The trick is to smoke the meat and not make the meat smoke
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2012 Blog Archive

Here is the ARCHIVE OF BLOGS for this year with links to all of the entries listed chronologically.
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Happy New Year & Thanks!!

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While I have several other blog entries I was hoping to finish writing and post up for 2012, I have simply run out of time. Come back and visit the 2013 edition of my BBQ Blog for more entries. I am going to use this blog entry to wish the visitors to my site and this blog a very Happy and Healthy New Year!! Read More...
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Congratulations It’s a Large!!! (My Second BGE)

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I have some great (or is it grate?) news to close out 2012. This was an amazing year, my best ever pursuing this hobby. The year just got even better, which I certainly didn’t expect. I am the proud owner of a second Large Big Green Egg, bought using Christmas cash and some leftover money from Apple’s last dividend payout. Everything is at the dealers with the exception of the base cabinet to put the new Egg on. But the cabinet is expected any day now and I couldn’t be more Eggcited. Read More...
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Creating a Cooking Log

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I recently updated the cooking log for my horizontal barrel smoker and turned it into a version customized to suit my Big Green Egg. I posted a picture of my log from the prime ribI made on Christmas Day on the Egghead forum. The purpose wasn’t to talk about the log itself, but to get a question answered regarding some temperature weirdness I’d observed. Several folks contacted me via private messages to ask questions about the log file itself. It has been a while since I wrote a blog entry about KEEPING A COOKING LOG and there was enough interest in it that I decided I would write about how I made the Cooking Log itself. Read More...
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Temperature Probe Issues

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apI am afraid I have Egg on my face. Not Big Green Egg, but my problem did occur when I was using the Big Green Egg to cook my Standing Rib Roast low and slow. The problem was definitely not with the Egg, but with the user of the Egg-Me. I figured I’d post the cause and effects of my problem, so that other Egg users won’t make the same mistake. The problem I created could also happen in similar but different ways on other grills too, so it might be worth a read even if you don’t own a Big Green Egg. Read More...
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My Favorite Year

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Big Picture-wise this year was actually a mixed bag for me. Personally there were some very sad events. On the Grilling front it was my best year grilling ever. Since this is a Grilling/BBQ based blog I will confine my remarks to my favorite year grilling ever and why I call it that. It was truly a remarkable year! I will admit when it started out, it didn’t look like anything out of the ordinary. It looked to be a continuation of the things I was learning & doing in years past. I should also put a qualification on this too, in terms of the time frame I am speaking about. I define my serious grilling period as starting in October of 2003 when I got my Kenmore Elite 6-Burner gas grill and bought a copy of Steven Raichlen’s HOW TO GRILL to help me learn how to take advantage of the features of this new gas grill. Up until this point I was a weekend warrior, grilling the same 5 or 6 items from Memorial Day to Labor Day. So from October 2003 and beyond is when I became serious about grilling, and later smoking. In those 9 years, this has been my best year ever and I will explore it here in this blog entry. For those who are interested in reading more about certain topics, I will post links to related blog entries written this year. Read More...
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Wok Talk - It's All About the Seasoning

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This blog entry will stress the importance and rewards realized from properly seasoning your wok from the perspective of a former skeptic. That former skeptic would be me of course and I was dead wrong. So if you are a newbie wokker like me, please read on and you will learn from the former skeptic that there really is something to all that talk of seasoning your wok and the rewards in store from you if you do. Read More...
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Wok Talk - Hitting a Comfort Zone

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This blog will cover some of the initial discoveries I’ve made dipping my toes into wokking waters. I have reached an initial comfort level far quicker than I ever expected and I have been extremely happy with every wok cook I’ve done so far. Now before you think I feel like I am some sort of expert, that is far from the truth. I am just sharing what I have learned so far and I am well aware I still have LOTS to learn. Since it is more general knowledge than Big Green Egg specific, I will not include it in my series of Big Green Egg blogs. There will be a small amount of BGE specific info, but most of this will apply to wokking on a grill. Read More...
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Looking Back, Looking Ahead - 2012

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THE YEAR IN REVIEW
This marks the 7th year where I am writing a blog near the end of the year summing up the past year. It contains several “Top 5” barbecue related lists from prior years: “Top 5 Cooks”, “Top 5 Things I’ve Learned”, “The Top 5 Mistakes Made”, and a list of “Top 5 Goals for the New Year”. In 2009 I made a change to the format and added a new list. As I have gotten better at this hobby, I was lucky enough to have made some of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Since these items were also some of my favorite foods, they would automatically have to be listed as the Top 5 cooks this year. There were a lot of other great meals I made that deserved so acknowledgment. So the category I added in 2009 for “Top 5 New Items Cooked” is now a permanent item. It is intended for recipes using new foods or new techniques that turned out great. In 2010I added the category: “Top 5 Grilling/Smoking Related Events”. I think it will also be a permanent category but it will have a slightly different focus once again in 2012. I was not able to get out and attend and festivals, but I will list some items that were important to my pursuit of this hobby. Since I’ve been doing many more multi-item cooks where I grilled or smoked the entire meal, including dessert. the new 2011 category for “Top 5 Sides & Desserts” is also permanent. This year I got an iPad and between my iPad and iPhone I’ve become quite reliant of several apps to help with my cooking. So this year I am adding a new category for “Top 5 iPad/iPhone apps. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt 19 - It Will Change Your Life

