Dead Tree Removed

If you saw our yard right now I would be pretty embarassed. One dead tree in the back yard was removed and you can see the roots that Renie and I have been digging. The stumps were ground but the roots, for the most part, were not touched.

In the front yard three trees were cut out. One tree was damaging the sidewalk and another was breaking up the driveway. The final tree was in the middle and we were worried that removing the trees and roots of the other trees would kill it...so all came out. The front yard is also a mess but I hope to have it back to normal soon.

Indoor Grilling

Rain, rain, go away. I don't know what the weather is like in your area but in Birmingham we have had a lot of rain. I don't often use the indoor grill and after cooking the chicken I was reminded why.

Though I lightly seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and lemon peel, the chicken cooked so slowly that it dried out. I will probably never cook chicken on the indoor grill again. With a different cook-top it is great for cooking pancakes.

Table for 12 please

Baby Helen celebrated her first birthday this weekend and both sets of grandparents came to town. Friday night the entire family came to our house for dinner. It was a great chance to spend time together and to cook on the grill. With such a large group, it seemed that burgers were the easiest thing to cook.

The party was held Saturday morning and included approximately twenty children and their parents. It was fun and Helen enjoyed being the center of attention. We had a delicious cake and snacks before the party ended. Helen received her first doll but still wants to play with big brothers Geo-Trax trains.

The other fun thing this weekend was watching the SEC Basketball Championship. Way to go Dawgs!

T-Bone and Shrimp

I tried something new and it didn't work. It was so bad I am not even going to post the recipe. However, I will say that I used mostly "red" spices. Some sweet and some hot. It didn't work. Live and learn!

However, the barbecue shrimp were good. They were a last-minute addition to the grill and I would like to have marinaded them longer. In my house, shrimp are always a hit.

Happy Meal

This weekend we decided to have burgers. Junior is not a big meat eater. He loves chicken nuggets and fish sticks. He will eat bacon when we give it to him but he won't eat more than a bite of burgers. I tried a different approach and told him that I was making him a "happy meal." What child doesn't like happy meals?


As you can see, he was most excited about the three balloons (the toy) that came with the happy meal. He ate the potato wedges and half of the burger. Way to go Junior! Please, no comments on my stick figure.


Don't worry. The adults had burgers of their own. A few of the burgers were stuffed with sharp cheddar cheese and then topped with more cheese. Burgers were seasoned with black pepper, Kosher salt, chili powder, and a small amount of dry mustard. Yes, it was a happy meal!

Barbecue Chicken

This weekend once again we grilled barbecue chicken with white sauce. The initial recipe for the sauce was what I listed in an earlier post. However, that had way too much vinegar for my taste.

The next time I make a white sauce this is what I will start with and may adjust the two main ingredients for taste:

2 cup cup mayonnaise

1 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup fresh black pepper

1 T sugar

I grilled the chicken for about ten minutes on medium heat. Brushed some white sauce on the breasts and cooked for a couple of more minutes.

The quartered red potatoes I put on about ten minutes prior to the chicken. I seasoned them only with salt and pepper (with a pinch of parsley for appearance).

Grilled Catfish

Today I planned to grill some catfish. I was a little worried at seven am when the grill was covered in a few inches of snow. By ten am we had at least four inches and had spent much of the morning playing in the snow and building a snow man and a snow "fort". The snow fort was turned into a recliner and then used, along with the snowman in a snowball fight.


After a great afternoon nap most of the snow was gone and plans to grill catfish were back on. In December I was given a recipe by a co-worker that I loosely followed. If she is reading this she will note the main change is that I cut the cooking time by two thirds. Here is what I did:

Four fresh catfish filets
dip in a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice
rub with:
onion powder
kosher salt
fresh black pepper
chili powder

Cooked the fish in a roasting pan for about 14 minutes.

For the salsa topping:
1 can of rotel completely drained
teaspoon of lemon juice
5 springs of cilantro

Added the salsa on the plate. If children had not been eating the fish I probably would have added the salsa while it was on the grill.

The corn was my usual recipe for grilling corn. About 7 minutes over direct heat and then about 7 more minutes in the foil pack. Before grilling I rubbed butter along the corn and then seasoned with fresh black pepper and kosher salt.

Everything turned out great! I look forward to cooking catfish again soon.