Burgers again

When my parents were in town they brought a cooler full of ground beef. My wife would laugh if she heard me call my-self a city boy but apparently you can buy a cow from a farmer and have it slaughtered. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise but it was something that I had never heard. Regardless, we will be having burgers for the next few months. I am trying a variety of spices and flavors. One flavor that my wife loves is using a tablespoon of dry ranch dressing in with a pound of beef.

You will also notice that there are two big burgers and one little one for junior. This was the first hamburger that I have seen him eat in his three years.

Home Improvement

A couple of weekends ago my parents were in town for a conference. I don't know if my wife is "unique" but she is big on making changes in the house. (thank goodness she isn't big on rearranging furniture). Our kitchen needed some work and the latest was a tin back-splash. My dad and I spent much of Saturday working on getting these set. Good man time. Here are the results.

You can also notice the new counter tops. If you are ever in the market for counter tops see if you can find out who supplies Lowes. We cut them out and saved $13 a square foot. You will also notice a new oven. Like good Americans we were putting out stimulus check to work.

Lunch Time Grilling

Since I work from home I often take quick lunches and today was no different. However, with our kitchen renovation just complete my wife and I both wanted a nice grilled hotdog. Tomorrow, for juniors third birthday I may be grilling around 30 hotdogs and wanted to enjoy one today.

Like daddy?

Having a son has been a great experience. It makes me very aware of everything I say and do since I know little eyes are watching. Junior really wants to help with everything that I am doing. This past week we had new countertops installed. In order to make the job go faster I removed the sink myself. Shortly after climbing under the sink I found that I had a little helper.

Is George Forman grilling?

Can George Foreman be considered a "real grill". I don't think that anything without an open flame can be considered a real grill. I do think that George Foreman grills can be useful. I mean, if I live in an apartment without a balcony then it is perfectly acceptable. If you live in a submarine then certainly, use a George Foreman. However, for my grilling needs, I will continue to use an open flame.

Where have I been?

It has been a month since my last post. Since then I have been travelling with work for about two of those weeks. I also had minor back surgery that kept me down for another week or so. However, I have cooked out both Friday and Saturday nights.

Friday it was margarita chicken. To make this I marinated the chicken for about three hours in the least expensive margarita mix that you can buy at the grocery store. I should have marinated the chicken longer.

Of course, I cooked corn from grandparents garden. That seems to be a staple when we are grilling.

Saturday I cooked burgers. The spices that I used in in turned out great. Though I didn't really measure the quantities I used fresh black pepper, sea salt, onion powder and garlic powder. Since all the barbecue recipes have something sweet added (usually brown sugar) I used a teaspoon of white sugar. The burgers were great!

Attached are the pictures of the chicken breast cooking

Best Ribs in Alabama?

The Birmingham News is having a contest for the best ribs in the seven county area. The article can be found here:

http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1215159346228360.xml&coll=2

It asked for reader nominations. It also asked for people to nominate themselves as a "reader-judge". I sent in my request to be a judge. Once readers send in their favorites, the panel, which includes the reader-judge, will choose among the top 5.

However, it made me think about some of the ribs I have had in the area. I did a google search for "Ribs and Birmingham" and found 308 business listings. I had NO idea there were so many restaurants. I plan to send in some of my nominations and will try to avoid the obvious ones.