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A bold statement, I know-but I plan to prove it. Those of you who already own a Big Green Egg, well most of you already know what I am talking about and probably agree with that statement. Those of you who own other Kamado style cookers probably have an idea of what I am talking about. Those of you who don’t own a Big Green Egg are probably rolling your eyes and shaking your heads. That is if you even bothered to open this blog up and read it. Believe me I had no inkling what a profound change the Big Green Egg would make in not just my grilling life, but my life in general until 4 months ago when I purchased my Large BGE. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt 18 - First Stir Fry

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Part I of this blog entry covered getting started in stir frying and wok cooking-the equipment & accessories needed. It does have some aspects that are specific to the Big Green Egg, but most of it would apply to wok cooking on any grill or wok cooking in general. This entry covers seasoning my new wok and my first stir fry. It has some Egg specific information, but most of it is also general information. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt 17 - Stir Frying on the BGE

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This blog entry does have some Big Green Egg specific information, but it also has lots of information that applies to wok cooking or wok cooking on a grill. One surprise about my new Big Green Egg has been the versatility of it. I am now not just grilling and smoking on it, Ive been baking on it and now as of yesterday Stir-Frying. If you told me back in August I’d be baking on the new Big Green Egg, I might have said: “OK why not, I baked a couple things on my gas grill too.” If you had said I’d be stir-frying I would have laughed at you. I don’t stir-fry on anything, never had and I figured I never will.. But it turns out the Big Green Egg excels in wok cooking due to the high heat it can bring to the table. This blog will be about my first attempt at stir frying and what I have learned. I will divide this entry into two parts. The first will cover the big picture.items like why you would want to stir-fry on the Egg, what you need to get, and getting started. The second entry will talk about my first wok cook. Also please note that I am not suddenly declaring myself an expert on using the wok on the Egg. I am just trying to pass along what I have picked up so far, which will hopefully help some other folks who are thinking about trying this too. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 16 - Grate Accessories - Raised Grid

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This is the second of two blogs offering my impressions of add on grates for the Big Green Egg which add different capabilities to the Egg. The first part covered the Half Moon Griddle Grate. This second part will cover the Half Moon Raised Grid which is intended to allow you to do direct & indirect coking at the same time. Both of these Eggcessories are made by the Big Green Egg company and are available at most BGE dealers. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 15 - Grate Accessories - Griddle

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This is the first of two blogs offering my impressions of two different add on grates for the Big Green Egg which add different capabilities to the Egg. This first part will cover the Half Moon Griddle Grate and the second part will cover the Half Moon Raised Grids. Both of these Eggcessories are made by the Big Green Egg company and are available at most BGE dealers. Read More...
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Maverick ET-732 - New & DEFINITELY Improved

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I have been using the Maverick ET-73 for the last 7 years and for the most part it has served me well. But it wasn’t perfect. It did have some issues (both big & little) and annoying “features”. About two years ago Maverick introduced a new and improved model: the ET-732 which pretty much cleared up all of the problems and annoyances with the first model. I picked one up in August as part of my Big Green Egg Purchase. This blog will go over some of the problems & annoyances with the ET-73 and discuss the solutions. It will also cover several new features. At the end of this blog I will also list a previous blog entry I’ve written on remote read thermometers, which I think are essential grilling and smoking tools. Read More...
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Cook's Illustrated Holiday Baking 2012

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This blog entry is a heads up on a great magazine supplement I picked up last week, that has some great baking recipes I plan to make using my Big Green Egg or my indoor oven. The Cook’s Illustrated Holiday Baking 2012 magazine supplement has just under 30 great baking recipes plus tips & tricks for making your baking easier, better or both. Many times these special edition magazine collections will have a few recipes I like, and these couple recipes alone make the purchase worthwhile. This edition has at LEAST a dozen recipes I am looking forward to making.
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 14 - Impressions after 90 Days

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I have now owned my Big Green Egg for three months and I've cooked over 80 meals on it. When I bought it I was blown away by just how great it was. With this blog entry I'm taking a look at my initial impressions of the Big Green Egg to see if my opinion of it has improved or gone down over my first three months of heavy usage. And when I say heavy usage I don’t think I used my gas grill 80 times in the whole first year I owned it, let alone 3 months. Read More...
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Kingsford Charcoal Caddy

