The Sauce Lady

Festival Fete

The Sauce Lady

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.

The Sauce Lady

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

Here's an excerpt from an article in dLife, a magazine for people with diabetes.  While, I personally don't have diabetes (and I would like to keep it that way) its valuable to everyone because the information comes from qualified and objective sources.  The commercials you see on TV are part of a public relations campaign paid for by the companies who have the most to gain from you ingesting their products.  Your health is at the bottom, if at all on their list of priorities when it comes to developing products such as HFCS.  The cost of sugar was rising in the 70's and manufacturers were looking for a means of reducing their costs.  They looked to corn because we had plenty of it and the government was even subsidizing it.  Alas, HFCS is born.  HFCS is in almost every thing because it is a very cheap substitute for table sugar. 

If I substituted HFCS for the honey in my Balsamic Honey Gourmet BBQ Sauce, my cost would go down and I could reduce the price of a bottle by $1.00.

'Despite the natural-sounding ring of fructose, HFCS does not come from fruit. Instead, it’s a highly purified blend of sugars (typically 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose) derived from corn. Because the fructose in HFCS is part of a manmade blend (as opposed to the natural compound of sugars found in fruit), the body metabolizes it very differently from other sugars.'

Click on the full article for more information and recent research.

HFCS - High Fructose Corn Syrup is not the same as Table Sugar

I encourage you to read beyond this article to discover for yourself the dangers of HFCS.

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

Tonight there will be a beautiful peice of fresh wild caught swordfish brushed with my Smokin' Agave Gourmet BBQ Sauce on my BBQ grill.  The smokiness enhances the flavor from the grill, then the sweetness rounds out it all out before a little heat touches the back of your throat. YUM!

This is easy, healthy and under 15!

Let me know what you are grilling this weekend.  

Happy Grilling!

The Sauce Lady

http://www2.turnto10.com/lifestyles/lifestyles/2011/apr/20/sne-spotlight-holiday-ham-90384-vi-27454/

For a listing of  Where to Find Us  (The mustard is not available at Whole Foods Cranston)

Happy Cooking

The Sauce Lady

1. drain the beans from a 15.5 oz can and rinse

2. place the beans in a sauce pot over medium heat

3. add 3-4 tlbs of Wild Bourbon Molasses Gourmet BBQ Sauce

4. add 1-2 tbls water (it needed more moisture since we drained the beans)

5. add cooked bacon, hotdogs, etc if desired

6. stir until heated through

The Sauce Lady