http://www.grilling.com/know-how/video/123/

This is seriously worth watching

Sparks

I promised to give you all this recipe and you need time to shop for stuff.. SO:

I am Un-American in a sense! I have to admit that I hate turkey.  I think it is dry and tasteless! I'd rather eat a juicy baked hen any day! Well, with that said, I NEVER serve turkey.... ever.

This is my Thanksgiving menu and recipes to go with it. (Christmas we have Ham)

Grilled BBQ Ribs
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Ramen Salad
Baked Yams
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Yam Bread (if you don't have a bread machine.... hawaiian bread rolls works great, too)

Secret number one: The Rub and Marinade
Day one...

Juicy good meat on the grill is enhanced by taking your time, letting, meat "rest" before you serve it and always oiling your grate before you cook on it.

RUB

Toss together:

• 4 tsp Smokey Paprika
• 4 tsp Chili Powder
• 4 tsp BBQ Spice
• 2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 2 tsp Poultry Seasonning
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Onion Powder
• 2 tsp Oregano

Mix it all up real well and then divide it into two halves.

At the Grocery store choose two large racks of ribs.


With first half of rub.....

Add 4 Tbsp Brown Sugar and incorporate well. Then rub it with massaging motions onto fresh racks of ribs. Let ribs rest like this atleast an hour.

Marinade

 Mix together a half gallon of orange juice with three bottles of the finest quality DARK beer (ask the liquor store clerk)

Remember that fruit juice has acid in it that actually begins to break meat down, tenderize and COOK it. Put ribs into shallow baking pans lined in aluminum foil (I use foil baking bags).

Pour OJ Brew over each rib rack and put in fridge over night.

For the salad:  Mix together 

2 beef seasoning packets from Ramen noodles 
1/2 Cup Sugar, and
2/3 Cup Vinegar 
1/2 Cup Oil (use same oil as you are using to oil the grill... corn, veggie or canolla).  

Bring it to a boil and then put in fridge over night.

Day 2.....

Get up early!
 
2nd half of rub

Get 4 LARGE Sweet Potatoes and scrub them up real good and take a fork and poke them up like crazy.  Make sure they are good and wet when you roll them in the rub.  Then, wrap them in aluminum foil.  Set aside.



Pineapple Upside Down Cake

• 1/4 Cup melted Butter
• 2/3 Cup packed Brown Sugar
• 14 oz. can sliced Pineapple (rings)
• small jar Maraschino Cherries with stems removed

Mix melted butter and brown Sugar together and spread over bottom of 13 X 9 Pan. Arrange Pineapple rings evenly over sugar and put a cherry inside each ring. Make your favorite brand of yellow cake mix, pour over topping and bake as instructed on the box.


Ribs

Remove the ribs from the fridge and pop into oven as soon as cake comes out. Bake two hours. Let rest until grill time.



I Yam what I Yam Bread

• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 cup drained and chopped Yams
• 3 cup Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Butter
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1/3 cup Mini-Marshmallows
• 1 pkg fast-rise Yeast.

This is the order suggested by my Machine's manufacturer. but you have to know what order your machine suggests (my sister's is different and hers will have a pit in it if she uses this order). Use normal bread setting on machine.



Baked Macaroni and Cheese

• Stick of butter
• 1/2 Cup Flour
• 2 cups milk
• 3 cups SHARP Cheddar Cheese
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp. dry ground Mustard
• one pound box of Macaroni noodles Cooked and drained and put into a baking pan.

Melt butter in a 4 qt. sauce pan and add flour.  Then, add Worcestershire and Mustard.  Stir in Milk and keep stirring until thickened.  Add 2 cups of cheddar until melted. Pour over macaroni. top with last cup of cheese and bake for 15 minutes at 350*F. When meat goes on the grill.

Yams

• 
  
• 
  
• Put the Yams in the oven for one hour at 350*F after the ribs come out and put mac n cheese in last 15 minutes.
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Ribs
  
• 
  
• This is where the guys get all the glory for the ribs you have been preparing! Let them use any BBQ sauce they want to. (good time to use up something you got with a coupon!) Send them out with sauce, basting brush, tongs and the ribs to put a nice coating on the Ribs and to give them that wonderful Charcoal baked flavor!
  
