Three Girls and a Grill

Originally, I was suppose to go Veggie in May, but decided there was no WAY I wanted to go through Memorial Day Weekend without a juicy steak. Megan, Robin, and I lounged around the pool Sunday, and I marinated three New York Strips in this Spice Rub I found in Food & Wine last month.

The spice rub. I think the Paprika and cumin overpowered the other spices, but it was still pretty tasty. I'll save this recipe for skirt steak or fajitas in the future, it was definitely on the spicy side.

My first attempt at grilling corn: Robin told me the trick to juicy grilled corn is to soak the ears in water for 20 minutes before putting them on the grill. These stayed on for about 25 minutes, and were the perfect combination of juicy and crispy. I feel I'll be eating a lot of corn this month, especially while it's so cheap (12 ears for $2)

A look at the full grill

The final meal:

We were going for Medium Rare, but ended up with Medium Well-Medium. Not bad for my first attempt (and on a gas grill), but I think next time I can do better. I feel setting a time to a done-ness works well, but there was no way to know that on a new grill. we tried a meat thermometer, but it wasn't as reliable and ended up with a little overcooking. Let me know how you usually time steaks...

the first rule of food blogging is...

Hooray food blog! I'm still not sure about the name, but June has arrived and it's too late to delay this any longer. Here's a quick explanation of what I'm doing:

I love food. I enjoy cooking things for myself and friends, as well as eating out at both nice and divey places. Any cuisine is fine by me--it's more about experimenting than just eating the same old meals week after week.

And that leads me to this blog. I've gotten in a rut--I don't cook with enough vegetables, or follow enough recipes. I've gotten lazy--dependent on my stand-by homemade pizza recipe and my ability to turn anything in my pantry into some amazing pasta dish (you can do wonders with a little olive oil and Parmesan). So I've decided to make things a little hard on myself. Starting with my first challenge: vegetarianism.

First rule: I have NO plans to stay vegetarian after this month. I'm approaching this as a fun challenge that will force me to use more fresh produce, attempt some tofu and temphe recipes, and test my resolve to stick to something. (I'm still reeling from not quite making it through my Lenten fast from alcohol--I only made it about 30 days in, and hit a wall that is a St. Patty's Day Guinness pint).

Second: I'm going to try to photograph most of my meals for everyone to see--don't plan on long novels like this one every post. I'll make sure recipes and tips are included each week, but look forward to my followers commenting on my progress and suggesting new dishes for me to try.

BONUS: I've decided the final week of June will be my Vegan power week. I shudder to think of a life without cheese, but think that after three weeks without meat, the least I can do is try it out and see what I miss the most.

What I'm making tomorrow: Baby Bok Choy, shiitake mushrooms, and tofu! Not sure how that makes a meal, but I think rice is in order...