Nevertheless, we celebrated the holiday over the 4-day weekend like everyone else – and we celebrated it real good! Cindy’s friend, Kat, and her boyfriend, Ollie, arrived in town from London on Thursday night to visit family (and us!) That night we headed into town for (quite) a few pints and managed to close down the bars. Granted, it was a Thursday and they closed down earlier than we are used to, but it was probably a blessing in disguise since I was still feeling the after effects the next day. I spent Friday resting up as I knew I had busy day coming on Saturday since everyone was coming for a BBQ (known as a “braai” in South Africa I learned). In addition to Kat and Ollie, Nicole and Dave (Ollie’s sister and her boyfriend) and Erica and Ray (friends) were on the guest list at Chez Chris’ Grill. This meant getting up somewhat early and heading to the grocery store to get some supplies. On the way back home, Cindy dropped me off at the butcher where I watched them cut eight beautiful sirloin steaks for me. Once home they marinated in the fridge for eight hours while I made some apple crisp and prepared the potato wedges.

Our guests arrived shortly after 4pm and the beer started flowing, pints of gin & tonic for the ladies. Well, to be honest, for some the beer was flowing earlier at the pub since Liverpool was playing the early game, but I won’t name names. Erica and Ray made a trip to the American PX for us and came baring gifts – ranch dressing, Doritos and maple syrup! The sun was shining and we enjoyed it while relaxing on the patio, although some people found the balmy weather cold still, but it wasn’t any of the Canadians! In between beverages we managed to get the steaks grilled and dinner on the table, and I will toot my own horn and say that everything turned out pretty damn good. I made two apple crisps thinking that we would have some leftovers, but that plan failed as it went quickly. No complaints at all though, as an evening of merriment with friends and foliage-paying-it-forward was enjoyed by all (see the photos for more details).

We didn’t have much turn around time before our next scheduled eating event. Ollie and Nicole’s family was kind enough to invite us to Easter lunch/dinner – I don’t know what to call it since we started eating early in the afternoon and finished in the evening. It was simply fantastic food – and by that I mean meat, meat and more meat. There was even meat wrapped in other meat, and the stuffing was meat! There was only one green dish on the table and I think that was just to contrast the color of meat. It was all so delicious and I made sure I helped myself to seconds, although there was enough food for everyone to have fourths, and that was before the desserts were even brought out after a much needed break. Cindy even got her Easter egg hunt, although it did get a little rough with the eight or nine of us running around the house like kids. We had a great time with our substitute British family while away from home for the holidays and couldn’t thank them enough for taking us in.

So, you see. The Easter Bunny really is a whore! Ya, I don’t think I argued my point very well either.

What was on the Chez Chris’ Grill menu today? Kabobs! I pulled out the good ole Weber’s Big Book of Grilling and found a simple recipe – olive oil, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, garlic, fresh mint and oregano. They ended up being a little bit more garlic-y than they were supposed to be as I mixed up 2 tablespoons with 2 teaspoons – oops! It happens once in a while. They actually were really nice that way with just a hint of mint and lemon, so I may use a bit less garlic next time but more than the recipe calls for. And how can I cook without taking pictures? Well, I can’t, and so here are just a few, as well as a shot of my grilling setup – rocking chair and all.

On the job front, I called back the messages that I received yesterday but one of them did not get back to me. However, the recruiting office with the job that I am most interested in – part-time team leader in downtown Leeds – was in the office and we chatted for a couple of minutes. She seemed to like my prior experience and we made an appointment to meet on Monday morning. So, I get to head into the big city of Leeds and see what positions they may have for me. Some positive news on the job front and hopefully something will pan out from it.

Now I am going to get back to my dessert (a glass of scotch) and The Dog Whisperer. We are hooked on the show and the dogs. Oh, and Bob Barker rocks! Don’t you forget it! And don’t forget to spay and neuter your pets.

The other day I had to get the grocery list ready so that I could do the shopping yesterday, but I couldn’t decide what to make for dinner. There were too many options in Weber’s Big Book of Grilling and I just couldn’t decide. So, I handed the book to Cindy to select the dishes and I would go out today and get the needed ingredients. She didn’t hold back, selecting 3 dishes for the menu – pork rib chops, grilled asparagus and baby potatoes. She did good!