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In my continuing effort to get my grilling area organized, I picked up a new grilling gizmo that seems to perfectly fit a need of mine. It is the Kingsford Charcoal Caddy and I’m going to describe it here and give my preliminary impressions. Based on some posts on various message boards, it seems to be the real deal and is built to last several years in all kinds of weather. Truth be told I wasn’t even looking for this storage unit. I was on The Container Store website looking for something completely different when I spotted the Charcoal Caddy. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt 13 - Big Green Egg Cookbook

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I listed the Big Green Egg Cookbook in the Eggcessories section of the Gear Photos. You might not think of a cookbook as a piece of gear. Although this is a cookbook, I also think it is essential tool for learning & using your Big Green Egg. I purchased this cookbook in the Amazon Kindle electronic book (eBook) format. There are some plusses and surprisingly some definite minuses to this format for a reference book like a cookbook, which I’ll discuss in this blog entry. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt 12 - Gasket Replacement - Blow by Blow

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Part 2 of this blog entry on replacing the gasket on my BGE will cover the specifics of my installation. Watching some of the videos on YouTube I had no idea how time consuming and what a pain in the ass this process was. It is not hard or strenuous, but it was nowhere near as easy as some of the videos made it look. Now your mileage may vary and part of my problem may have been I had nearly 60 cooks on my Egg before I replaced the gasket. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt 11 - Gasket Replacement - Big Picture

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Yesterday I did something that I hope to never have to do again to my Big Green Egg for a real long time. I replaced the existing wool gasket with a new high heat Nomex gasket. There is a lot of info on the web about changing your Big Green Egg gaskets. So why am I writing a blog about this process? Because I am going to report my real world experience without taking shortcuts, leaving little details out or minimizing some of the aggravating steps and I will let the reader take it for what it is worth. I am going to split this into two parts. This part will cover the big picture items you should know before starting. These include when you should replace your gasket, some of the options for a Nomex high temperature replacement gasket, the tools you will need, how much time it will take and what you will need to do with the Egg. Part 2 will cover my specific experiences: what went well and what didn’t. Read More...
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Gimme Shelter-Grill Gazebo

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This has been an incredible summer for me. So much so, that I almost have to pinch my myself to make sure I am not dreaming. First I started the summer thinking I might be able to use birthday money to get one of the new Chargriller Kamado Kookers. Then Apple declared an unexpected quarterly stock dividend and I am able to use the first dividend payment to get a Big Green Egg in August. While I knew the BGE was a great grill, I never expected to be able to get one right now. My original intent was to supplement my other grills which are getting old. The reality is the BGE may end up replacing both of them. I started the summer with a brand new 10’ x 10’ (3 m) EZ-Up replacing one I’d used for the last 6 years. I was worried about some value engineering (cheapening something to lower the price or maintaining the price in the face of higher costs) I saw in the roof supports of the new model. My fears were well founded and the EZ-Up only lasted around 3 months coming down early in August. Less than a month later I am the proud owner of a new custom designed grill gazebo, something I had dreamed about for years. Right now I am having more fun with this hobby than ever. Now I will be able to enjoy my hobby rain or shine, sleet or snow. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 10 - Steak on the Egg

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The first steak I made on my new Big Green Egg was the best steak I’ve ever eaten. I’ve made steaks twice since then and they have been equally excellent. This also marked my first high heat direct grilled cook on my Egg and there were some new lessons to be learned there. I also had a race to the wire with Mother Nature. This blog will describe the cook and the various grill related issues I had to deal with before I got going and what I learned. Read More...
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Dark Sky - New & Improved

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I’m going to take a break from writing about the Big Green Egg to write a follow-up blog entry about a great iPhone/iPad app called Dark Skies. It is now at Version 2 and has added a great new feature. When I first wrote about this app I had only owned it for a short time. Now that I’ve used it throughout the summer, I can tell you how it has performed over time. If you haven’t heard about the app I suggest you read my first blog entry DARK SKIES - A COOL WEATHER APP and then come back here and read this article. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 9 - Eggcessories-Cooking

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The third and final part of this blog on Eggcessories (accessories) for the BGE will discuss the cooking related Eggcessories that I got whey I ordered with my Egg or I picked up in my first few weeks of ownership. I wanted to write about my initial impressions while they are fresh in my mind. If my initial impressions prove to be wrong or change over time, I will certainly write an update. Part 2 covered general grill related Eggcessories such as Nests (stand), shelves, covers etc. For this entry I will discuss Eggcessories for cooking on the Egg itself that I feel are essential for most people and some others that are nice to have. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 8 - Eggcessories-Genral

