Cooking Al Fresco

7/5/09: Grilled, Barbecued Hot Dogs with Kohlrabi Coleslaw, Bush's Grilling Beans, and Muffins. Muffins?! (Read on to see how the muffins fit in this week.)

1. Meal details: Main course, grilled hot dogs smothered with BBQ sauce.

Side dish, kohlrabi coleslaw made with my family's farm-grown kohlrabi and store bought coleslaw dressing. Also had Bush's Grilling Beans.

So where are the muffins? I helped my younger sister bake a batch of muffins to be eaten as snacks when we're doing farm work. Can't pick and haul sweet corn on an empty stomach!

• Recipe sources: Didn't have to flip through a cookbook this week. The hot dogs are not rocket science and the coleslaw is actually my family's recipe.
• Defining moments: WE GOT A WEBER GRILL!!! And we ordered a cover, too! (The cover is one of my favorite features I must say.) The charcoal grill is round (just like the one Bobby Flay has, except he has a cobalt blue one), and it fires up in no time. It isn't that hard to clean either and I am using a scrap of aluminum foil to do the job, yeah, not really professional, but it works!

Another defining moment for this Sunday is making our famous kohlrabi coleslaw. We've been having it for a couple years now but I never had the chance to try it out myself, until now. But what is kohlrabi? Some refer to it has the Sputnik vegetable because it looks like it came from outer space. Don't be so cruel! It is actually really good and it certainly grows well! It is similar to a turnip and cabbage in flavor and you can learn more about it by going to this website.

• What I learned: I learned how to start a charcoal grill. Very important learning experience, and I am glad I still have both eyebrows!
• Any modifications? Nadda.
• How it tasted? Everything was superb!
• How about a 2nd time? Without a doubt. We've done this meal before a number of times.
  

Here are the muffins my sister and I baked on Sunday afternoon. We used our own blueberries that we froze in July 2008. Blueberries are my favorite fruit!



Drum roll please! Presenting our very own Weber Grill! Don't you love the sleek lines and chrome legs? :)



And here is a nice, cool side of our famous Kohlrabi Coleslaw. As I said above, I used kohlrabi that my family grows. I was there when we sowed the seed, weeded, thinned the plants, picked it, washed it, grated it, and mixed it with dressing. Whew! What a journey! (By the way, the variety name for this kohlrabi is Winner. It definitely ended up staying true to its name!)