If you live in the US of A, chances are good that you own a grill - according to the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association, 75% of Americans own a smoker or grill, and 61% of them use it year round. No statistics are known to exist on how many people refer to grilling as barbecuing, but it’s a safe bet that “most of them” is the right answer.

If ( Read more... )

What defines barbecue? And what is the difference between barbecue and grilling? Though the terms are frequently used interchangeably and the results (usually) delectable, they mean very different procedures and end results. As Chris Schlesinger explains in his 1990 book The Thrill of the Grill, grilling is placing food near a heat source and ( Read more... )

The first time Femme de Joie dined at Brick's, back when it was on Placer Street (in the tiny building now occupied by the wildly popular Wilda's), she was underwhelmed. She and Amico del Signore ordered sandwiches (the exact contents now forgotten) which arrived slathered in a sweet red barbecue sauce that completely obliterated any smoke or grill ( Read more... )

It might seem as incomprehensible to newcomers and young folks as journeying from Missouri to California via covered wagon, but once upon a time there was no Interstate 5. Instead, that ribbon of highway known as State Route 99 flowed through the center of California and right through the center of towns like Burbank, Sacramento, Yuba City, Red ( Read more... )

On a hot July day Femme de Joie and Amice del Signore took Highway 99 toward Chico, blithely ignoring the "expect 20 minute delays" signs. After what seemed like two weeks in a hot oven, they popped up in Los Molinos - irritable, sweaty, and hungry. It was 1:00 pm and Chico was still at least an hour away; realizing that Celestino's Pizza for lunch ( Read more... )

Femme de Joie and Amico del Signore have been enthusiastic fans of KPIG radio for several years after reading about it from a column by Jim Dyar in The Newspaper Of Which We Dare Not Speak Its Name. It was through the PIG that we first got wind of a BBQ joint in San Francisco called Memphis Minnie’s Barbecue Joint and Smokehouse. Being in The City ( Read more... )

Amico del Signore recently went to Safeway (the one at Pine and Cypress) looking for T-bone steaks to grill. The young man behind the counter apologized but they'd had a run on them - folks stocking up for Labor Day - and they were fresh out. He recommended 7-bone roast as a substitute. A. del Signore was skeptical ( Read more... )