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Part two of this blog on Eggcessories (accessories) for the BGE will discuss the general use Eggcessories I picked up in my first few weeks of ownership. I wanted to write about my initial impressions while they are fresh in my mind. If my initial impressions prove to be wrong or change over time, I will certainly write an update. For this entry I will discuss Eggcessories for the grill itself that I feel are essential for most people and some others that are nice to have. Part 3 of this Eggcessories entry will cover Eggcessories for specific cooking related tasks., such as the Platesetter, the Cast Iron Grill Grate, the Cast Iron Dutch Oven. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 7 - Eggcessories-Big Picture

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There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Accessories, often called Eggcessories, for Big Green Egg. They are made by both the Big Green Egg Company and creative 3rd party companies, often run by fellow Eggheads. I thinks this is one of the things that separates the Big Green Egg from some of the similar Kamado cookers out there: The large and healthy ecosystem of Eggcessories. The BGE came first and has been around the longest, and has the largest amount of accessories. But the other makers of Kamado cookers often have a model that is the same size as one of the models of Eggs, often the Large Egg. This means some of the Accessories for these Kamado cookers will fit the Egg and vice versa. Now some folks find all of these Eggcessories to be too pricey and feel you shouldn’t have to pay extra for them. This first part of this multi-part entry ill discuss some of these big picture controversies. If you just want to learn more about some specific Eggcessories, feel free to skip to the second entry in this series. This second Eggcessories blog entry will describe some of the Eggcessories I’ve bought for my new Egg at this point in time. I’ll also discuss which ones I think are essential and which ones I think are nice to have. But lets start with the big picture. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 6 - Best in Class Pizzas

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One of the great pleasures of owning the Big Green Egg (BGE) is Pizza on the Egg. Part of me is surprised to be writing this, because I really have pizza down on my gas grill. It was my favorite pizza. The Egg is my new Got To grill for making pizza. This blog entry will discuss pizza on the Egg and what changed my mind about this new method of cooking pizza. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 5 - Total Cost of Ownership

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This blog is about a topic most folks don’t consider when they are looking to buy something. It is called Total Cost of Ownership or TCO. TCO factors in annual operating and maintenance costs, training costs, cost of downtime etc. When I first started writing this series of blogs about my initial impressions about the Big Green Egg (BGE), I had no intention of writing this particular blog entry. But two things caused me to consider writing this blog. The first was how many folks hear the price of the BGE, roll their eyes and dismiss it as an over-priced gimmick. The second item was when I found you actually could use your charcoal over and over again and I saw first hand just how stingy the BGE was with charcoal. This is a case where over time, and not much time, the BGE, and more broadly Kamado style grills, actually cost you less than traditional charcoal grills. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 4 - 1st Low & Slow

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My second cook on my new Big Green Egg was a low and slow brisket cook. While the brisket itself was a mixed bag, from a technical standpoint, I couldn’t be more pleased and excited about this cook-even one with mixed results. This blog will describe my first impressions of doing low and slow on a Big Green Egg. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 3- Myths & Legends

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When I interrupted this series of blogs about my new Big Green Egg I wrote: “I am going to interrupt my ongoing Big Green Egg blog love fest for a moment to…” . Later it occurred to me, perhaps I should address some credibility issues regarding some claims about the Big Green Egg. I used to hear Eggheads raving about their BGE’s, going on and on about how great it is and how it is almost a lifestyle. I used to roll my eyes and keep a civil tongue and avoid making nasty comments. I knew it was a good grill, but come on lets get real. It really can’t be that much better. It suddenly occurred to me, that I too was doing this - although I am trying not to be too annoying about it. So I thought before I start turning people off and having them dismiss me and some of these BGE related blogs as the product of yet another person who has drunken the KoolAid, I should address some of these claims about the BGE. I am a newbie Egghead and before I get too assimilated, I should address some of these points based on my real world experience making the switch. I was also thinking it might be interesting for me to revisit this blog in a year or two and answer the questions again. Read More...
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EZ-Up, EZ-Down - Don't Try at Home

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Earlier this year in my blog entry: EZ-Up Version 2, I talked about how I had replaced my 6 year old Ez-Up shelter with a new model this past spring. Back then I noted they had changed the roof support system, I thought it might be done for value engineering purposes (a nice name for making the product less costly that sounds better than cheapening). I was wondering if the roof would hold up as long as the last one. It didn’t. I got 5 years out of the first shelter and I had to take down the second shelter after 3 months, before it came down itself and took my grills with it.

