grilling.  It works surprisingly well for anything from tacos to Thai food.

It takes about five minutes from package to table if you start with pre-cut pineapple spears (or circles) from the grocery store.  I love dishes that are amazingly simple to prepare but impressive enough for company.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa Recipe:

Tomato Basil Goat Cheese Bruschetta is one of my absolute favorite things about summer. Either this or Caprese Salad makes it onto our summer menu at least twice a week.

Get your hands on some fresh, sun ripened tomatoes.  I used cherry tomatoes cut into quarters, but you could use whatever you’re growing.

Shhh…. I’m about to share my Secret Celery Dip Recipe.  Don’t tell anyone.  I promised to keep it a secret.

This was given to me with strict instructions to never ever share it.

(you know what i’m going to do, don’t you.)

I grew up eating my family’s homemade apple butter.

My mom, aunt, and grandmother would all take turns making a huge batch of the stuff and then sharing the results between the three families.  They would make it in the oven, using the big black oval turkey roasting pan.

Growing up, I called it the “apple butter pan” and genuinely thought it was a special pan just for making apple butter.

There was kind of running contest to see who could get the thickest batch without actually burning anything.  As an adult, I occasionally get a jar of apple butter when my mom or aunt decides to make it.  I hide the jar in the back of the refrigerator and almost refuse to share with my husband or kids.   In my mind, there’s something incredibly special about the pairing of fresh baked bread with homemade apple butter.

I finally got to join in the tradition.