“That outdoor grilling is a manly pursuit has long been beyond question. If this wasn’t firmly understood, you’d never get grown men to put on those aprons with pictures of dancing wienies and things on the front…”
The house is colder than outside. I went on the deck with my coffee, sat in the sun and got warm. It’s a lovely day, another in a string of lovely days. I’ll be outside enjoying it as I plant some herbs in my deck boxes and in my herb garden. I have basil, oregano, cilantro and rosemary. I also bought some Shasta daisies for the front garden. They are one of the few flowers I can actually identify. It was trip two to the garden center, more will come.
For the second morning in a row, the devil woke me up. The sound of teeth gnawing deck furniture broke through my haze of sleep at about 5:30 this morning. I jumped out of bed, ran to the deck and chased away evil, but I know this Prince of Darkness will be back, still disguised as a gray rodent. I feel a kinship with Elmer Fudd.
My father grilled hot dogs and hamburgers when we were little. My mother made potato salad. When we got older, my father expanded his offerings. Sometimes he’d cook sausages or chicken or marinated steak tips or even a combination of meats. He used charcoal in a hibachi and sat outside with his drink and cigarette while he kept an eye on the meat. My father always cooked the meat exactly right. My mother’s offerings expanded as well, but I knew they’d be potato salad. Somethings ought never to change.
My friends and I had corn on the cob and Tony burgers for supper last night. The burgers are so named by my friend Tony who concocts, cooks and serves them. They are my favorite cheeseburgers. The corn was summer sweet, a sugar and butter corn with bright yellow and creamy white kernels. I was a typewriter, eating row by row, left to right, the same way my father always ate his corn. For dessert, we had a fruit custard. It was the ultimate summer meal.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
May 17, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Three rows at a time, or four? And are you flummoxed when the final set of rows do not match the standard at the start of the feed? Or did you count wrong at some point?
Cheers
May 17, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Minicapt,
Two rows at a time, neatly and evenly. Never flummoxed.
May 17, 2010 at 12:37 pm
I am completely useless at the sport of the BBQ and have been seen to return a driveway bounced hot dog to the grill for further attention.
Fortunately my son not only likes to do it but is good at it, so I pass as many responsibilities as possible.
May 17, 2010 at 10:10 pm
My Dear Hedley,
It is a gift, being talented at the sport of BBQ. Not everyone is blessed.
I am good at it but not as good as my father.
May 17, 2010 at 1:22 pm
I´m quite useless at barbeque, so I always goes to frinds when they does it :-)Sometimes I use my stove in the kitchen to grill some sausages though 🙂 🙂
It´s been to longs since I had corn on the cobs. I hope I can remember that next time I go to the store.
I´ve been thinking of that darling little squirrel of Yours and his little gnawing problem 🙂 🙂 Even if it would smell some for a while, have You tried to rub some garlic on the places he is gnawing? Most animals detest that smell (even a faint smell), even voles that eats anything avoids it.
Have a great day now!
Christer.
May 17, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Christer,
Grilling sausage in the kitchen counts too. My friends and I reciprocate all summer.
I hope your corn is as tasty as what I ate last night.
Tomorrow, I will rub the garlic on-thanks for the suggestion.
May 17, 2010 at 4:05 pm
We used to get New Jersey white corn in the summer. In fact, that’s what everyone asked for when a neighbor was heading to NY out of D.C. Always asked to bring back lots of NJ white corn. So sweet and delicious I could eat five cobs for dinner. Yes! Garlic. Squirrels hate garlic. Buy the pressed garlic in a jar and smother it on for a few days. If it doesn’t work, you know he’s Italian.
May 17, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Z&Me,
We have the best local corn in August, also sweet and delicious. I can make a meal of just corn.
Tomorrow my deck will smell like an Italian kitchen.
May 17, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Back in the 70’s my father won a patio set from Dialing For Dollars and part of the set was a huge charcoal grill. He spent a lot of time out there playing with that thing. It had a temperature gauge and sliding vents and multiple cooking surfaces. He went way beyond hot dogs, hamburgers and steak. He roasted and baked things in it. He made up recipes. He loved cooking on that grill. We found this odd because when we were kids and he had to feed us, we went to the diner for every meal. Who knew what talents an open flame could illuminate?
May 17, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Caryn,
I think men believe the barbecue grill is a man tool, the more complex the better. My brother-in-law now has a smoker, and he is busy trying all different recipes for all sorts of meat. It is his domain.
May 18, 2010 at 1:28 am
Picturing you with hunting cap and shoot-’em-up gun, standing on your deck exclaiming loudly to the camera, “Wascawwy sqwuwell!”
Heh, heh, heh!
May 18, 2010 at 9:36 am
Rick,
Had I a weapon yesterday!!
I can see myself wandering the yard, rifle in hand, as the squirrel stands behind me and laughs.
May 22, 2010 at 6:47 am
Born & brought up in England we never had barbeques as a lad. They did n’t seem to appear until the 70’s.
Strange is n’t it in the 50’s we had toilets outside and ate inside. Now its the other way round!
May 22, 2010 at 9:05 am
John,
I’m still chuckling at your comment!