I have written a little more about this in a 2014 blog entry called: FAIL & PARTIAL SUCCESS Read More...
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Site Milestones

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I am going to interrupt my ongoing Big Green Egg blog love fest for a moment to address two site related milestones. The first one is my 300th Blog Post. I noticed that when I posted my last Blog entry which was post number 300. In thinking about that, I realized it has been a year plus a few days since the second version of this website went live on 08-05-11. So if you are looking for food related items you should move along. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 2- 1st Cook

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My new Big Green Egg was assembled and I was faced with an important decision: What to make for my first meal on my new baby? I was also dealing with some restrictions based on the newness of my grill. They strongly recommend you keep the temperature below about 375 F (190C) for your first couple cooks. This allows the gasket some break in time. Also I was new to not only the BGE, but direct charcoal grilling in general. I’d only used my CharGriller Smokin’ Pro as an indirect smoker. I also wanted to keep things somewhat simple so I could focus on learning the new grill. This blog entry will describe my choice of meal, my reasoning, the results and what I learned in my first session with the BGE. Read More...
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Big Green Egg - Pt. 1 - Assembly

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This blog entry will describe the delivery and on site assembly of my new Large Big Green Egg (aka BGE or Egg). Part of the reason for posting this blog entry is so potential future purchasers of the Egg will know a little bit about what is involved. This way they can decide if installation isn’t free for them, whether they want to pay for installation or do it themselves. It is not intended to be a How-To, but more of a Scope of Work overview. Read More...
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Q: Where Have You Been? A: Taken By a Cult

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I've been away from grilling and smoking for about two months now. I can always tell when it's been a while. There're a few folks who either regularly read my blog, or enjoy seeing my picture posts, and they will send me an email or use the Comment feature on my website. They'll ask if everything is okay and how come I haven't been posting to my site. I've received 4 such inquiries in the last two weeks, so I know it's been a while. It's been a combination of things, either other things that take up my grilling time or no one around to grill for. I've been doing simple burgers or dogs for me, but that's not worth posting pictures or blogs about here. All is not lost though: in this downtime I've actually joined a cult! Read More...
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Dark Sky - A COOL Weather App

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This blog post is about an amazing weather app for the iPhone, iPod + and iPad called Dark Sky. This amazing app was a Kickstarter project where normal people like you and me pledge money via a web site to help fund interesting projects. At first blush what this app does seems truly amazing, but when you think about it a little bit more it all makes sense. Dark Sky attempts to predict rain or snow for the next hour down to the minute. It is not a general purpose weather app with temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and all the other bells and whistles. Dark Sky is intended to supplement these full fledged weather apps and provide highly accurate information about what to expect in terms of precipitation in the next hour. Where our hobby involves cooking outdoors I think you’ll realize right away the value of knowing if and when it is going to rain or snow in the next hour. Read More...
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Time vs. Temperature

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The other day while making a flank steak, I made an interesting observation about cooking it by time versus by temperature. This blog entry will discuss how the flank steak would've turned out if I’d cooked it by time versus by temperature. What happened at the very ed of the cook really surprised me and may surprise you too. It is also making me think I should use a remote read temperature probe even more than I already do. Read More...
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Happy Father's Day Dad!

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This year my nephew's graduation party has taken precedence over Father's Day. Normally on Father's Day I make my dad a meal on the grill of his choosing, and the pictures often appeared here on the site. This year where I won't have pictures of the Father's Day meal, I thought I might do a blog where I reminisce about my memories of me and my dad as it relates to grilling. Now it may be of zero interest to anybody but me, and possibly other members of my immediate family. But there's always a chance that some others will get a kick out of memories of the "bad" old days of grilling. The days where lighter fluid was king and the brazier style charcoal grill was a household staple. Read More...
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YummySoup! for iOS Version 1.0

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Part 2 of this Blog Entry will discuss YummySoup! Version 1.0 for iOS. Part 1 of this blog discussed YummySoup! version 2.4. Additionally in this entry I will mention a great tip that you can use on your iPad (3rd generation) with Dictation to get text into YummySoup! or other apps on your Mac (or PC). Read More...
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YummySoup! for Mac OSX Version 2.4

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This will be a two part blog entry on the latest version of YummySoup! the recipe software I use on my Mac and the relatively new iOS version of the software. I last described Version 2.0 of YummySoup! This first blog entry will cover the improvements made since Version 2.0 and now available in Version 2.4. The second entry will cover YummySoup! Version 1.0 for iOS (iPad & iPhone) as well as a use tip for the iPad which may actually help out your usage of YummySoup! 2.4 on the Mac. Read More...
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Site News-Recipe Availability

