So my cousin is pretty much amazing. She is absolutely adorable. Gorgeous, funny, and very smart.

The unexpected part, though, is that my cousin is really into meat. In fact, she is a graduate student in the Meat Sciences program at the University of Georgia. It is absolutely hilarious to see this beautiful, sweet girl talk about slaughtering animals, different cuts of meat, and her research projects.

But the best part is that we get to sample some of the fruits of her labor. The school sells their cuts of meat every Friday afternoon – and she brings us some of her projects that are not for sale, as well!

This is an example of the latter. This is a Greek sausage that the graduate students made. We grilled some last week, and they were amazing! For more great meat info and tips, check out my cousin’s blog: The Meat Lady.

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Another veggie that screams “spring is here!” to me is yellow squash. We get all sorts of heirloom varieties of squash from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)* farm, and it’s always an adventure trying to figure out how to cook them. But there’s nothing better than keepin’ it simple with some salt, pepper, and olive oil – and then letting the grill do its thang. Wonderfully sweet and smoky, these grilled slices of squash are the perfect side for any summer meal.

*No worries if you are not familiar with CSAs, because I will be doing a very detailed post on our very own CSA in May! We get baskets of fresh fruits and veggies from a local farm once a week all through the growing season. Look for a post around Mother’s Day – that’s when their harvesting season kicks off.