by Kelly Pickerill

It’s summertime and we live in Mississippi. Growing up in Florida, I always assumed it was the hottest state; I mean, it’s that part of the U.S. that sticks out at the very bottom — tourists pose for photos at the southernmost point of the country in Key West — so doesn’t that mean it’s the most sweltering? Then I went to college in Arkansas, and was introduced to the heat of the landlocked south. Oh man. The other day after work I got in my car and the temperature read 104 degrees.

It’s not all bad. Summer in Mississippi also means picnics at the reservoir, sitting on the porch in the evenings with a good book, and the smells of cut grass and watermelon and smoking grills. For those of us coping with the heat, we know there are a few tricks to stay cool. At my house, the one room that never cools off is the kitchen. If I use the stove at all, it will take several hours to cool back down. To keep the heat out, we’ve been grilling quite a bit lately, and I’ve been collecting grilling cookbooks.

My favorite so far is the Chronicle book Grill Every Day.  We grilled chicken last night, and while I was at the store picking up salad stuff I saw that Mississippi corn was on sale, so I grabbed a bunch of ears and was excited to throw them on the grill too. I hadn’t ever grilled corn in the husk before, and my roommate was skeptical that it wouldn’t go well, so I looked it up in my cookbook.  I’m glad I did, cause if I would have just thrown the husks on like I was originally going to do, I probably would have set the corn on fire. Not only were there instructions for how not to start a husk fire (soak the corn in water), but also there were great ideas for sauces to put on the corn.

We also have Robert St. John’s New South Grilling, a must-have for all Mississippians who like to grill. He has several pizza recipes that I’m excited to try this summer. In the winter, we make pizza from scratch and bake it, and the heat the oven generates is welcome. In the summer, we have to find new ways to make it, because it’s still the best food ever. We haven’t perfected the art of the pizza on the grill — in fact, we burnt one — but I think it’ll just take practice, mainly in figuring out the amount of coals to make it just the right temperature.

So stay cool this summer, enjoy your Cathead Vodka on the porch, and make Mississippi smell delicious.

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