Grilling and Gardening

What a nice weekend! On Saturday I grilled at Kilian Hardware, (est. 1913) on Germantown Ave. in Philadelphia. This was a real Americana Main Street day. It was the first 70 degree sunny day in Philadelphia this spring so we caught it just right. I had some great help from Auntie Nels as she assisted me in grilling pizza (with MamaMary's Gourmet Pizza Crusts) quesadillas, and ravioili. The grilled ravioli is always a show stopper and Nellie directed me to Tallutto's fresh home-made ravioli- which were superb.

The gang at Kilian have been serving the community for several generations, and I enjoyed meeting and working with them and their customers. We introduced GrillGrates to a lot of foks and sold several GrillGrate Gift Kits. Kilian sold a couple of Weber Performers and the 2008 leftover grill that I was grilling on. That lucky couple got my well broken in set of GrillGrates too. I got home late Saturday night to Atlanta expecting storms. The storms never materialized so Sunday morning I hit the yard to mow the lawn and edge the beds. Grilling on Main Street USA on Saturday and Gardening on Main Street on Sunday, life is good.

Peace, Love, and BARBECUE

It's the title of a book and well sums up the world of competitive barbecue and backyard grilling too. It also sums up the weekend we spent at the "Best of the Best" Barbecue competition in Douglas, GA. GOD smiled on us (and Douglas, GA) because we got to meet and learn from some of the best. We grilled all kinds of pizzas and sold GrillGrates while the competition and demonstrations swirled around downtown Douglas. We get some wonderful feedback and ideas made a lot of new friends.

Mike Mills and his daughter Amy literally wrote the book and I was thrilled to hear Mike's ideas and thoughts about GrillGrates. He and another legend, Rocky Danner were sharing their knowledge and doing grilling demonstrations throughout the weekend. Rocky actually grilled with GrillGrates on a Big Green Egg. He grilled a pork loin that he sliced less than 1/2" thick and cut a pocket in one end which he filled with cheese. Then he rolled up the loin and wrapped it in bacon. Rocky said he had over a pound and a half of bacon on the grill and no flare-ups. The pinwheel loins were beautiful and delicious. I'll post photos and recipes as soon as I get them. Such a refreshing weekend to meet so many authentic and friendly people. Peace, Love & Barbecue!