Grilling

• Is it Done Yet?

• Food Safety/Cooking for Groups

• Romancing the Grill

• Taste of Home

Randy is taking off a few vacation days around the Memorial Day holiday and it will be a fun week. He will be grilling lots of meat and we will have it all cooked and ready for meals. No heating up the kitchen on these miserably hot days. It hit 97° today but is down to a mild 96 already. We'll spend most of the day inside in front of the a/c enjoying the cool air. I am giving Lady's water pool back to her since Randy was not able to find another. The two plastic pools I had from last year both leak. She tolerates the heat much better than Beau but he hates water.

We are cooking a small turkey, lots of pork ribs and sausage. Makes me hungry and ready to be cooking. It will be a great break from the usual days of chores and schedules.

06-12-04 

I started this back just before Memorial Day and then things got so hectic that it could not be finished. So now it will be in time for a Father's Day celebration or perhaps a 4th of July event. Since the 4th falls on a Sunday, not as many people will have the day off but I hope to collect some good ideas to add to your knowledge of making an outdoor cookout a fun and special day.

As the year's first long weekend during warm weather, Memorial Day has become the unofficial start of the summer season. We all honor favorite heroes but we will also kick off the outdoor cooking season. Our Texas weather allows us plenty of weather for cooking outdoors but with Randy taking off on the Friday before, we can plan a vacation type of holiday. 

Our plans start with buying the appropriate meats; 8 chicken leg quarters, a rack of pork ribs and a pound of thick skin sausage. Randy gets the grilling honor and will start in the afternoon to have everything finished by dinner time. This will be all the meat we need for the long holiday and all I have left to prepare are the side dishes. It cuts down on all kitchen time and clean up & any extra heat on an already hot day.

We buy the chicken leg quarters in the big bulk package. I have all my freezer bags open and ready, washing the meat thoroughly before putting into the baggie. This eliminates the need to wash again before cooking the meat. Just always wash it ahead and you'll never have to wonder. Remember that if you are going to use a sauce or glaze, it will burn if it has a high sugar content. The bbq sauces are only meant to be applied during the last few minutes or after the meat is finished cooking. It is much easier to just put an assortment of dips and toppings on the dinner table than to guess what will be popular. The meat will be the tastiest and most tender if it is cooked at a temp where it will not burn the outer crust. Long and slow, use a meat thermometer to be sure it has reached doneness at the center. The longtime cook can cut into the center and tell by sight if the meat is done. It is always best to be on the safe side rather than to risk making everyone sick from food poisoning. When you don't want to go to the effort to be thorough, pick up the goodies from your favorite deli or restaurant carry-out.

We had a delightful long holiday weekend with much more time for other adventures instead of the stuck in the kitchen cooking meals. Gathering these links and recipes has made me eager for the next cookout weekend!

It's July 5, 2005 and a bit late to find this but worth updating. I have taken out the dead links and those left still work fine. Grilling tips and recipes are always great no matter what year they are collected. I can always find food ideas.

The following links are all on the AllRecipes site. Lots of ads but great recipes: