Here are the Facts & Figure

•  In 2003-2006, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 7,900 home fires involving grills, hibachis or barbecues per year, including an average of 2,900 structure fires and 5,000 outside fires. These 7,900 fires caused annual average of 10 civilian deaths (to the nearest ten), 120 reported injuries and $80 million in direct property damage.
• Although gas grills are used roughly 1.5 times as often as charcoal grills, they were involved in five times as many fires.  Gas grills were involved in 6,400 home fires, including 2,100 structure fires and 4,300 outdoor fires.
• One-third (33%) of the home structure fires involving grills started on an exterior balcony or unenclosed porch, 18% started on a courtyard, terrace or patio, and 11% started on an exterior wall surface.
• Flammable or combustible gas or liquid was the item first ignited in half of home outdoor grill fires. In 51% of the home outdoor fires in which grills were involved, 56% of the outside gas grills, and 29% of the non-confined gas grill structure fires, the fire started when a flammable or combustible gas or liquid caught fire.

Next is what to cook on the grill.  My favorite for a group is Sampler Chicken.  Everyone can choose the BBQ sauce that stirs their appetite.  Start out with chicken on the bone with the skin on.  The skin and bones protect the meat from charring and delivers a moist piece of poultry.  I always purchase my chicken with the skin and bones even though I don't like to eat the skin.  Watch Sampler Chicken to learn how I serve a juicy chicken breast basted with gourmet BBQ sauce and no skin. The same can be done for thighs.  Happy Grilling!

The Sauce Lady

• something that happened - like the time we had a yard full of hungry people and as my husband turn around from the grill to bring the hungry crowd their burgers, they slide off of the tray and right into the pool!  There is no saving cholrinated food.  Unlike the 38% of those backyard bbq masters that admit to putting it back on the grill to sanitize it after it hit the ground.
• something you ate - what was the most delicious thing you've ever had off of the grill?  Was it bbq chicken, ribs, the bbq sauce or something vegetarian?
• something you created - a recipe, a technique, a gadet, a new way to grill ribs or perhaps a sauce?
• someone you met - a new best friend, neighbor or heart throb?

The backyard bbq cook outs are a large part of the American summer social culture.  Therefore there are alot of stories out there and we are anxious to hear them.

My Dad has not walked this earth for many years.  As Father's Day approaches I find myself nostalgically remembering some events of my life.  After all once a person is no longer among us, what else do we have but memories.

We did not have a large backyard and we played mostly on concrete.  On any given Sunday my Father would say "Who wants to have a picnic at the park?" and 5 screaming kids would say "Me, Me, Me!"  He would pack us into the car, Mom would get the food ready and we would stop for charcoal, ice and whatever else we needed.  He could of easily taken us to the park near our house.  It was so close that as kids we used to walk.  However that would not be a special day so he took us to the really good park with more swings, slides and stuff to climb on.  They had a small zoo but best of all they had a really good swiming pool and a lake to swim in.

I don't remember my Father ever preparing a family meal outside of that park.  But there he became the BBQ Hero, standing over the grill, smiling and flipping.  The hot dogs were lightly burnt and decorated with the grill lines transforming them from the bland look of boiling.  The burgers picked up the flavor from the grill and sat handsomely on grilled buns waiting for the ketchup.  The chicken was generously painted with BBQ sauce. 

A sentimental warmness accompanies the visual memory.  Our large family was altogether, everyone was happy, safe and having a good time. There was nothing wrong with the world.  If Dad was still here, I think he would look back at those days as probably some of the best of his life.

Most Dads don't want you to spend alot of money, they want you to create memories for both you and him.

The Sauce Lady

You want your feast to be recalled in a flattering way at the next event your family and friends attend. So give them something to talk about.  Food is the main event at any BBQ from cooking on the grill over fire, to what you serve.  Give them really good food.  Its not that difficult or time consuming.  First, sharpen your skills at the grill.  No one likes a carbon coating on their food. 

• Set the heat on your grill to have a hot spot, warm spot and a resting place.  If its a charcoal grill, cover only 1/2 with charcoals. 
• Clean the grill with a grill brush after the grate has heated up. 
• Then take a few paper towels, rolls then and dip them in oil to rub on the grates of the grill so your food won't stick.
• Unless your food is on fire, don't turn it until it releases easily from the grill.
• Move the food arround the grill to take advantage of the different heat zones so you can serve your guest food at the perfect doneness.
• Use an instant read meat thermometer
• Brush the sauce on just before its done cooking.

Here's an instructional video on charcoal grilling using a fire starter. Lighting a Charcoal Grill with a Fire Starter

Secondly the food.  We all have way too much to do these days so make it easier on yourself with quality prepared items such as corn that been shucked, peeled and cubed potates or deli potato salad and of course a Gourmet BBQ sauce.  Just read the labels.  Expecially if their are family memebers or friends with food sensitivities such as sugar, sodium, gluten and nuts to name a few.  Then there are those who don't eat meat.  I have got a couple of solutions for you to be the conductor of your BBQ show.  First this is healthy cooking that tastes great and secondly, your prep time is under 15!  Grilled portabello mushrooms are an easier answer to the vegetarian or vegan guest and my sampler chicken will please the palate of every tastebud!  Below are the instructional videos and links to the recipe.

Sampler Chicken video, Sampler Chicken Recipe

Grilled Portabelo Mushrooms video

I hope these help you to to shine at your next BBQ.  Use the tags on the right hand side of your screen for more easy and healthly recipes.  Have a great weekend!

The Sauce Lady

http://www.foodproductdesign.com/news/2010/10/hfcs-vs-sugar-debate-continues.aspx

Science News reports; In the United States, soft drink manufacturers almost invariably sweeten their nondiet offerings with high-fructose corn syrup. Unlike sucrose, or table sugar, which is a 50:50 combination of fructose and glucose, high-fructose corn syrup contains these sugars in a mix dominated by fructose.

Although the corn syrup industry has argued that the amount of extra fructose is small, with 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose, a new paper in Obesity challenges that. Michael Goran’s team at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, in Los Angeles, locally collected samples of 23 different sugar-sweetened beverages. The researchers purchased most as canned or bottled drinks, but also collected six samples of soda-fountain beverages.

“All of the soft drinks,” the team reports, “with the exception of the Mexican Coca-Cola, are 58 percent fructose or above, and the three most popular soft drinks [Coke, Pepsi and Sprite] contained 64 to 65 percent fructose.”

And that’s disturbing, Goran says, because unlike glucose, fructose is primarily broken down in the liver, where it can become a feedstock for new fat synthesis. Indeed, the nutritional physiologist notes, fructose is suspected of contributing to a serious and widespread condition known as fatty-liver disease.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/65355/title/Fructose_poses_gout_risks_even_in_women

I hope that the FDA does not allow the HFCS manufacturers to change the name to corn sugar on the basis of the scientic meaning of the word of sucrose which is 50:50 glucose and frutose.  Consumers would be misled to believe that they were not consuming HFCS. 

Even when the debate over HFCS ends, The Stirring Spoon sauces will remain HFCS free.

The Sauce Lady

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/11/29/inside-bbq-sends-six-to-hospital/

I have seen people BBQ on their porches and in their 3 season rooms.  Because of the ventilation they probably won't end up in the hospital as the good folks of Sleepy Hollow did, however they do stand a good chance of having the local Fire Department stop by.  I even stopped my car once because I saw so much smoke coming from a screen enclosed porch, I thought the house was on fire.  Then I noticed a man standing at his BBQ grill cooking dinner! 

Here are the Facts & Figures

•  In 2003-2006, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 7,900 home fires involving grills, hibachis or barbecues per year, including an average of 2,900 structure fires and 5,000 outside fires. These 7,900 fires caused annual average of 10 civilian deaths (to the nearest ten), 120 reported injuries and $80 million in direct property damage.
• Although gas grills are used roughly 1.5 times as often as charcoal grills, they were involved in five times as many fires.  Gas grills were involved in 6,400 home fires, including 2,100 structure fires and 4,300 outdoor fires.
• One-third (33%) of the home structure fires involving grills started on an exterior balcony or unenclosed porch, 18% started on a courtyard, terrace or patio, and 11% started on an exterior wall surface.

• Flammable or combustible gas or liquid was the item first ignited in half of home outdoor grill fires. In 51% of the home outdoor fires in which grills were involved, 56% of the outside gas grills, and 29% of the non-confined gas grill structure fires, the fire started when a flammable or combustible gas or liquid caught fire. 

Source: NFPA's "Selections From Home Fires Involving Cooking Equipment - Grilling," by Marty Ahrens, November 2009.

Safe Grilling

Linda

The Sauce Lady

Did they BBQ in the northeast then?  Is there a recipe in that cookbook for BBQ Sauce?  My grandmother was born in 1896.  I don't remember her telling me any stories about grilling ribs, BBQ chicken or even a hamburger outdoors.  I don't remember any grill in their back yard or ours.  Was grilling and BBQ in the northern states confined to outdoor picnics, camping and cabins in the woods at that time? 

We know that BBQ (slow cooking over a heat source) was the method used by the Native Americans and the pilgrims.  As time went on cooking moved more indoors as a convenience and a source of heat for the home in the northern sections of the country.  Down south and to the west where the climate is much warmer kept BBQ outdoors to keep the house cooler. Therefore it is no surprise that there is no distinct style to northern BBQ Sauce like there is in the Carolina's, Kansas, Memphis, and of course Texas.

With the invention of the car, Americans begin to travel for leisure and road side stands like the one below start to appear introducing the travelers to local cusine.

The travelers then try to recreate their food experiences at home.  What before was the only option for cooking food evolves into our present cultural past time.

A toast to BBQ!

Linda

The Sauce Lady

This is a picture of me from last year's event, the scenery was just breathtaking so being your camera.

Here is a link for more info and directions

http://www.kenyonsgristmill.com

I hope to see you there!

Linda

The Sauce Lady

I have included a link to a time line of the developments in how our food is produced, packaged and promoted over the last 70 years.  I found it interesting how WWII changed our food supply as food manufacturers and packagers look for innovated ways to produce food that could travel long distances and be individually packaged to meet the nomadic lifestyle of an army and the impact it had on the food trends to follow.

http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2010/anniversary.html

You can share by copying and pasting the following link.

http://www.thestirringspoon.com/blog/bid/48437/Food-Trends-Last-70-Years-and-BBQ-Ribs-pre-1940?Preview=true

The Sauce Lady