From the grill

Eastside Road, April 3, 2015—

CALIFORNIA IS IN SERIOUS drought, as surely all the world knows; April has barely begun, but it feels like summer — the afternoons are long, and the early evenings still warm. Well, let's make the best of it.

One nice thing about all the fruit trees we have: pruning them every year yields plenty of wood for the grill. I crumple a sheet of newsprint to tuck under the fire-starting can, set a pine cone and a few sticks in it, and one match soon produces what you see here.

When the flames have died down, leaving a bed of red-hot coals, I lay some spring onions on the grill — Cook's prepped them, slicing them lengthwise, and I've sprinkled them witl olive oil and salt.

The sausages are from Franco Dunn, Healdsburg's reliable salumi expert, and they cook nicely over wood. I poke each one four or five times with the point of a knife, grilling the unpoked side first. In the meantime Cook steams some broccoli, and washes some delicious little carrots to eat raw. I make the vinaigrette for the green salad. A delicious dinner, and hardly any dishes to wash…

Cheap Pinot grigio

☛Restaurants visited in 2015 are listed at Eatingday's Restaurants