Toss it on the grill in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

When I was a kid, having hamburgers from the back yard grill was a great treat. We didn’t just have a rickety grill - ours was a massive brick structure with a chimney and everything! Our back patio had a sassafras planted in the middle and it grew like a big umbrella. Plus the forsythia hedge along the side fence gave us privacy from the road - good times!

Here, alas, we have a small, camping-style charcoal grill, as our propane grill bit the dust years ago. Not that it matters - I truly can’t remember the last time I cooked outside. But if I did, it would be burgers.

So let’s fire up the MMP grill. What are you gonna cook?

Oh, and Happy Moanday!

2

I love burgers grilled with charcoal ( sorry Hank).
Never had a grill; hoping someone invites me for the 4th.
I actually heard a firework last night night and realized its only a month away!
Waited a year for summer now I feel it will be gone before I know it.

3

We’ll be somewhere in Norway on the 4th - pretty sure there won’t be fireworks! :wink: Wonder how many ignorant passengers will complain about that??

4

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 64 Amurrkin out and sunny with a predicted high of 86 and sunny. I am attemptin’ to motivate myself to achieve mowage this mornin’. So far the motivation is next to zero, but it needs to be done. Tonight is the first night of VBS, so I shall go over to the church house around threeish and other verger and I will make food for the little knee nibblers. Apropos to the topic, tonight’s offerin’ will be grilled hot dawgs, which I shall grill. We have a nice, but old propane grill there.

We grill at least once a week usually. Burgers, dawgs, poke chops, steaks and chikin are pretty much always grilled. Even in Winter it’s not too bad. One can always fire up the grill (propane), go back inside whilst it heats up, throw stuff on the grill, go back inside, go back and turn whatever over, go back inside, then take it off the grill, turn the grill off, and back inside. When it’s warm out I usually just hang out by the grill and drink a beerverage or two whilst grillin’.

TL;DR version: We like to grill.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then I must motivate. Or not. The willy-nilly is strong today!

Happy Moanday Y’all!

5

Every summer I say I’m going to get a small propane grill, and every summer I don’t get one. My favorite meal ever is burgers on the grill, corn on the cob on the grill, fresh local maters. Throw in my mom’s potato salad and I can die happy.

Went to bed last evening at 6:30pm. Woke up a few times for bathroom visit (and Ursala Kitteh walking on my head) but otherwise slept until 5:30 this morning.

6

Good morning all. My bladder let me sleep until 6am today, so that is a good start. Some shopping and my Jersey Mike’s sub in about 3 hours and then it’s a ‘we’ll see’ day. Want to mow around Wednesday or Thursday this week so I can then mow prior to leaving on the 16th for my vacation, that way the lawn won’t get too out of control. Going to be a hot one, temperature is heading to 86F this afternoon and we may see our first 90F day of the year by the end of the week.

Can dimly remember my Dad grilling (over charcoal) hamburgers and hot dogs once or twice a year, but I never really developed a taste for it, have never owned or outdoor grilled anything since I’ve been on my own

And onward into the week. Have a good one all.

7

We now live in an apartment, so no grill. The kitchen downstairs has both a grill and a smoker on the terrace, so they do ribs, brisket and such from time to time. I don’t miss having one, truth be told.

They supposedly shut our water off again last night for the work on the road, but I don’t notice any pressure problems this morning, so I wonder if they had to postpone it for some reason.

Looking at 90s again today, but followed by rain and a 30 degree drop, with mild temps all week.

8

We have a kettle grill that we usually use for hamburgers or steaks a few times each summer (though for some reason we didn’t break it out even once last year). Some of those big propane grills have nice features, but I can’t imagine ever having to cook for more than just three or four people.

Very unhappy to learn that the Wide Awake Coffee Company have stopped producing the single-serving bottles and tins I’ve been buying the last few years. Haven’t seen any in the stores since January or February, so I finally thought of checking their website to see what’s going on with them – and the only ready-to-drink coffee they show is 46-oz bottles and 64-oz cartons. I guess Java Monster is going to get a whole lot of extra business from me in the future,

9

Grocery store had sales on pork loins and ribs, so Saturday I grilled a pork loin and Sunday I BBQed ribs.

