I've always been a fan of outdoor cooking ever since I started helping my father grill growing up in the Chicago suburbs. Hot fires and lots of chicken, steaks, bratwurst, burgers, and dogs were ever present at birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, 4th of July--any excuse for a party.
When my wife and I were married and living in married student house at college where large grills were not allowed, we had a Weber Smokey Joe and grilled whenever we could, including when there was snow on the ground. Nothing like fire and ice!
When we moved from school back Illinois and into a home where we could have a larger grill, I was lucky enough to have a brother-in-law hand his Weber charcol kettle grill down to us, saving us on some expense, and enabling us to continue the outdoor cooking for our growing family.
This wonderful Weber served us well for five years in that home and followed us to Kansas City where we moved for a job. Suddenly, we were exposed to a whole other side of outdoor cooking--barbeque. Our first lesson was learning that barbeque does not mean sauce. It's the way that you cook it and that Weber grill learned new lessons in smoking!
Alas, the Weber grill had been through much. It had toiled well for us and unfortunately, I never did take the best care of it and so heat, water, and rust had it's way with it and it was retired. I figured it was okay since we were going to buy a Weber to replace it. Well, at the time, finances didn't allow and so the summer slipped away without a new grill. My wife would talk of buying me a new grill for Father's Day, but I would always feel a little guilty because there was always something more important to spend the money on. So, another year slipped away.
Now, facing another summer grill-less I was bummed, but took to cooking on my cast iron grill on my stove in the house. It was an acceptable substitution, but still not the same. I didn't get that charcol smell on me after cooking. And while the stove top grilling did produce copious amounts of dramatic smoke, it really isn't quite as enjoyable when it is billowing through the house. But this was all to come to a happy end just a few weeks ago when my father phoned me from Illinois and offered me a combined Father's Day, birthday, Christmas, etc. gift.
He reminded me of my covetous reaction to the new grill that he had purchased just a couple of years before. It was a beautiful Weber Performer. He had had it assembled for an entire summer and hadn't even used it yet. Needless to say I was mortified and quickly planned a meal requiring the need of said grill. I loved it! The propane ignition system, the table space, the lid holder. It was blissful. And I had to leave it behind in Illinois as we traveled back to Kansas City. Anyway, he reminded me of how much I liked that grill and offered to purchase one for me.
Now, I know how expensive that particular model was, but who was I to deny my father the satisfaction of giving me about the best gift I've ever received! So, I accepted. He purchased it that same weekend and had it shipped to me. Oh, it seemed an eternity--waiting for that new gift. Still, it did arrive sooner than I expected and with a grill cover that my dad threw in for protecting the investment. Oh, the joy!
Taking the time to put it together was relaxing and a couple of my boys helped me out. It was a beauty! I picked the blue color for the kettle found it a satisfying alternative to the black or green.
No comments:
Post a Comment