A Little Baseball, A Little Food

Baseball Time
I finally did it I broke down and purchased Fox Sports Detroit from Direct TV. I just couldn't stand the thought of not being able to watch the Tigers this year. The real bonus of purchasing FSD is I also got about 70 other regional sports stations. Now how can you beat that? The wife is pleased.

I got to watch the Washington Nationals today playing in their new ballpark in DC. They were playing Baltimore and ended up winning 3-0. The Nats already look better this year than they did last year at this time. Jason Bergman started for the Nats and looked good. This was the last preseason game before the home opener tomorrow night. Tomorrow night is the first official game in the new ballpark in DC and will be broadcast on ESPN.

If anybody ever went to a game in the old ballpark the Nats were playing in, RFK, this will be a huge improvement. A high school field would be a huge improvement. At old RFK stadium you felt like you needed binoculars just to see the players. Plus the out field fences were so far out it made the outfielders look like they were playing real shallow. And we won't even talk about the food.

If I was still living in Arlington I am sure I would have been at that game today but I will settle for the next best thing for now, my 70 channels of sports channels so I can watch just about any team I want now.

Dinner Time
For the last few weeks I have been trying to decide which new barbecue grill I wanted to buy. I finally settled on a new 22" Weber Gold Series. For general barbecuing you can't beat the versatility of a Weber. If you notice it is a charcoal grill, not gas. I have nothing against gas but........................if you are going to use gas why not just cook inside on the stove?


For the last 4-5 years I have been grilling on my smoker because it has a grilling side. The only problem with my smoker is it is really set up more for smoking than grilling. The grilling side is small and makes it hard to control the temperature for proper cooking, especially for chicken. This is not the case with a Weber. While the Weber is not smoker (although you can use if for one it just doesn't work as good as a regular smoker) it is still one of the best grilling machines out there. I chose the larger size because now I can cook for a crowd. The other two sizes, the table top model and the mid sized model, I just didn't think were large enough. This particular model has an ash catcher. After using it I don't think I would buy it without an ash catcher. It is the difference of having ashes blowing around all over the place or neatly catching them in a small bucket underneath the grill for disposal later. You can also purchase this same model with a gas igniter to light the charcoal. This was the only choice I had to make regarding which Weber I wanted. In the end I decided on the old fashion way of doing things, the good old chimney starter. I just couldn't pay the money for the little extra convenience of one touch charcoal lighting. Beside I could already tell what was going to happen as soon as the gas ran out for the charcoal lighter, I would be right back to the chimney lighter.

Armed with a new grill the menu choice tonight was barbecue chicken with roasted potatoes. The new Weber cooked the chicken to near perfection without much fuss. I couldn't be more pleased. This was so much easier than cooking chicken on the old grill.

This is not the location the chicken was cooked on in the grill. The chicken was actually cooked in the center over the pan of water you can see in the bottom of the grille. Once the chicken is cooked I move the chicken over the coals after I apply the barbecue sauce just to finish it real quick.

What is in the aluminum foil package you ask? Why that is the roasted potatoes. Easy to make, slice the potatoes, a little salt, some pepper, real butter, garlic and onions (ok I will admit it I forgot onions today) and wrap it all up in the foil. Slap that baby on the grill for about a hour and presto, easy potatoes. And why not cook potatoes, the grill is hot and now with my new 22" Weber I have room.

I used my homemade barbecue sauce today on the chicken with some slight modifications. I think I made a huge step today with the barbecue sauce. I tweaked an ingredient or two today and I came real close to the flavor I wanted. It is still a secret but I think the first time someone else tries it they may be able to figure out what is in it.

Tomorrow I will try it on some ribs. I will also be using the old smoker for the ribs after all I don't want it to feel like the middle child in the family.