  
  
  

Ramen Salad

• 16 oz bag Broccoli Slaw
  
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
  
• 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
  
• 4 green onions, chopped (tops too) (optional)
• 2 pkgs. Beef flavored Ramen noodles (season packets already used in dressing)

Mix it all together and crush noodles before putting in salad. pour the dressing over it... that you put in fridge night before.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Your Grill-mate

Sparks

I served in the US Army and was stationed in Nuremburg Germany for a couple of years.  I love to celibrate my time overseas every October with a german grill fest for adult friends and family.

Biergarten:

Local in-put includes: apple cider, pumpkins for guests to paint,  and a Hay Ride!!

Don't fall off the wagon!
Dedicated to my fellow Veterans,

SPARKS

I don't know about you, but I think there is way too much salt put on our roads and into our environment.  No wonder everyone is running around with High blood pressure!  I keep a Bag of Kingsford Match Light charcoal in my trunk, year around.  My thinking is that if you get stuck in snow or mud it would work to help you get free without adding anything unnatural to the environment.  It also works on Ice.  Charcoal is organic.  Kitty Litter might work.  Yet, Kitty litter has no other purposes.  Charcoal has many reasons to be in the trunk.  You can stop and have an impromtu picnic along a travel route since most parks and rest areas have grills available. You can keep warm if stranded in a snow bank.  It could actually be the difference between life and death in some of the remote areas of high volume snow states. I keep a milk crate in the trunk with

• Wiper Fluid
• Jumper Cables
• Gloves
• Jacket
• First Aid Kit
• Oil
• Steering Fluid
• Bottle of water
• Kingsford Match Light Charcoal
• Blanket

Hope this helps everyone stay safe this winter! Drive carefully to all your holiday events.

Sincerely your Grillionista,
Sparks

Here is a couple of sites you should check out my grilling fans!!

http://www.grilling.com/sports/

https://www.facebook.com/kingsfordcharcoal?sk=app_208575352529901

Have fun exploring!

Sparks

This is the third weekend in a row that local small communities had festivals scheduled.  This weekend , my family is heading out the the Friendship Indiana Muzzle Loaders Shoot and Flea Market. It turns a local farm community of about 2000 people into a huge festival of tens of thousands that primative camp in lean-tos and tepees. During the Day, there are muzzleloader's competitions and a flea market that covers about 100 acres. After dark, there is a barn dance with country music in the flea market area and small blue grass groups that play among the tepees and tents in the primative camping area. In the evening, just before the music starts, everyone changes in to either settlers clothes or Native american clothes. It really turns into a hootenanny!!

My favorite thing to take for my family to grill that evening is:

Teriaki marinated Kabobs on the hibachi (bring Match Light Kingsford charcoal for your grill.)  They are easy with not much to bring along. Soak your bamboo skewers in water the night before. Put your favorite stew chunks or cut up steak on the skewers in bite size chunks. Put them into a sealable container and pour your teriaki marinade over them. Store them at the bottom of your cooler (we pull our cooler on a kiddy wagon). Wrap a potato, cut in half, with butter and salt and pepper in aluminum foil for each family member. Last, get a bag of salad and add ranch dressing. Don't forget marshmallows to toast on the open fires all though the fest! Start your Potatoes as soon as the coals are hot. Cook until fork pokes potato easily about 45 minutes. Put your skewers on last 20 minutes. Let kids find a good marshmallow roasting stick on their own and carry your marshmallows from fire to fire listening to the different groups and let the kids toast a few for the on-lookers!!

Don't forget to have a good old story ready to tell around the campfire, before bed.  I like to tell the kids the story of Little Orphan Annie by James Whitcome Riley.

http://youtu.be/mZs8TBA4E04

One great thing about going to a primative camp, like we did this past weekend, is that you might learn something new!  As I walked among the wonderful TePees and lean-tos, I was checking to see what everyone was grilling for their dinner.  It was all mostly typical stuff like burgers and hotdogs and a few steaks here and there. Then I met a lady who was making the most spectacular dinner for her family.  She had so many different vegetables on the grill and was basting them with a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  She was grilling juicy looking pounded venison steaks. And for desert!.... she was grilling Apple Cobbler!

Here is the recipe for GRILLED APPLE COBBLER

You need a square of aluminum foil for each serving.  Place a cored and sliced apple on each foil square.  Sprinkle apples with cinnamon sugar and top each one with two tablespoons baking mix (bisquick or Jiff).  Seal the foil by bringing the two ends together and double fold it, then double fold each end to create a tight seal.  Bake on hot coals 15 to 20 minutes.

