"Nonny" wrote in message
...

"Clot" wrote in message
news:8Ep_n.95962$9c1.93538@hurricane...


Indeed! This side of The Pond .... and at this latitude, strangely, we
find it preferable to cook indoors! Splattering is a consequence we have
to accommodate.

I understand. Here, the back yard is literally an extension of your home.
On many days of the year, with a heated pool, desert life includes a dip
in the pool while food is grilling on the cooker, followed by dinner at
the outdoor table and then a time unwinding in the hot tub or spa. This is
quite typical between March and November and if you skip the pool part,
the outdoor grilling and spa are year-round.

We're in a situation where we need a single story home, so one of the
considerations is an outdoor kitchen. The one we're considering has an
kitchen island by the pool with a grill, sink and dishwasher. If we buy
the house, I intend to add at least an oven and perhaps microwave as well.
It's not reasonable to bake things in an oven while the air conditioner is
huffing away, IMHO.

Nonny

I lived in Southern Louisiana during the 70's oilfield heyday. The locals
there had a "screen porch" which might be a totally free standing building
in the back yard. It was covered in screen, lest mosquitoes carry you away.
Or when there were a bazillion June bugs clinging to the outside screen. It
was electrified and plumbed, and was the scene of cooking, beer making,
butchering, deep frying, smoking, whatever caused a lot of smoke or smell or
mess in the house. Cooking islands, microwaves, stovetops, you name it,
someone had one in their screen porch. Many of these houses were quite
substantial in their equipment. They had great roofs on them, and many a
time, we sat there and deep fried fish or boiled a bunch of crabs of
crawfish as the rain came down in buckets, but we were safe and dry inside.
For many households it was a processing center for cleaning fish, or
butchering a pig and preparing all the stuff a pig produces. As you say, an
outdoor kitchen is a real delight, provided you live in a warm enough place.
It was a remnant of their past when food was butchered and processed in one
day because of the lack of refrigeration.

Ayeeeeeeeeee! Let's eat some crawfish!

Steve

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