I grabbed a great deal on a new Char-Broil grill/BBQ the other day (thanks Dealnews), and managed to get it all put together correctly (although it took a while, since the cold temperatures in March - even in Seattle - were challenging my fingers during the assembly…)

The directions were pretty good, and I only ended up with one spare screw and washer (but that was kinda on purpose), but noticed that one piece of key instructions were missing — how to (pre)season the cast iron grills. So, thanks to teh Internets, I found that you need to first clean and then coat the grills with Crisco and heat them up. Tons of suggestions out there, but the directions I followed were from Char-Broil themselves (and the clearest to understand)… The only addition I’m going to make is to do a light coat with vegetable oil after they all cool down just to keep the grills moisturized — that’s what I do with my cast iron skillet and Dutch oven in the kitchen.

We’re halfway through with the seasoning process, and I might not be able to keep from slapping some ribs on for dinner before all is said and done.

I sure do love me some grilling… Mmmmm…ribs….

Categories: Food
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Jess, thank you.  You had a great Take It Bake It party, and you forced me to figure out something to cook for 50 people (that could also be frozen and reheated).  I chose a springtime Asparagus/Leek cream soup, and ended up taking that home with me along with 5 other fantastic dishes.  My freezer is happy, and soon my tummy will be too (again).

I’ve been reading a lot of food blogs (well, not a ton, but more than I used to), and here are some of my faves (ymmv, yada yada yada):

• hogwash — well, it was Jess who reminded me that there is more to blogs than just geeky stuff and celebrity gossip (which was the majority of my feeds).  Also, she’s a great writer — solid writing, great sense of humor, and yummy recipes.
• Accidental Hedonist — I think this was one of my early blogs that I subscribed to.  I like the writing with a scientific spin, and she always keeps me posted on trans-fat and HFCS and stuff like that.
• Megnut — Meg has been around for a while (8 years now), and was one of the early founders of Blogger.  She’s also married to Jason Kottke, who is tops in my feed list too.
• Voracious — local Seattle food blog from the Seattle Weekly.
• Ruhlman — I like him, but I read specifically in case Tony B posts.

Ok, so what am I missing?

Categories: Food
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I don’t remember how I found out that Alex Kapranos (the lead singer of the band Franz Ferdinand) was writing semi-regular entries about food/etc while on his latest tour. But, once I started reading them, I enjoyed his style, the content, and his thoughts. Too bad that the tour (and the writing) have come to an end. I shall look forward to the book (and the next album…)

Here’s the last entry :: Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | End of the road

Here’s a link to all of the entries (start at the beginning…) :: Alex Kapranos on Guardian Unlimited

Categories: Food, Random, World
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