Bon Appetit my camping comrades,

Sparks

This stuff is great! I'm not sure how they do it, but it almost completely hides the odor associated with my kitties "deed" and because of that I don't need to change the box as much, which ends up saving me money in the end! Kudos!

Brand: FreshStep
Name: Rachel

Rio Carnival Style BBQ Party



Simply placing many colored feathers and boas throughout the yard will start the effect. Replace your plain light bulbs with colored bulbs and hang colored streamers wherever you can to bring carnival to your BBQ. For drinks, serve caipirinhas and coconut water. Meanwhile, the grill or churrasco will steal the show with meat cut from the skewers onto guests' plates and serving them with manioc and onions.

Chimichurri Sauce:

• 1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Just blend in a blender about two hours before you baste your Skewered meats with it.

Tortilla Chips are served with

Pico de gallo

I always make

GRILLED PINEAPPLE

1 fresh pineapple - peeled, cored and cut into 1 inch rings

• 1/4 teaspoon honey
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce
• salt to taste

Your party will be a success with just few tweeks to turn your yard into Rio de Janeiro.
Use fall colored boas and streamers To make your party fit this season.

I really like this product. We live in the country and have to filter our water that comes from our well. In addition to that, I use the Brita Filter so we can have clean water to drink or to use with cooking. I like how it last for a month and it is very simple to change the filter in my Brita pitcher. We are always using this. I have 2 of these and we use them on a daily bases. It gives me the feeling that I know our water is clean and safe to drink.

Brand: Brita
Name: Stephanie Loper

I have had the opportunity to use the Brita Water Pitcher and have found it to be a good way to filter the tap water. It provided a very cold glass of clean tasting tap water. I usually use the on the faucet Pur water filter system and it is convienient way to get clean drinking water, but it is not as cold as the Brita water pitcher. The Brita pitcher also fits nicely inside the refrigerator door and can be put on the table at dinnertime.

JoannePolyak
Chemical Process, Inc.
www.ChemicalProcessInc.com

Brand: Brita
Name: JoannePolyak

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing has been a favorite salad dressing. They have stayed consistent in great flavor, value and enhancing recipes for over 40 years now. I remember shaking the mix in a craft when I was a child. I still buy the bottled and dry packet version of Hidden Valley. This product always brings back good memories of good family and close times with friends.

Brand: Hidden Valley Ranch
Name: Fawn M. Linschoten

I bought a Brita Dispenser and I LOVE IT. Is practical, it makes my water taste better and is very convenient. I am SO satisfied with the product I am buying a second one for my office. You should try it too!!!

Brand: Brita
Name: Scarlett73

Sept. 5, 2011

Hey everybody!  Are you tired from your long weekend?  I would love to know if you grilled.  If so, what did you have?  What did you cook it on? Any recipes or tricks and tips you want to share?

We had a baby shower on Labor Day for the women of my life. I talked the host into letting me grill burgers for all the lady party goers.   I decided to serve Guacamole Burgers with sweet potato fries and refried beans.  I filled all the snack bowls with tortilla chips and a nice medium salsa. 

I don't make my own guacamole.  I purchase one of two brands.  If you have a local Schwan's Food Delivery service... Have them bring you a box of their guacamole.   But If you have to buy it at the grocery store... look in the produce section for a product called Wholey Guacamole. You can get it in the deli section, too ... if you have to. Ofcourse, you can always find a recipe and make your own, also. 

I seasoned the burgers with Weber Gourmet Burger Seasoning.  I used Kingsford® Charcoal with Mesquite! Burgers are built by adding lettuce, tomato, guacamole and your favorite mexican cheese.

OK .... Let's head on over to the Kingsford Charcoal Site and enter to win a fabulous prize and buy some grilling supplies!

http://kingsford.promo.eprize.com/zacbrownband/

Have a great Week,
Sparks

I buy litter specially for my 17 year old cat, but the other 2 use it also and this litter is great. Easy to scoop the clumps out and when I ask my family, who are very truthful, if they can tell I have a litter box, they always say NO... very happy

Brand: FreshStep
Name: Cindy

The Hidden Valley Ranch light tastes so much like the Original HVR, you cannot even tell that it is light. I love putting this on my salads and pizza. WOW! The best stuff on earth!

Brand: Hidden Valley Ranch
Name: Daleene Fox