Grilling,

After 10 years of strictly gas grilling, I took my first shot at charcoal grilling yesterday. And while it was a modest undertaking for my first time, it turned out quite successfully. Having given away my gas grill when we moved last summer, I had not had the opportunity to cook outdoors since then. Actually, I had grilled only once in the past 2 1/2 years and I really missed it. I have done a lot of indoor cooking, including grilling on this electric grill, but it was just not the same. So yesterday we purchased an inexpensive grill and a chimney starter and I started my learning process for charcoal grilling. It took a while for the briquettes to light, maybe it was the quality of charcoal or that it was a bit of a windy day but once they did light I was going. I grilled us some hamburgers which of course is not too difficult. What did surprise me was the thick pork ribs I also laid out on the grill. For what I thought was a small amount of charcoal laid out on the grill the ribs cooked wonderfully, not too fast so that the interior cooked without burning or drying them out. Long after I was done cooking the charcoal was still quite hot (too hot to touch the grill) and if needed I could have left the ribs to continue cooking. We are making it a weekly thing to go over to Mom & Dad's on Saturday evening to cook. It is the smallest of things I can do for them after all they have done for me, including dealing with my daughter. I so look forward to it now as I get good time with them and I get to cook, something I really love to do.