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I’ve added a feature to the iIndex by Name and Index by Source that should make your use of the site easier. Many times when people visit my site for the first time, they’ll look at some of the picture entries and the first question they ask is: “When I go back and visit you’ll have all the recipes there?”. Well not exactly. I am not a recipe aggregation site with collections of recipes by other folks. This site houses pictures of the various recipes I’ve made and not necessarily the recipes themselves. I like food pictures and so I shoot pictures for my own enjoyment and to share with others so they can see how a given recipe looks as you go along. I am a firm believer that people who write recipes for cookbooks deserve compensation for their efforts. If they make some money, they will write more cookbooks. So my Photo Entries give attribution to the recipe name and page from the cookbook the recipe originates from. If the recipe author ALSO makes the recipe available free online, then I also list the link to the online version of the recipe. Read More...
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New High Tech Thermo

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This blog is a combination of a preliminary review of the new infrared/instant read thermometer I just bought, a description of what happened to the first infrared/instant read thermometer and a comparison of the features of the two. I haven't had much time to play with the new model and frankly they're some things I discovered after I bought it that make me wonder if I'll have second thoughts in the long run. So another purpose of writing this blog is to warn other people who might be thinking of buying this thermometer about some incorrect specs on the website and some specs and functionality that might be lacking. Read More...
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Dry Run

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I have always been a big advocate of doing dry runs for my cooks. This is particularly true when I'm making something I haven't done before, or using a technique I've never used before. Now you would think that as my experience has increased, my number of dry runs would decrease. This is somewhat true, but there're still good reasons for doing dry runs. I will let a recent cook, where I made cedar plank burgers and cedar planked steak fries serve as an example of the benefits of a dry run. I will go step-by-step through the various parts of the cook and point out where the dry run helped me out during both the original practice run cook and final version 1 week later. After looking at my example, I think you'll see there are many beneficial reasons for trying out some meals ahead of time. Read More...
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Site News-New Favorite Food Section

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In Part 1 of this blog entry I described how I changed the Welcome (Home) page by eliminating much of the text and replacing it with a montage of photos that act as navigation aids. The newly released plug in RapidWeaver that allowed me to redo the home page, also was just what I was looking for to create a Favorite Foods section for the site. This section was a Wish List Item of mine for several years now. Read More...
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Site News-New Welcome (Home) Page

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This blog is the first of two blogs about some recent changes just completed on the site. The first you should have noticed by now if you came into the site via the Welcome (Home) Page. The Welcome page has a new look I’ll explain below. The other change is the addition of a new section in the Media Section called Favorite Foods, which will be covered in a later entry. This blog is more about how to use the site and is not talking about food tips, so if you are looking for that you’ll want to move along. Read More...
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A Recipe for Failure

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An alternate title for this blog entry/rant could be: “When Bad Things Happen to Good Recipes.” I’m going to talk about the all too frequent mistakes found in cookbooks and group them by types. Now before I get on a roll here let me get something straight. I may be critical of some mistakes I’ve found in recipes and call them out in this blog, but I am in no way trying to claim I am somehow superior to the folks who write the genuinely great recipes I’ve used to grill and smoke the food on this site. I have the utmost respect for these fine folks. On my best day they could run rings around me without their breaking a sweat. But they are human, as are their editors, proof-readers and all the other folks it takes to write and publish a cookbook. As well all know humans make misteaks (bad spelling intended). Read More...
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F-I-R-E !!!

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This blog entry details a recent cook where several old lessons were reinforced and it basically marked the difference between success and total failure. The items being cooked were CEDAR PLANKED BURGERS & CEDAR PLANKED STEAK FRIES and the burgers came within mere seconds of being lost to flames. Read More...
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New Section-Tips, Tricks & How To's

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I’m going to use this blog entry to describe a new section called “Tips” which i added to the site this week. Technically it should be called “Tips, Tricks & How To’s”, but that takes up way too much room on the Menu Bar. The germ of this idea was planted less than a week ago. Before that I had no idea I was going to add this section. Frankly while I like the idea, I am not sure how often I will be doing new entries. Although I said something similar the first year of my blog and I have been writing it for seven years now. Read More...
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Another Year, Another Guestbook

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Frankly, this is a blog entry I never expected to be writing. I thought once and for all I’d found a solution to my Guestbook needs for my website. Round this time last year I had discovered the folks at Ultraguest.com and signed up for the free version of their guestbook. After seeing it was a good fit for this site, I bought a two-year license for an ad free version, which stripped out the banner ads. Now less than a year later I am out in the cold with a non-working guestbook. To say I'm slightly ticked off, is an understatement. But as this blog will show, I’ve found a replacement guestbook service and things are back up and running. If you are in need of a guestbook for your own site, read on. Read More...
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The iPad - Kitchen Companion