The pork loin, though I took it off the grill at an internal temp of 140F, it was done much earlier than I expected, so I wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven on the warm setting for awhile. I think that was a mistake-- it turned out a little dry.

The ribs, though, turned out perfect. Looking forward to making me a rib sandwich for lunch :face_savoring_food:

10

Hello, again! “Lovely to see you again, my friend(s). Walk along with me to the next bend.”

The family crisis isn’t exactly over, but the shit has hit the fan at last, and everyone has survived. I’ll try to be concise. My tightly-knit sibs and I have gotten together every summer for 25 years, first at Mom’s place and later at my bro’s summer house. This became especially important after Mom died. As I’ve said, my SIL is…difficult, a tense and angry person who has everyone walking on eggs. My middle sister, V, and her hubs, my BIL, can’t stand her. They said flatly they won’t be going this summer or ever again. V is morbidly obese and crippled by arthritic knees, so that’s the excuse she gave bro and SIL. V wants us all to gather for a meal at her house, 2 hours from my bro’s–not the same, but SOMETHING, at least. SIL is now saying she won’t go there (I think from revenge), and my bro can’t leave her, so, she says, all sibling gatherings are over for good.

This is why I got so upset. Also, when I was a teen, Mom officially put me in charge of sibling mediation, so I’ve been dealing with feeling like I failed. (Unrealistic but true.)

In other news, the dog-walking hasn’t taken off, but I get Max, the little cavalier King Charles spaniel, a lot. His person is barely scraping by, so I can’t charge her as much, but she’s 80 and in poor health, so she needs me a lot. Except for his compulsions–fetch and snuggles–he’s an easy little guy. I’ll have him all day today.

There are propane grills here, but they’re pretty inconvenient, and like coppertone, I prefer charcoal-grilled flavor. In short, I no longer grill.

From the last MMP: JtC, I’m so glad you have fuchsias now–and hummers! Mine aren’t blooming yet, but hopefully soon. Also…

apple butter (one apple, half a cup of warm spices (cinnamon, allspice, ginger, etc), and two cups of brown sugar).

I’m slow and can’t figure this out. I used to make and can loads of apple butter, but that involved long cooking and lots of apples. Obviously this is for dredging, so very different, but do you cook down the lone apple? How does it not make the dredge clumpy? Heeelllppp.

swampy, you’ve probably explained this a dozen times, but does VBS stand for Vesper Babies Service?

I wonder if the crew will set off fireworks from the deck to appease those passengers.

11

We will be grilling pork loin tonight, marinated in Masterpiece barbeque sauce as God and my forefathers ordained. Along side will be corn on the cob of course.

12

We used to have an old Weber kettle, but we sold it when we thought we were going to move last year, and have not replaced it. We thought about it, but our crappy neighbors have a pitbull that barks and growls at us in our small backyard from a few feet away on the other side of a thin fence. It makes hanging out at a grill somewhat of an ordeal. So no replacement grill for us.

When I did grill, I liked to do a whole tri-tip roast and accompany it with chili beans and coleslaw. The roast was good for a hot meal on day one and for cold roast beef sandwiches on day two.

Well, it’s off to the dentist for a checkup and cleaning a little later today. I’ll stop at the grocery store on my way back to get a couple of things for the lunch I’m planning: spaghetti with tuna and olive sauce.

13

Afternoon, mumpers! It’s currently 19c/66f with no predicted change, and partly cloudy. Weather app says “It’s a beautiful fucking day in the neighbourhood, except it really fucking isn’t, is it?” Well, it looks pretty nice outside at the moment so the only thing that would improve it would be to not have neighbours!

