Grilling and Other Adventures

Time marches along... The semester comes to an end. Wow! I cannot believe that spring is already here and we are gearing up for everything that is going to take place this summer.

Although, I have grilled a few times, nothing too exciting until a few weeks ago over Mother's Day weekend. I finally had the chance to grill some interesting items on the grill. We grilled swordfish, tuna, and pineapple. Everything turned out great!

A picture of the feast is to the right. We were very pleased with how everything turned out. Oh, I forgot about the scallops that we did on the grill too. Everything was great if I do not say so myself.

I still have not grilled as much as I would like leading into the Spring, but we are starting to pick up the pace. Last Friday Carrie had something going on with her girlfriends, so I decided I was going to cook steak and watch movies. I had a great night! No pictures, but it was so good! A Omaha Steak wrapped in bacon on the grill along with grilled asparagus which turned out great! I promise to try and take more pictures of future dinners done on the grill.

My golf game has not been anything at all. I have only played once this year and that was for the faculty/staff golf tourney. We came in last and I played like crap! We had a good time, but I have not been out to play at Shawnee Golf Club at all this year. Tonight would actually have been a good night to go out, but no going for me. It is not that I do not want to get out and play, but it seems we have something going on every weekend and then when I would be able to play we are having bad weather.

Well, I will start making it a point to get out to play golf soon. If not, then there is not really any good reason for me to keep my membership to Shawnee Golf Club. I enjoy it out there and I want to start playing more. If nothing else, possibly twice a week nine holes each night. I enjoy those short games and playing right after work. The nine holes help to clear the mind and prepare for the next day of work.

Well, until I grill again, I will talk to you later. I will hopefully also post some golf updates before the end of June.

Grilling Recipe... Greek Seafood Salad

This is a follow up to Grilling Ideas that I posted back in early March.

While the weather has not been great for grilling, I have been out once to grill. I went out on Sunday, March 27 after Kansas lost to VCU. It was snowing most of the afternoon and we had planned on doing steaks after KU won... Well, I grilled in the snow and enjoyed our steak dinner after the loss. Other than last Sunday, I have not been out to grill.

Jerry sent me a recipe via email that I wanted to make sure I held on to. He found it on the Weber web site and it sounds really good. I plan on giving it a try. Recipe can be found at http://tinyurl.com/4922oh2 and it looks great! Once I give it a try, I will update to say how it went. It looks fantastic!

Hopefully here soon the weather will get nice again (it has to) and I will be able to golf, grill, and be outside. Until then, have a great day and I will talk later....

No Grilling Yet... Odd Weather!

No, I have not done any grilling yet. I have some recipes and I am ready to go, but the weather here in Kansas has not been very good. Cold, rainy, and not very good to be outside. I do plan on taking some ideas I gathered from the status replies I received from FaceBook (see Grilling Ideas) and using them once it warms up.

The weather through the weekend does not look good at all! Rainy and cold! I am so ready for Spring to continue what it had started a few weeks ago. We did see some nice weather for a few days.... Some days I should have found time to get out to play golf, but as it were, the NCAA tourney was in session and I wanted to watch basketball.

The grilling will begin and I think it will be soon! Along with it, I do plan on starting my golf game too. More on that in another post....

Now, back to watching the Kentucky vs. Ohio State NCAA basketball game. KU already advanced to the Elite Eight.

Grilling Ideas

I wanted to grab a few of the ideas, books, and suggestions on a post I put on FaceBook last week. Collect ideas and hopefully post back on my blog pictures of completed recipes, trial and error, or other issues. This was taken from replies to my status update.

Below are the list of ideas or comments with the names of the submitter removed:

1. Use http://www.allrecipes.com is a good site!


2. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grill/


3. Grill zucchini as it is the best!


4. Anything from Bobby Flay from the Food Network is great!


5. Use pineapple to grill. It works on anything... two different people suggested pineapple saying how great it is to grill with. Of course, peppers, onions, etc., are also good to grill with. I have done these in the past, but as a side dish.


6. http://www.weber.com or https://www.kingsford.com


7. The book "Primal Grill" by Steven Raichlen is good!


8. Other books recommended include: BBQ, BARBQ Kansas City Style,SMOKE&SPICE,THE BBQ QUEENS BIG BOOK BARBECUE, and my favorite CHUCKWAGON COOKING FROM MARLBORO COUNTRY
   
   
9. Watch Hy-Vee ads. Chef Alli teams up with Rob Russell to teach amazing BBQ classes.

A lot of information to go through, but I wanted to make sure I had it all recorded so I can go through it later. I plan to use some of the books, web sites, and recipes of course through this Summer. I will take pictures and post my reactions to the recipes.

What to do first, that's the question! Something different I have never done before on the grill I hope!

Happy grilling!

Lego Games

Lego Games,
originally uploaded by havertyj.

March 2011 Update

Here we are facing March Madness right square in the face. We sit here on March 1 with the Kansas Jayhawks in first place after Kansas State knocked of the Texas Longhorns last night. Who would ever have though Kansas would be back in first place. Still, they have a lot of work to do with playing Texas A&M tomorrow night and to close out the season, Missouri on Saturday. Of course, KU beating Missouri would help out Kansas State a great deal.