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In a way this is a sequel to my earlier blog: the iPhone Barbecue Buddy. When the iPad came out little over two years ago, I immediately saw its potential. Granted at that time there weren't a lot of applications available for it, but you could see it was essentially a blank slate that creative people could design exciting new apps for. While I could see the potential for the iPad, what I couldn't see was the money to buy my own. So reluctantly I sat on the sidelines and watched with great interest as the iPad grew into a more & more sophisticated device. it grew both in terms of hardware and software. Where once it was a content consumption device, the iPad and now create content as well. This blog will talk about some of the uses I've found for my iPad in the kitchen where it is a truly useful device. Read More...
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Grate Buns

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This blog entry is going to be about another use it I found for my flattop grill grate for my gas grill. One of the things that I liked about my grill is it has modular accessories that are made to replace one or more of the grill grates. One of those accessories is a flattop grill grate. I must admit when I first bought the grill, I didn't give the flat top grate much use. But in the last few years I've found many different uses for it. This latest use case is my favorite: Toasting New England style hot dog buns. Read More...
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Gazpacho

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Gazpacho is a vegetable soup, typically made with raw vegetables and served cold. Now if this sounds to you like punishment rather than great food, it is not please read on. I've been aware of gazpacho for about 10 years now. For about half of that time, I thought of it more like some sort of punishment. Something to eat which would be sent up to your room after you have been banished there for some nasty deed: "Go to your your room! I will send you up some cold soup later." Trust me it is anything but a punishment and is an absolutely wonderful summertime treat. This is hardly surprising, but the grilled variety is even better! Read More...
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EZ-Up Version 2

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In October 2006, I bought my first EZ-Up portable shelter. It was a 10' x 10' (3m x 3m) model with a white roof and open sides. I did buy some side covers for it which I never ended up using. Each year the EZ-Up gets set up in April and comes down in early November. With this type of usage it lasted through the fall of 2011. When I took it down in the fall of 2011 one of the scissoring roof truss members broke at the joint and also tore a long hole in the tent material. This marked the end of the six year lifespan of my first EZ-Up. I spent the winter trying to decide what to do about a shelter for my grills. This blog is about my first EZ-Up and its replacement which is another EZ-Up which I just erected this weekend. I'll also discuss some of the other options that were available to me, and why I chose to stick with another EZ-Up.

At the time this was written, I expressed some concerns that the new design of this shelter, which omitted the trusses at the 4 roof ridges might not hold up as well as the older shelter that it was replacing. Sadly these fears were realized and the shelter didn’t last the summer. If you were considering following my lead here and using an EZ_UP shelter 24/7: DON”T. Please refer to my 08-18-12 blog entry: EZ_Up, EZ-Down-Don’t Try this at Home for further details.

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Paella Pointers

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I've been making grilled paellas for three years now and have been getting quite good at it, if I do say so myself. Recently, I've been on a run where I've made three paellas in a row and this coming weekend will mark number four in a row. But just because you've gotten good at something, doesn't mean there isn't more to learn. So with this blog entry I'm in a pass along some of the things I've picked up about making grilled paellas that may help others to get better results. I think I'll write it in the form of a Do’s and Don'ts list. Read More...
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Cinnamon Ice Cream

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This blog entry is about something that doesn't have a place in the normal Picture Entry Sections on my website. It was a homemade cinnamon ice cream, but since it is not a Side Dish nor is it a Desert that was grilled or smoked, there really is no picture entry section on the site where it would be a good fit. But it was sooooooo, soooooo good that it does deserves special mention, which is why I am making this blog entry. Read More...
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Just Say No to ImageShack

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This blog is a heads up about what is IMHO some simply awful customer service exhibited by the ImageShack image hosting service. I usually try to keep these blog entries related to food, but I’ve made exceptions in the past (NAME GAMES - JUST SAY NO TO GO DADDY) when I run into truly bad customer service in a computer or website related area. Many of the folks visiting this site are like minded folks who are into grilling, smoking, food photography etc. You may post some of your own images to messages boards and like me use an image hosting service such as ImageShack to host your images. The point of this blog is to tell you of my recent experience with ImageShack. Also I would suggest you should possibly NOT choose them if you are looking for a new image hosting service. Lastly if you already use them you should plan ahead for your future and what you should do if you run into the retroactive 500 image limit they are suddenly imposing. This blog entry will describe the rather poor customer service choices made by ImageShack recently where in effect they hi-jacked my images. Read More...
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Lights, Camera, Action!!