Welcome back, nellie, I’m glad to see you here again. You absolutely have not failed, you can mediate between your siblings but once they bring in other people, it gets so much more difficult. There are things you can say and ways of saying them that only work between blood relatives, anything else is always going to be tricky ground. I think you’ve done a great job keeping everyone together for such a long time, you should be proud of that. Maybe there is a compromise somewhere, you can get as much of the family together as possible in one place and videocall your brother so he can talk to everyone without SIL being in the room?

As for the MMP, we’ve never had a grill or bbq at home and I can’t say I feel like I’ve missed out. Our “garden” is an untamed jungle that we don’t do much with, apart from hacking it down to ground level every now and then. Our neighbours make it unpleasant to consider sitting outside so if we want to do that, we go round to the park or we’ll take ourselves to the pub and sit in their garden instead.

Today has been the usual workday for me, I dropped 'im indoors at the station this morning and have been to do the grocery shopping at lunchtime. Lunch has happened, and I’ve got another couple of hours work to do before it’s time to log off again. Tonight’s dinner is leftovers from yesterday so that will not require much actual cooking.

14

We have a modest profane grill in the back yard. I was the one who did the grilling before I got too shaky to make the trips from kitchen to grill to dining room without dropping anything. Now, I’m a spectator.

FCMom, an old riddle asks, “What do they call the 4th of July in Norway? The 4th of July.”

I got distracted in the middle of reading that, and my brain twisted it into “walking on tenterhooks.” One of the things VBS can stand for is “Vacation Bible School.”

teelabrown, an old postal worker told me how he coped with dogs on his daily route. He carried dog treats, broken in half. When a dog came barking, he’d show the dog the treat, then toss it several feet behind the dog. After a couple of repetitions of this, he’ll learn that you’re a friend, and that his reward will be several feet away from you. I used that trick while mowing the lawn, when the neighbor’s snarling, snappy dog liked to rush the fence and startle me. He went from, “I must protect my territory,” to “Oh, it it’s you. Hi.”

15

Good to see you, Nellie!!

Not really much for grilling here. As a matter of fact, this house came with an old grill that was in working condition. I really had no use for it, so I gave it away.

This morning so far I’ve been working on a pillow, looking for jobs, and my mom and are playing the game of where’s the chainsaw outside and what’s it cutting down. We’re just currently talking about it now and wondering if it is a one that is having work or the city is out there chopping down trees.

16

Good morning!

It’s 48F and mostly sunny outside. High temps will only reach the low seventies today, but the day should be mostly sunny with some partially cloudy spots.

Nellie, it’s most excellent to see you again. I’m sorry about your family. You did not fail; ultimately, the willingness to change or get along is on them, not you.

I’ve had a number of both propane and charcoal grills over the years. I grew up with a bit of hibachi. Both propane and charcoal have their pros and cons. After getting rid of our large barrel and smoker combo grill, I purchased a Weber kettle grill. We’ve grilled a few times already this year. I enjoy grilling almost anything, including vegetables. I used to have larger grills because we used to entertain a lot. However, the friend circle has shrunk, as some have moved away, and the daughter and her family have also moved away. Now, it’s mostly just my husband and me.

My husband and ended up going out to lunch yesterday. After lunch, we stopped at PetSmart and picked up some doggy ice cream as well as some new toys for them. We also stopped a combo nursery/market and picked up a black watermelon. The melon was super heavy for its size. We ate some last night and enjoyed it. It was very sweet and juicy.

I also watered plants and did three loads of laundry. I need to wash towels and sheets today because I didn’t get to them yesterday.

I didn’t do any gardening yesterday, and my back is grateful for it. It feels pretty good today, thank goodness. It’s been really hurting over the last couple of weeks. However, it’s back to work today.

Time for some more coffee. I hope you all have an enjoyable day!

17

Sitting outside with a cold beer and grilling burgers over charcoal is my happy place. Burgers off the grill are what summer tastes like for me.

I have a Weber Kettle grill and an Oklahoma Joe offset smoker. I light up the kettle grill a couple of times a week and about once a month I roll the smoker out for ribs or pulled pork.

