Hat Tips

Hello,

This is the time of the year for outdoor cooking. I don’t care if you are going to the lake, a rodeo, or just an evening at home. A lot of people will pack a grill and groceries when they go on vacation. They will go on vacation and cook!

I guess the women in our family are a bit different. Carm said if they go on vacation she is ordering out. She is not going on vacation to cook. The last time they went on a 4-H trip all the other families brought grills and salads. She brought pop tarts and licorice.

Shirley was like those other parents years ago. I’ve told you about our trip to Helena for the national high school rodeo finals. Shirley and her sister packed a quarter of beef in the icebox on a pickup camper. They evidently had watched too many episodes of Wagon Train and did not realize that Montana is pretty well settled now with towns and cafes and steak houses. I still puke when I think of the smell in that camper after a week. Now Shirley is more than happy to stop at a McDonalds or a c-store and grab a meal.

But this week I heard a story that tops all.

Two couples from Berthold had been saving for a trip to Hawaii. They looked forward to the vacation for months. And they quizzed friends and family about what the islands were like.

One thing they learned was that meals were more expensive in Hawaii than here at home. That is kind of expected when you go somewhere where all they grow is pineapple. And personally, I don’t really care for pineapple that much. I mean it’s alright on a ham or mixed with vodka. But a meal of pineapple just doesn’t sound that good to me.

Back to the group going on vacation.

Now being cost conscious they devised a plan on how they could save money while vacationing in Hawaii. They would ship hamburger over to Hawaii from North Dakota! Really! They were going to travel halfway around the world, spending thousands of dollars on rooms and airfare, to eat tater tot hot dish!

I do grill at home. I’ve got one of those pellet grills that is a lot like a crock-pot. It is very forgiving. You just put something on the grill and turn it on. And it turns out good.

I did have a trip one time where we grilled. A group of adolescent adults went to a Green Bay-Vikings game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Monday night football and season opener.

It was a tailgaters dream. I started grilling at 8 a.m. I mean I was in charge of the grill and the adult beverages. The game was at 8 that night.

I heard it was a good game.

Later, Dean