You might have distinct memories of your parents lighting the coals in your backyard, or of some of your favorite meals being cooked by campfire. Whatever your experience, it’s undeniable that when cooking starts with a live fire, the results are worth remembering. 

In The Backyard Fire Cookbook, author Linda Ly will teach you how to master the flames, as well as a variety of other techniques–all possible in your own backyard. For the adventurous, start by building a home fire pit. It’s easier than it sounds and requires minimal investment of time and space. If you’d rather not, that’s okay! There are plenty of other options, from vessel fire pits to tabletop grills. Even a charcoal kettle grill will give you more flavor than cooking with gas. Ly also covers everything you need to know about fuel sources (hardwood, hardwood lump charcoal, and smoking wood), her go-to grilling tools and accessories, secrets for stocking an indoor and outdoor pantry, fire making, fire safety, and tips and tricks for grilling more efficiently.

The recipes let you choose your own adventure, with dozens of options for ember roasting, wood-fired cooking, charcoal grilling, and foil pack meals. Next-level techniques like dutch oven cooking, grilling a la plancha, and plank grilling are all part of the fun, too. This is not a book about low-and-slow barbecue, and you won’t find overnight marinades or complicated recipes, either. Ly aims to encourage easy, accessible grilling that you look forward to doing on a weeknight because, quite simply, food just tastes better outside.

Whether you’re a seasoned home cook or a novice when it comes to the grill, The Backyard Fire Cookbook will help you make the backyard your new kitchen.