With the menu set, I made my way to Morrison’s to get the few things we were missing, such as asparagus and potatoes, plus some beer for the chef. On they way home I stopped at the butcher’s to get the chops; I felt proud for some reason as I watched the butcher grab a big hunk of pig and proceed to cut and cleaver my one and a half inch thick chops. The meat that we get from our butcher is simply spectacular – I don’t know how I am going to be able buy from anywhere else if I have to. The chops were marinated in some freshly squeezed lemon juice, soy sauce, fresh rosemary and some spices for a bit before going on the grill. They were grilled to perfection, white and juicy throughout and very tasty; you could taste the lemon juice, but it wasn’t too much. The asparagus was brushed with a marjoram (I didn’t have any tarragon it turned out), garlic and butter sauce before hitting the grill as well. Oh, and asparagus grilled directly on the grill is utterly fantastic! I don’t think I will have it any other way. I only lost one spear to the coals as I was putting them on the grill, but I just figured it would add more flavor anyways.

The end result – a delicious meal that I am really proud of and that is definitely a keeper, and an easy menu for when we have guests. So far the Weber book has lived up to all the hype I read about it and I just can’t recommend it enough. Here are the usual shots of the meal, which looks just as good as it tasted, if I do say so myself.

Yesterday my latest accessory for the grill arrived – Weber’s Big Book of Grilling. Wow, what a book! I spent my first hours with it just reading up on the history of grilling, must have ingredients (and why), managing the charcoals, properly cooking meat and even selecting meat – oh, and the forward by Al Roker! This is an encyclopedia of grilling and it should come standard in the box when you buy one. Each recipe tells you the kind of heat to use (direct or indirect) if using charcoal, but it can also be used for gas grills as well. It even has a section on matching the right ales/lagers/beers with the right recipes. And recipes? Oh my! I want to do all of them! I highly recommend this book, and if you don’t already have a good BBQ cookbook then pick this one up.

So, with my new bible tucked under my arm, I proceeded to the kitchen this afternoon to prepare some steaks, having picked up two sirloins at the butchers on my way home from the grocery store just after lunch. They marinated in some olive oil, red wine and balsamic vinegars, garlic, fresh rosemary, salt & pepper (let me know if you want the recipe) for five hours in the fridge. Once the grill was all warmed up I proceeded to fill the neighborhood with such a wonderful smell – I still smell of BBQ even. Added to this was some twice-baked potatoes that I prepared ahead of time and then threw on the grill with the steaks, and some salad (Cindy won’t let the plate be only hues of brown, some green is needed apparently). The end result – very tasty and oh-so perfectly cooked steaks that just melted in your mouth. So far I am 2/2 when it comes to recipes on the grill (yup, still tooting my own horn). Here are the requisite images to go with it.

It was sort of our Last Supper before heading to Dublin tomorrow for St. Patty’s Day! The car picks us up at 13:45 to head to the Leeds Bradford Airport and a few hours later we will be touching down in Eire at 17:30ish. We don’t have much time for dilly-dallying as we need to get to our hotel, drop off our bags and then head to the concert at 19:30. I found out yesterday that Q-Tip is playing in a small venue in the bar district and so we ordered some tickets. Other than that, we have no set plans for the two days that follow. I imagine there will be some time spent in the pubs and we plan on meeting a couple of groups of friends that will also be there. A trip to the Guinness factory will most likely be on the itinerary, and probably a walking tour of the city, but other than that we we will be wining it.

I will end this one here as I am not really in a typing mood. I will be back on Sunday or Monday with an update from our trip, more than likely with some pictures. The ones later in the day may be blurry and a little crooked – just warning you ahead of time!

Once home, I prepared the burgers so that they would have some time to sit in the fridge to become firm and tasty. Here is what went into the patties (made 4 of them):

* 1 pound ground beef
* 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
* 4 tablespoons brown sugar (make this 2tbsp next time)
* 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 2 tablespoons steak sauce (I used HP)
* 1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (more like 3/16 cups)

The recipe actually called for 6 tablespoons of sugar but I only used 4. They were still just a bit sweet and so I would probably cut this down to 2 or 3 next time. Also, I didn’t use a full 1/4 cup of bread crumbs as it seemed too much, and they were plain ones as I couldn’t find the Italian seasoned ones here; maybe I will add some of my own Italian seasoning next time. There will be a next time, for sure, as these burgers were so tasty, and I think cooking them on charcoal did make a difference. Everything went pretty well considering it was my first time use charcoal ever, and the only thing left to do is to research how to put the coals out quicker than just letting them burn out. I didn’t get a chance to take a lot of pictures, like I normally do, as I was too busy grilling and drinking my beer (grunt! grunt!) but here are a couple I did manage to get.