So, here we are at the brink of the best sports month ever! If you enjoy college basketball, like me, you have been enjoying non-stop college basketball since October/November. Now, it gets even better with conference tournaments and NCAA tourney starting up too. This is one of my favorite times of the year ranking right up there with Thanksgiving.

So, it has been a few months since I last posted anything. What a broken record! I have been meaning to post and then before I know it the day (or the month) is over and nothing is posted. I had good hopes of keeping at least my blog, if not my web site, updated with current and "interesting" events from my life. That has not happened, so I am forced to do my updates in huge chunks of random thoughts all put together in a matter of a evening.

Football season last year was a interesting sport to follow. We had our Kansas City Chiefs who shocked everyone and ended up doing very well throughout the season. They even made it to the playoffs.... only to lose badly in their playoff game. We had the Washburn Ichabods who made it to a bowl game and kicked butt! Then, there was the Kansas Jayhawk football team who had a miserable season. Losing bad to the Kansas State Wildcats and other horrible loses. It was a fun football season and especially so for followers of the Washburn Ichabods. I love those tailgates!

Carrie and I had a good Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with the Shirrons' and Christmas Day with the Havertys'. I helped to put on the program for the Havertys' Christmas where we took our karaoke machine. Everyone had a great time and it was good to see everyone. It was a odd Christmas... but something I do not feel like I should go into on a blog.

New Years Eve celebration was not a huge party for us either. We had our friends, Brenda and Javier, over to play games, watch movies, and of course drink some adult beverages. Greg and Kerrice came over later in the evening and we played games. It was a fun low key evening.

In early January, we learned that our friend, Ray Galloway, had passed away. Ray lived in Helena, AR and we made the trip to attend his funeral. What a great guy! I had known him for seven or eight years. He was a fun loving easy going guy who would bend over to do anything for his friends and family. I am so glad that we were able to make it down to be with his family in their time of need.

February was a complete blur. It seemed to have flown so fast that I cannot believe it is already March 1. Well, it is about my bedtime and I am ready to head to bed. This is one of those blogs where I have no idea if anyone reads this or not and I really do not care. I know that I like going back and reading posts as it brings back memories and I enjoy posting. I need to make it a priority (or set a reminder) to do it more often.

Until I post again, have a great day and a great month!

December Update and Preparing for 2011

Another Thanksgiving goes by and we make a step closer to the end of
2010. It is hard to believe that we will soon be into 2011. I recall
as a kid thinking that when I would see movies and they would talk about
2015 or 2020 that it seemed so far off it was not real. Well, those
years are fast approaching and they will be here before we know it. Crazy!

Kansas Football has ended, but we still have Washburn football to
attend. In fact, Washburn football made it to a bowl game and it is
tomorrow here in Topeka. We can hardly wait, but it is going to be nice
and cold. Hopefully the Ichabods are ready and it is a fun game to watch.

Kansas basketball is well underway. They played a too close for comfort
game last night against UCLA. It was close the entire way with KU down
a few times by two or three buckets. They fought back and ended up
winning by one point which was caused by a intentional miss at the foul
line by KU to keep UCLA from going back down the court to score. Good game!

Carrie and I are planning to have pizza night at our house on December
19. We told anyone who can make it to arrive shortly after 1 and we
would play games all afternoon until it was pizza time. Then, after
pizza, we would again play games. Yes, we both realize this was a week
before Christmas, but it seemed like a good time to do it at our house
and hopefully everyone will be able to do it. I am not sure what games
we will play, but I would imagine Trivial Pursuit or some other similar
game will be played.

Sidney has been interesting the past few weeks with sleeping what seems
like a lot more than usual. He sleeps in my leather chair in the living
room and does not hardly move the whole day. He gets up to eat, drink
water, and possibly poop, but not much more than that. He is so funny
and I love going home at lunch to see him. I always feel bad if I have
to miss going home and I do not get to see him.... especially if I did
not fill up his bowl before leaving in the morning. He lets us know
about it when we get home in the evening if he did not have enough food
to eat. Crazy cat, but we love him!

I heard through the grapevine that Jennifer and Tim had to put down
their dog, Lilly. That is so sad! Lilly had been having problems for a
few years and was completely blind. When I heard about it, I remembered
all of the feelings I had when my dog, Captain, was put down back in
1991. Wow, that was difficult! I still think back to Captain some days
and it makes me sad to think that he is no longer here. I remembered
being in grade school and sitting outside playing and Captain was part
of my "play". He was my friend and listened to everything I had to
say. Sad day when he left us! I know Lilly was a huge part of the T.S.
Haverty family too and so I wonder other than being sad of Lillys'
passing, what they miss. She was always a good dog and loved to be
petted. Farewell my friend, Lilly!

Christmas plans are still up in the air. I know Carrie and I are
planning on spending Christmas day at my parents as of today. It sounds
like we will spend the day after Christmas with the Shirrons'. Waiting
for confirmation on both counts hopefully later this weekend.

Well, that is a good update for now. I had not updated since October or
something. Crazy how times flies by, but I already went over that
earlier in this update.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!! If I do not talk to you before
then....