Snow day!

I could've made the 21-mile trip to work this morning but the expected blizzard condtions later today would've made it tricky to get back home, so I'm burning a vacation day...and hoping to burn some charcoal! I took a strip steak, a soup bone, some precooked andouille sausage links, and some chicken drumsticks out of the freezer this morning so we'll be eating (hopefully) well today.

Anybody else planning to do some cooking on an unexpected day off?

Nah - but I wish. Us west coasters don't do snow days... I did burn in the new grill last Friday though with a couple Juicy Lucys (who'd of thunk? Burgers for the maiden voyage after almost a year of construction ). Works like a charm. Now to keep all the wood dry!

(Fixed Pics)

What is this thing called Snow-day?

Nothing wrong with a classic choice like burgers for christening a new cooker, SP! Looks like they turned out just fine!

So I guess you had to go to work today, Trollby? I'm out in the sticks and am pretty sure I could've made it in, but it wasn't worth it for a short day and if things worsen this afternoon as predicted I might not've made it home. I don't know if you were here back in December, 1990 but in that storm we couldn't make it home and wound up sleeping on the floor of the Oregon city hall.

Looks like it's time to fire up the grill for the first round!

Law Enforcement gets No days off

I have a lot of respect for the LEOs, firefighters, utility workers, etc. that are out and about on days like this. Stay safe!

Hopefully I won't have to call Dane County because someone missed the curve in front of the house...

I wound up grilling some andouille sausages for lunch. I suspect they're not quite like the real thing but they cooked quickly and tasted good, with some nice spiciness.


After another round of shoveling I grilled a couple of strip steaks for dinner.


To be honest I was pretty beat by then and didn't turn in my best effort, and the steaks were a little more done than I would've liked. But we were pretty hungry and liked them more than we might've at another time.


Fortunately Mrs. Chicken had fired up the bread machine earlier in the afternoon so we had plenty of warm, fresh bread to go with the steaks.

Looks like everything turned out OK.

Up here in Alberta, almost every day is a snow day from early December to early April. The outdoor temps get low enough that gas grills don't work too well but that's why I like to use lump charcoal.

I've even been known to grill the odd time when the thermometer is in the 40-below range. No pics, though, as the camera tends to freeze up.