(M) it's grill-thirty somewheres

i don't care. i don't care that i'm shivering outside on the melty snow deck, sockless feet damp in the puddles. no, i don't care that my hair smells like smoke, and if i'm too lazy to shower it out before bed, that i'll spend all day tomorrow laundering my pillowcases. i don't care that "experts" say that too much char on your food means carcinogens which means cancer.

it's gwillin' season, as one mr. elmer fudd would say.

for some reason, this early spring weather always reminds me of high school, when we all had our cars parked in the school parking lot. at the first sign of spring (usually, that the thermometer showed 35 degrees), on our cattle-herding way out of the lot, we would all crank the hey, hey, LUDACRIS on our sub-standard speakers, windows open, cutting each other off and jolly flipping the bird. there was one poor traffic-wrangler, terry (who strangely enough did the same job at lunch hour--only instead of getting cars safely out of the lot, there were rambunctious sugarhigh teenagers funneling from a large cafeteria through a narrow corridor). terry was witness to this spring crazy every year, and i'm sure it both horrified and bored him. unless he was a closet li'l jon fan.

i'm planning on spending at least half my paycheck on charcoal briquettes this year. or maybe, to expedite the process, i'll just use the paycheck, envelope and all, for fuel. i grilled a few times last year, but this year i want to do it at least once a week. just as i was overwhelmed at the amount of meat and veg i could braise, stew, and roast in the winter, i can't wait to learn more about grilling and smoking. we've started firing up a weber grill at work, experimenting with slow-smoking beef, something that we will hopefully run as a special this summer, when we get a barbecue pit put in behind the patio. jealous that our kitchen manager, mark, spent a balmy (40 degrees) thursday night out with the grill, beer in hand, while i was inside sweating with the rotisserie chickens, i told him i called dibs on summer grill bitch.

could you imagine? (*cue dreamy, far-off look*) a busy sweaty night inside the restaurant, nobigdeal i'm just outside, fanning coals, roasting whole fish to order for big tables. customers driving by see the smoke and honk. i lazily look over (corncob pipe in my mouth), and do a slow tong salute. just like i brought mark (and some off-duty cooks who joined him) snacks as they barbecued on thursday night, someone would surely bring me a few cold beers as the night goes on. the night comes to an end, and the staff join me outside around the pit, cheering my name, and we all share the burnt, delicious remains of the day's grilled special.

i haven't done anything too interesting on the grill yet. on friday night, to celebrate D's fourth year living in minnesota/north america, i grilt a couple of whole mackerel, thanks to a wise, passionate man working at coastal seafoods (he said it's his favorite whole fish to grill). saturday night, i did a couple of steaks and some lamb chops. for myself to eat, i've grilled some eggplant, zucchini, asparagus, onions, etc. i tried grilling tofu both friday and saturday nights, and it was really good on friday, but shotty on saturday--could be the grill, but it's my goal to get it perfected to the point that i craaaave that shit. and p.s. the shiitake mushrooms from united noodle (usually like 3 bucks a package) are DA BOMB (that's right i just said that) on the grill--they never fall through the grate and they taste amazo, just marinated in a little soy sauce.

here's to hoping my grillin adventures become more interesting to read about, for pete's sake !