Warm Weather for the Weekend!

We finally are getting some warm weather! And since it is FRIDAY (woot! woot!) Derrick and I decided we should go ahead and fire up the grill – our absolutely favorite toy. Of course since it is the first time we have used it this spring we had to throw some burgers on it – but we can’t have burgers without smoked sausage. We cook these a little differently but they are wonderful! Anytime we have cookouts, they are always requested by our guests and always the first thing eaten. NEVER any leftovers. Anyway, here is how we make them.

We usually get about two packs of the skinless smoked sausage and then cut them in half, leaving you with 8 pieces. Take each piece and make a slit all the way down it but not all the way through it. Imagine you are making a hot dog bun out of it. Then make a mixture of brown sugar, garlic powder and anything you can find in your cabinet that says “pepper” on it or makes you think “pepper”. I don’t follow and exact recipe, but this is it roughly:

1 ½ C brown sugar
1tsp black pepper
1tsp garlic
1tsp paprika
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper

This is not a science – I usually taste a pinch of it after I mix it up and make sure that it has a little spice to it. This is what it looks like…

After I think it is the perfect mix, I pack it into the slits made in the sausage. I seriously mean pack it in…

It will caramelize while you grill it, so when it is finished you will have this wonderfully sweet glaze with a little spice on it. And I promise it is not too spicy. Derrick has horrible acid reflux and would die of shock if he ever realized how much cayenne I put on these. But he has never once complained about it being too spicy. Here is what they will look like straight off the grill…

We also made some creek fries which are the easiest thing in the world. We just slice up about four potatoes, half an onion, a green pepper and about 3 or 4 cloves of garlic. We coat everything with olive oil, salt and pepper and throw it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.

So while everything was grilling/baking we enjoyed a few fried green tomatoes as appetizers. I personally like mine sliced thin, cooked crispy and salted heavily.

And since we already had the grease heated up we threw on a few slices of yellow squash and called it a meal!

Derrick started the fire pit and we ate outside while the sun set and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. Usually, we make s’mores when we use the pit, but sadly there is not a single Hershey bar in this house, so we were out of luck. Sadly, it seems the dogs know that s’mores usually follow the fire, and they seemed a little annoyed. Sorry, Charlie!