It's been another brutally hot and dry weekend here in Flyover Land. For dinner tonight, I decided to try my hand at barbequeing fish...salmon to be precise. The results were spectacular, to put it unhumbly. Missus BH made a simple marinade of fresh basil from our herb garden, olive oil, and kosher salt. I grilled the fillets over indirect heat with a few mesquite chips to add a bit of smokey flavor. We rounded out the feast with fresh-baked bread, broccoli, and basmati rice with mango chutney. Unbelievably tasty!

To go along with the meal, I concocted an impromptu tropical cocktail I call Sweat o' the Gecko, that I served in my very favorite tiki mug, the Gecko Tangaroa, which tends to form condensation on the outside when you fill it with a chilled libation. Here's the recipe, if you care to attempt to duplicate it:

1 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice (never canned, you Philistines!)
3 oz. fresh-squeezed orange juice
3 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 oz. Creme de Banana
1/2 oz. Kalani coconut liqueur
1/4 oz. Trader Vic's Macadamia Nut liqueur
1 oz. 10 Cane Rum
1 oz. Appleton Estate Rum
1 oz. Whaler's Dark Rum

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with 1 cup of crushed ice, and shake until frost forms on the outside of the shaker. Pour into Gecko Tangeroa mug half-filled with crushed ice, and garnish with fresh mint.

Bottoms up!