Well, the party line answer is clearly both, and obviously for me too, there is enjoyment of the process and the results. I think that must be true for any gardener who is involved in the making of their own garden space and who isn't getting paid for doing it. But I find that as I get older and farther down the garden path, I would like to enjoy the results more, and I find that the process itself can sometimes be tedious, expensive, require too much patience, and overwhelming. So I am going to be brutally honest here -- while I enjoy the work of gardening to some extent, if I could hire more people to do more things for me and just enjoy the results myself, I would do it. The problem is that, for the most part, if you are a real plant geek like I am (and a whole lot of others who responded above), you can't really hire people to arrange plants for you in the way you want them. So there is a certain amount that you have to be involved with yourself. Being involved again in the creation of a new garden, and having left a mature one, I have to say that so far, I enjoyed the mature one more. The last few years I spent there I did work a lot in the garden still, of course, but the proportion of time spent just enjoying the garden was greater. That doesn't mean that I was sitting when I enjoyed it. It doesn't mean that I didn't pull a weed or two when I walked with a glass of wine in the evening. But after 20 years working on that space, the garden felt "finished" to a great extent. That doesn't mean that there would never be anything new. But the garden had a certain cohesiveness that is certainly lacking in my new garden. It also had as much seasonal interest as I could pack into 2/3 acre in my rotten climate. So, weather permitting, the garden always had moments of great beauty and enjoyment for me. But then again, I know that one of the reasons the garden meant so much to me is that I had spent 20 years making it. I had watched the trees, shrubs, perennials that I had planted get moved from one place to anohter (NAY he says, "I MOVED them from one place to another"...) until they finally found a place that they (and I) liked. Still garden making takes patience, and it is hard in the early stages not to want more results, with less work at garden making. I think that's one reason why, relatively speaking, I did not take many pictures of the new garden this year -- in the last year I was at my old place I took over a thousand, this year less than 100. A reflection that the garden was more about process than results, so far. One of the greatest times of garden enjoyment I ever remember in my old garden was after a big garden tour. The weeds were all pulled, the plants all relatively pristine (it was mid-June), the crowds were gone, my family and the dog were gone, the walks and drives all neat and clean, no cars or other distractions to be seen. Then I walked through and enjoyed my own garden, for a couple of hours, nobody but me and the hummingbirds and butterflies. One of the best times of garden enjoyment I ever had, along with very early foggy mornings and late summer evenings. Give me more of those, and less back-breaking work, any day....

We have a newer grill with infrared. Brand is Blaze. To get that good smoky flavor, we use the traeger smoker. Sad that you have to own two methods of cooking outside. Our Traeger is a pellet smoker, so you do get that good wood flavor, but we use it for slow cooking. Steaks must go on the other grill. Nope! It doesn't have lava rocks. Our previous one did, was built in, and was far superior to the new one here at this house. Sometimes I just want a regular charcoal grill. Even a hibachi I remember at our other house where we did have lava rocks, I would soak wood chips, wrap them in heavy duty foil, poke small holes in the foil, and they would release a lot of smoke. I forgot about that trick. Might try it on our Blaze tonight.

i don't enjoy making a potato salad but i certainly enjoy eating it! however, if you want something different and good, i do have a couple of T & T recipes posted by forum friends: Bruschetta Orzo Salad cindy ny 1 cup orzo pasta 2 tomatoes, chopped 1/2 cup chopped red onion 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil opt: kalamata olives, feta, tuna 3 T Balsamic vinegar 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 T olive oil Freshly ground pepper, to taste Cook pasta according to package directions for about 8 minutes, or until just tender; drain. Combine dressing ingredients. Place hot pasta in large bowl and toss with a little dressing; cool about 15 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add remaining ingredients and dressing to bowl and toss to mix well. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Serve chilled or at room temperature. White Bean Dip with Pita Chips -- Lori 1 (15-ounce) can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed 2 cloves garlic 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/3 cup olive oil, plus 4 tablespoons 1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves Salt Freshly ground black pepper 6 pitas 1 teaspoon dried oregano Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, and parsley in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the bean puree to a small bowl. (Note: The dip will turn green in a relatively short time due to the fresh parsley.) Cut each pita in half and then into 8 wedges. Arrange the pita wedges on a large baking sheet. Pour the remaining oil over the pitas. Toss and spread out the wedges evenly. Sprinkle with the oregano, salt, and pepper. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until toasted and golden in color. Serve the pita toasts warm or at room temperature alongside the bean puree. Spinach Brownies sheshebop 1 pkg. (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed 16 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded **I used 8 oz and that was plenty. 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking powder 1 cup flour 2 eggs, beaten 4 T. butter, melted 1 cup milk I also added 1/8 tsp nutmeg Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8 x 12 baking pan with cooking spray. Drain spinach in colander and squeeze out excess moisture. Combine cheese, spinach, and onion in large bowl. Mix. Stir salt and baking powder into flour and mix with the spinach. Mix eggs, butter, milk and stir into other ingredients. Pour into pan. Bake for 30 minutes Pizza Rustica (4 whole pies!) From Sue (Cookingrvc) 4 lb Whole-milk ricotta 1 C Grated Romano cheese 8 Large eggs 2 lb Whole-milk mozzarella -- cubed 1 Italian pinwheel sausage - plain -- cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces -- (Can use regular sausage - remove casing, cook in fry pan) 1 lb Genoa salami or Supresata -- sliced 1/4" thick, diced. 8 Hard-boiled eggs -- diced 8 Pie crust - deep dish -- 4 will be used for upper crust 1 Egg wash (1 Egg - beaten w/2 T. water) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thaw pie shells for 15-30 minutes. In a large mixing bowl (I use a Kitchen Aide mixer) add ricotta and grated cheese - mix well Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add mozzarella, pinwheel sausage, and salami - mix well. Fold in hard-boiled eggs. Divide filling among 4 pie shells. Cut the crimped edges off the remaining shells and invert over each filled pie shell. Be sure to cover all of filling. Cut 8 slits in each top crust. Brush crust with egg wash. Place in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 325 and cook for 45 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate. NOTES : The pie will taste salty straight from the oven. Flavors need time to mellow. Tastes best when cooled and refrigerated for 24 hours.

Teriyaki Sauce Lawry's Lemon Pepper marinade Italian dressing (plop a slice of swiss cheese to melt while the meat is resting - Yum!) Here's another good marinade: * 1/2 cup soy sauce * 1/2 cup cider vinegar * 4 tablespoons honey * 4 tablespoons vegetable oil * 2 green onions, minced * dash of red pepper flakes Put everything in a ziplock baggie and marinate for a couple of hours before grilling