Grill Tools

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I know I’m kind of jumping the gun, but Happy Memorial Day, especially to all who are serving in our military and their families. I’m very thankful for the sacrifices they’re willing to make to serve our country. I’m going to be celebrating by making some bacon wrapped shrimp on the grill. They’re so easy to make and taste so good that it’s almost a no-brainer. We’re also celebrating the purchase of our new house (it closed yesterday!!!) so my husband is going to set up our Weber Kettle on our new covered patio. The shrimp are so easy on the grill that I might even let him do the cooking honors. Almost forgot, our oldest son turns 21 this weekend too so we have lots of things to celebrate. Anyway, hope everyone as a great Memorial Day. God bless America, and especially those serving in our military.

I got the chance to try this beer can chicken recipe over the weekend and it was delicious, just as promised. I didn’t have the beer can holder and I didn’t want to wait for one to come from Amazon, so luckily I was able to find one at Raleys. For the bird I used a free range organic chicken from Whole Foods Market (a little pricey but I insist on feeding my family organic food as often as possible). It looked so easy that I decided to let my husband do the honors and he actually did a good job – it was “falling off the bones” tender and very delicious. The only thing I didn’t like is he drank too much beer while he was cooking. Anyway, if you like chicken and you like grilling you really should try this recipe – you can find it here: http://www.squidoo.com/beer-can-chicken-on-a-grill

We’re buying a new house – for our son to live in, not us. What does this have to do with grilling? Well, nothing except the new house has an awesome covered patio. So what, right? Well, except that with a covered patio I could grill all year long no matter what the weather is like:) It might not be a big deal to some people but I have never had a covered patio, so my grilling is at the mercy of the weather. Our back yard is to the south and is largely unprotected, so it sucks to grill when it’s windy even when the sun is shining. At the new house, the back yard is fairly small and is protected on all 4 sides by the house, fencing, patio roof, and a couple of nice apple trees. I could grill all year long, any day, even when it’s too windy to grill at our old house. Grilling heaven!!! It’s supposed to close next week. I think to celebrate I’m going to cook Beer Can Chicken on the grill. I found a killer recipe I’m going to write about next time.

Sincerely,

Alice

I love shrimp and I just found an easy recipe for Marinated Grilled Shrimp. Usually I don’t add flavor (except maybe a little salt) when I cook shrimp so trying something new will be fun. This has been kind of a crappy winter and our dog died this week so I’m kind of depressed… but the weather is supposed to be nice this weekend and perfect for grilling. Barbecuing some shrimp might be just the think to get me out of my funk. Anyway it looks like a really tasty recipe – I can hardly wait to give it a try.

To all those reading this I want to say Happy Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for and I hope you do to. My family, all of us are in good health, my husband and I both still have our jobs, and my husband takes our kids to church every Sunday. For those things and about a million more, I’d lake to thank God for all the blessings He’s given me this year and throughout my life.

I didn’t cook Thanksgiving dinner on the grill this year since it was about 23º outside, so we settled for prawns and scallops wrapped in bacon and roasted turkey drumsticks (I’ve never been able to roast a whole turkey and have every part come out tender) along with all the tradition Thanksgiving trimmings – mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, Uncle Ben’s rice, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. My husband’s parents were in town and his mom made apple, pumpkin, and pecan pie. It’s the first time I’ve ever had homemade pie (we don’t cook American style pies in China) and I couldn’t believe how much better they taste than the pies from Costco.

Anyway, hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I just got a couple of books on grilling that I want to read and review. I’ll write about them here soon. See ya:)

Grilling and barbecuing are a lot more enjoyable with a nice grill tool set. I’m not talking the cheap throw-away grilling tools you’ll find at Walmart or Cub Foods, but a quality grill tool set that will be last for years (if not a life time) and make cooking on the grill a true pleasure.