Now I'm Cooking!
Those of you who know me may have heard that I like to cook. (At a young age, my mother taught me a lot of culinary skills, and I took it from there.) I don't prepare large, fancy meals very often, but when the occasion calls for it, I can easily do so. (I used to do a lot of cooking when I lived in a co-op.) Of all the cooking that I like to do, I quite enjoy the fine art of baking. I don't bake like crazy, but I have earned a reputation for making good cookies, great cakes, and excellent brownies. I do it all from scratch, and I'm not afraid of trying new recipes. What many of you may not know is that in recent years, I have also become an accomplished griller.
Grilling is not something I learned from my mother or my father. Instead, I learned it from my Uncle Isidore, who's been doing it for decades. During his time in East Lansing, my uncle grilled often; not just for tailgates, but for all manner of family gatherings and parties. (He even grilled the Thanksgiving Turkey for many years!) Of course, he always used a Weber charcoal grill, never a gas grill. It was always about the smoke flavor.
In the years leading up to his move from East Lansing (five years ago), he started having me operate the grill at our seasonal tailgates. When he moved away, I was put in charge of running the tailgate and the grill. (That way, he can fly in to town and visit with people while I do all the work.) Over the last few football seasons, I have earned the reputation amongst my tailgating family and friends of being a master griller. It's a distinction that I am proud of, and I was in fine form last Saturday.
Recently, I managed to achieve something that my uncle probably didn't expect when I apprenticed under him. I made it into a tailgating book! That's right folks. I have a picture in a book. This is not a photo that I took. Rather, this is a photo of me in front of the grill at our tailgate. Go to your nearest bookstore and look for a copy of The Ultimate Tailgater's Big Ten Handbook (ISBN 978-0762744985). Look on page 76, and there is a black & white photo of me standing in front of our grill wearing a green "Spartans" t-shirt. My name is not mentioned, but it is clearly me. I do recall a photographer coming around last year taking photos of tailgaters for a book. He asked to take my photo, and I signed a release for him. I didn't know exactly what kind of book it would be, but now I do. My half cousin Paul discovered it a couple of weeks ago and told me about it. I had to run out and buy a copy just so I can show everybody. (This title may not be in large supply outside of the Big Ten conference states.)
How cool is that?
