The screened-in porch off the kitchen, overlooking the water, has got to be the most used space by my family and friends ... well, second to the kitchen. My gosh, how many hours we have spent there just talking and sharing with one another. We host a big group of friends every year for a gourmet cook-fest, now known as Cholesterol Fest because of the amount of butter so many delicious recipes call for. We began Cholo-Fest in 2003, loved every meal prepared, every calorie swallowed, and all those times spent with friends. Our philosophy of life is this: We work to live, we don't live to work.
When it is strictly a family gathering at Pine, one of the rituals we have is whoever gets up first starts the coffee and runs into town to pick up a Richmond Times newspaper. We all go to the enclosed porch, drink coffee, read the newspaper and watch the lake wake up. It's then that someone offers to make breakfast for everyone - usually pancakes or eggs and bacon is on the menu.
Then we plan out who's doing what that day. Is it boating, jet-skiing, antiquing in town, running over to South Boston (about 30 minutes away) to go to the movies or just hanging out at home?
At night, we usually cook in every other night, and eat out the other nights. We love grilling out - burgers, steaks, chicken or lamb chops. We lovingly call the grill "Grill-Zilla" because a friend once put lamb chops he had soaked in olive oil over night right on the grill. That caused a huge flame burst that singed a tree limb above the deck. He scared everyone at first, but once we knew he was fine he came inside and, like the tree limb, he was singed. That's when Grill-Zilla was born.