Where Were You on August 1st?
AKA, Grilling
Do you love grilling as much as I do?
The only time I remember the men in my family involved in any type of cooking was when it was summertime and time to break out the grills. They’d remove the weatherbeaten covers, give the outside a good wash with the hose, and open them up to the sunshine.
The guys grilled burgers, hot dogs, and brats. They’d place the burger and dog buns on the top rack to toast a bit. They all had charcoal grills back then. Depending on the grill master manning the grill, sometimes the smell of lighter fluid overpowered the smell of the dinner.
G and I had a killer grill when we owned our house in Ann Arbor, one of those stainless steel ones, with rotisserie accessories and a side burner.
I was in culinary school at that time so I had a lot of fun grilling as much as humanly possible during the seemingly blink-and-you-missed-it summer seasons in Michigan.
I marinated skirt steaks for fajitas, grilled alongside onions and red peppers. I cut up chunks of chicken or sirloin or lamb for skewers. I grilled flank steaks and drizzled them with chimichurri or draped them with grilled mushrooms splashed with Worcestershire.
I brined pork chops overnight and grilled those to serve with peaches and fresh herbs.
I grilled every vegetable I could find. I grilled Romaine lettuce for Caesar salads. I gave G the job to shuck corn so we could grill it and slather it with salted butter or a garlicky mayo, elote style.
I’d heat up the cast iron skillet and make breakfast on the grill.
After we sold our house and crossed the country a few times, the only grills we were privy to were community grills at condo and apartment complexes.
Here’s an example of the grills where we live now:
I haven’t used the grill once. Do I need an attitude adjustment? Am I being snobby? This grill makes me so sad.
Please send grill stories so I can live vicariously through you.
How often do you grill? Gas or charcoal? Smoker, even? Do you have a fun apron you wear specifically for grilling? Is grilling a guy thing in your family or does everyone grill?
Writing to you has inspired me to dust off these grill tools, buy some charcoal, and a steak.
Thanks again for reading! I care about you. Please don’t forget to eat your greens.
I love grilled food and it always reminds me so much of summer! We just got a charcoal grill last year and we’ve put it to good use. Since there are only two of us, we try to plan ahead to make extra veggies or chicken to have for another day to not feel like we’re wasting the coals.
Grilled octopus is a popular dish here and I’d love to try to make it sometime! We usually stick to chicken, steak, fish, and an assortment of vegetables, though. Oh, and grilled pineapple- one of my favorites!
A couple of years ago our gas grilled died, so my husband turned it into a charcoal grill. Ha! We haven't grilled as much this summer since it's been so rainy, but we love a good burger and veggies when we can. He did just smoke a few steaks and whole potatoes in the smoker last week, though. Everything is so much better on a grill, in my opinion! Although, we haven't had much luck with corn. It's never turned out very well for us.