Gilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs for My Kid Home from College

First visit Home from College - Happy to See the Fat Cat



Hand Patted Burgers in Marinade - Waiting for an Afternoon Cook Out



Hamburgers and Hot Dogs on the Charcoal Weber Grill


GREAT TO SEE MY KID AGAIN AFTER ALMOST TWO MONTHS!

My son is now at UNC Chapel Hill, and this weekend was the first time he's been home since he left for college. The first thing I noticed, of course, was that he had lost weight. He's a good size, but this did give me an excuse (like I need one?) to cook up a storm this weekend.

When he first got in, I fried up some pork chops and hash browns and made a big skillet of corn bread. He really loves homemade cornbread, and it's hard to find good cornbread other than made at home.

For breakfast, it was biscuits and gravy with Frank Corriher sausage. That's the best sausage I've ever had besides what my Poppaw made at home.

I told my kid to tell his buddies to plan on a cook out for lunch. When you send a kid off to college, you kind of lose a whole lot of kids at once - the ones who hung out at your house. So, it was good to see the guys again - all of them.

I had most of the stuff I needed but did run up to the IGA and got some extra ice and some buns. Pineapples were on sale, and my son loves those, so I got a fresh pineapple. I often grill the pineapple, but I decided to save that for dinner to go with crab cakes and corn on the cob. I also got some Pepsi with lemon. That wasn't on purpose. They don't label the bottles very well. That wasn't so great, but oh well. I guess Pepsi likes to try some new stuff from time to time.

The guys all hung out and shot pool and played basketball.

Then we had my hand patted hamburgers (much better than pre-patted) and hot dogs as well as some chips and peanut butter fudge.

Whew! I'm about stuffed, and I'm sure the boys are too. It was a beautiful day for grilling and extra nice with both my boys at home.

Vote John McCain or Barack Obama for Your Barbecue Tailgate Chef

Who would fit in better at our tailgate party - McCain or Obama?

Weber, the grill folks, sent me an email about their latest survey. They do some pretty fun ones. This time Weber asked tailgaters to vote between McCain and Obama as Tailgate Chef for the updating tailgating season. Yes! It is that time again. Labor Day marks the offical start of tailgate season.

While many of those polled were undecided (or perhaps simply confused), it does appear that McCain has the edge on Obama at 32% to 28% as top pick for barbecue chef. That leaves 21% undecided and 14% picking another candidate. Let's all hope the other candidate is Grill Girl.

In looking at the demographics, Obama takes the lead with younger barbecue contest voters. I guess they'd rather hang out with someone who could still throw a football, although perhaps McCain can as well. I have not had the opportunity to play with either - sadly.

Men think McCain would be the better pick while women are undecided (splitting about even). Women are probably trying to decide which one would pack and then clean up afterwards. I kind of bet on Obama, since he came from a single parent household.

Democrats were more likely to cross party lines, but that's true at parties as well I think. Also, Democrats tend to be pretty down to earth and may figure it would be a good strategy to keep McCain busy while everyone else enjoys the game.

The sample survey was 1002 American citizens over age 18 and conducted by Weber-Stephen Products Co. Serisouly. You can't make this stuff up (-:

If you're wondering who I'd pick to grill up the grub at the tailgate party, hum . . . tough call. I think I'd invite them both and do the grilling myself. So, if you see either of them, tell them they're invited.

Feel free to leave your vote! Barack or John? Who do think would rock your tailgate party.

Recipe Contest - Win a Free Weber Grill

If you enjoy cooking (and especially outdoors), try your hand at a cooking contest.

This contest is by Coleman.

Your recipe needs to include at least a 1/2 tsp of Coleman's mustard. It's a dry or powdered mustard - not the yellow squirt mustard. Has a kick to it.

The contest runs through the end of the month. Last day to enter - June 30, 2008.

Happy cooking and good luck on the contest if you enter.