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In my month away from the grill, I did have spare time were I could spend some time working on this site. This month marks the 6th anniversary of the launch of this site. When the site had it's 3rd anniversary, I posted a movie chronicling the my first three years of grilling and smoking as pictured on this site. With another 3 years passing I'd been thinking of possibly making another movie showing the last 3 years worth of output. Until very recently several problems seemed like they would prevent me from adding more movies to the site. This blog entry will cover the new movies and the process behind their creation. Read More...
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Site Tweaks

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Events good & not so good have managed to keep me away from the grill for the last month or so. While I haven't had time to grill, I have been working behind the scenes on this site. I thought I'd post this quick recap of what I’ve been working on, which will also help to introduce some of the new features and show you how to use them.
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The Nose Knows

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Since I just posted a hopefully humorous anecdote for my last blog entry, let me get one more humorous story from September 2005 out of my system. I had to help work a trade show in Syracuse NY for two days. The first day was the setup and the second day was the actual show itself. We drove from Boston and arrived in Syracuse mid afternoon and did the setup. My boss and I decided to blow off the show sponsored dinner with the other vendors on the show floor. We wanted to explore the city in search of a good bar and/or restaurant. Read More...
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No One Grills in This Weather

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The title of this blog is part of what someone said to me recently and every time I think of it a smile comes to my face and I shake my head. I hope it has the same effect on you. The full version of the line was: “Everybody knows no one grills in this weather.” and it was uttered by a cashier at Lowes back in December. Read More...
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Welder's Blankets - Must Have Mod

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Most folks would agree the CG smoker is pretty dialed in to 225 degrees (110 C). They would also tell you that the cold weather makes you burn through a lot more fuel. Lastly they would all agree that the wind is the mortal enemy of the CG. A cold windy day can prevent you from reaching 225 (110 C) and it can knock your temps down 20 plus degrees (11 C) when the big wind gusts come. Yesterday I finally got to try out a potential solution to the wind and cold, and it worked amazingly well. That solution-a Welder’s Blanket is the subject of this blog entry. Read More...
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Meatball Grill Pan

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This blog entry is about a one-trick pony type grill accessory that has one thing it does and does well. It is the Williams-Sonoma Meatball Grill Basket, which allows you to cook 12 meatballs on the grill at once. It also shares the advantage of other grill baskets in that you can place the food on the grill at the same time and flip all 12 meatballs together. At the end of this entry I shall provide links to picture entries for some meatball sandwiches I used this pan for, as well as some blog entries on other grill pans I use. Read More...
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Dutch Oven 2

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Sometimes it is strange how things work out. In late November I wrote a blog entry about Dutch ovens. In that blog entry I mentioned that I had no idea how much I would actually use a Dutch Oven and my one regret was not getting a bigger size. Writing about Dutch Ovens caused me to have a conversation with my Father-In-Law about Dutch Ovens and how I loved mine and wished I got a bigger one. Somehow this information got to my wife and one week later I was buying a new Dutch Oven for my Christmas present from my wife. When I looked into Le Creuset Dutch Ovens online I found they had recently revamped the line with several improvements that were news to me. This blog title is a bit of a play on words. It is my second blog on Dutch Ovens, my second Dutch Oven and an improvement to the classic Le Creuset Dutch Oven. This blog will focus on what is new and improved in the new line of Le Creuset Signature Series French Ovens. Read More...
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Beef Wellington - Day 2

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This blog entry will describe Day 2 of my recent BEEF WELLINGTON cook. When we left off at the end of Day 1 (see BEEF WELLINGTON-DAY 1), the beef tenderloin had been seared and wrapped in prosciutto coated with the duxelle (mushroom, shallot, garlic, thyme paste) and held together with a sheet of plastic wrap. The plastic wrap had aided in initially wrapping the meat and also helped give the roast a cylindrical shape while it cooled and firmed up in the fridge. The Green Peppercorn Sauce had also spent the night in the fridge and all that was left for it was to be gently reheated on the stove. Then just before serving I’d add in the brined green peppercorns (minus the brine). Originally the recipe was intended to be made in one day. In reading the recipe comments section, I’d found that many folks left the plastic wrapped roast stay in the fridge overnight together with the peppercorn sauce. They finished it off the next day. This made the recipe a lot more predictable on the day you actually wished to serve it. The time variables from 3 separate reductions all occurred on the first day, when you weren't trying to coordinate an end time with the rest of the meal. Day 2 should prove to be rather predictable, or so I thought. I was in for a big surprise, but I’ll save that for the proper time. Read More...
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Beef Wellington - Day 1

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This first blog entry starting the new year in 2012 is about how I ended my year in 2011: Making Beef Wellington on the grill. For whatever reason I’d decided about two years ago that I wanted to make Beef Wellington. There was something about meat and puff pastry in the same dish that intrigued me. Making it in the oven had zero appeal to me though, but somehow the idea of doing it on the grill was intriguing. I actually put it in my year end blog entry LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD 2010, where I listed it as one of the 5 new things I would like to make in 2011. It was looking like I wouldn’t make that goal in 2011. But then I was looking for something different to make for New Years and I hit upon the idea of making Beef Wellington. Just as I did with the cook, I’ll divide this blog entry into two parts: One covering Day 1 and one covering DAY 2. Read More...
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