Ladies and Gentlemen: Light Your Grills!

Others can express justified gratitude for the sacrifices that have been made by those, military and civilian, who have given their lives in the service of our country.

Moment of silence.

NOW, on to the serious business of summer grilling.

Friday evening I did us some steaks. I was exceedingly cheesed because the Scripto lighter I bought at Lowe's is a PIECE OF SHIT (and will be returning same). Since I was caught with my pantalones down, that is, I had no matches, I had to resort to some heavy lighting equipment:


I now have a more appropriate lighter, this a BIC, but I know I have the big gun in reserve should I need it.

Yesterday, I had to do pig. Ummm, pig parts. NOM. Boston butt. NOM.

Rub: brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt/fresh-ground black pepper, dried oregano, cumin, and ancho chili powder.

Mix together, and prepare the Boston butt by rubbing it first with a sheen of vegetable oil. Then, rub yer meat thoroughly with the spice mixture. Let it set for about 30 minutes while the grill heats.


I use a gas grill, so I took some hickory chunks (not chips), and wrapped them in foil. I left the foil open on top, and poked some holes in the bottom. (Note: I didn't bother to soak the wood -- there's no point.) I set the wood package over the hottest area of the grill, directly over the drip bars, under the grate. I lit all three burners to get the heat going, then cut off the middle burner and cut the outside burners to medium. Once the grill was at about 300F, I added the pork, and went away for about 4 hours.

While the pork was doing, I made some buns courtesy of the King Arthur Flour cookbook ("Beautiful Burger Buns"). They are to. Die. For.


I also made some BBQ sauce. I got this recipe from a friend. It makes a ton, so halve it as I did:

32 oz ketchup
32 oz cider vinegar
1# light brown sugar
6 oz Texas Pete (or hot sauce of your choice)
8 oz blackberry jelly
2 sticks butter/margarine (even when I halved the recipe, I only used 1/2 stick of butter)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, grated

Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Do not boil. Here is the red goodness:


And the finally the pulled goodness:


Rounding out the menu were coleslaw and baked beans. I took shortcuts for both. Bush's baked beans can't be beat (stay away from their chipotle black bean concoction however), and Marzetti slaw dressing is da bomb. No reason to stress making either beans or slaw dressing.

Now get yer favorite beverage, and light yer grills!