18

In the land of the Midnight Sun, I don’t know if it’ll get dark enough, certainly not before stupid o’clock. We’ll see.

Been a busy morning here. I brought the two smaller rolly bags upstairs - both belonged to FCD’s folks. One was empty, one had a couple of MIL’s purses and a toiletry bag. The purses are going to the thrift store and now we’ll both have toiletry bags - yay! So for the trip, we’ll each have 2 rolly bags and one carry-on. We may even be able to take more clothing than I’d thought. We shall see.

Beyond that, I loaded the dishwasher and gathered all the household trash and recycling, then loaded it all in the truck. Big chore was helping FCD clean his shop. My job was sweeping and shop-vaccing the chips and crud. Then I added the shop garbage bag to the rest. In a little bit, I’ll have lunch, and after noon-ish, I’ll need to go to the convenience center, followed by a stop at Food Lion for some laundry detergent on sale, then across the street to CVS for FCD’s meds. The delay is because one of his meds won’t be ready till 12, they tell me. Much busier day than I expected.

I may or may not have the energy to futz in the yard. Maybe I’ll just walk around and throw azalea food on the azaleas. Time will tell.

19

We have a big smoker/grill combo and it gets used at least once a week, much more often in the summer. Smoked turkey makes for great sammiches.

We don’t have a fancy outdoor kitchen like I’ve seen at other homes, but our smoker is under the carport and has furniture around so we can sit while cooking and have tables for our beers.

I know that you worked hard before Taco handed the government over to the king, but you are doing different work now and your back knows it! Don’t hurt yourself, you have plenty of time to get it all done now.

Didn’t you have some big storms come through last week? It could be a neighbor cutting up downed branches. (we play that game too!)

Hubs has been getting acupuncture for the shakes and it has really made a big difference for him. I think his insurance will cover 20 sessions a year, but of course have no idea if your doctor would think it would be helpful for you. Something to think about…

That’s one of the major reasons we finally picked up and left the west side of the country. We had horrible neighbors who ignored their bored dogs and left them out in the heat and snow to cry and bark, plus the ones who got into loud fights every weekend, and the one who kept getting cats but never had them fixed, not to mention that the truck stops smelled bad.

I had a lovely back yard and a fabulous back porch. I rarely used it the last couple of years, it was just too noisy and smelly.

Have you looked into those electronic dog bark silencers? We bought them for the next door neighbor’s aggressive dogs and they stopped barking at the fence. They were able to figure out the range which left them standing on the front steps or in front of their living room window while barking and growling. It’s much less annoying when you know that the loud dogs just woke the neighbor baby up from its nap again.

I’m sorry, there was a lot of sarcasm there because most WV desserts are more sugar than fruit or flour. It is highly spiced and sweetened apple butter, using a lot of apples - but that would have sounded too healthy.

I’m so sorry about your family meltdown, but I’m confused as to why you are taking the blame. You can’t control what anyone else does, all you can control is your reactions to it.

Most new businesses start out small, soon enough you’ll have so much business that you will have to hire help!

20

A short Monday for once, although the 300 Slide was the usual chaos of neglect. The Exception resolution program on one terminal was upgraded by TSG. And by “upgrade” I mean the electronic equivalent of beating it with a hammer till it stopped working. I did my Aldi run, then stopped at Ace for some wall anchors to fix my bathroom towel bar, and a new bird feeder to replace the one Edgar the Overly Aggressive Squirrel trashed. Spot has had his dry, flavorless bits, and so have I(mine had milk and strawberries, too).

I can’t have a grill because of fire regulations. There is one down by the pool, but I’m not walking 100 yards when I have a perfectly functional gas stove in the kitchen.

Squirrel

“Think of how dumb the average person is, and realize that half of them are dumber than that.” - George Carlin

{{{{nellie}}}} You didn’t fail, some people just want to be mad. But welcome back.