My self-imposed project for the weekend was to assemble our newly acquired grill. I went into the garage, pulled out all the pieces and stared blankly at the very un-grill like mess in front of me. I broke out the instructions and read slowly and loudly the first step while eyeing the bags of nuts, bolts and clippy bits – I went back and forth from Fig. A to the pieces I had trying to make sense of it all when my project became Jay’s project. Although, I will say that I successfully assembled the legs – you can’t have a grill with the legs to support it – it’s an important part (or at least I keep telling myself that).

Now what we have is a charcoal/wood burning grill with a side smoker – not one of those sissy propane why don’t you just cook it inside on your stove grills that some others prefer (or as Dad says – why even bother cooking it inside – just locate your nearest BBQ place, order up and you can have all your brisket on a piece of butcher paper and for $1.99 more you make it a combo). No sirree, this one involves flammable liquids, piles of ash and no containers that should explode under pressure or too much heat. (Although, Dad once decided gas would be an amazing substitute and blew a sizable hole out of the side of our rock BBQ pit. The great thing about Dad, is you always learn something neat about science when he’s up and about. This lesson was brought to us by the amazing power of gas fumes – now THAT’S a fire! Although he was minus an eyebrow or two, Dad was pleased.)

I asked Dad earlier in the week for BBQ tips and he came back with rules on how to know when your steak is done. According to Dad, it’s done on a beer timer. A well done steak involves ½ a beer per side, whereas he prefers his steaks at a ¼ beer per side. He also offered up that once the steak is ready, you can move it off the coals and enjoy the rest of your beer – no need to neglect a good beer even for steak. I had to confess to Dad that when buying the charcoal, lighter fluid, fancy new spatula and the bean pot (you have to have a bean pot, although you can cook them in the can directly on the grill if you prefer, which I do prefer but didn’t want to have friends freaking out) that I had neglected to get a case of beer. Clearly, Dad needs to be in charge of my shopping lists.

So now we’re set. I have a hound, a grill and well unfortunately Jay isn’t a first cousin – my American dream is almost fulfilled.