Greek Yogurt Marinated Smoked Chicken Lollipops

I'll be the first to admit that I don't spend a lot of my time watching football but that definitely doesn't mean I can't eat all the food that's associated with traditional tail-gating and game days. I'm the type of person that can make an entire meal from appetizers and be perfectly happy.

I'll also admit right off the bat that I love the look of these chicken "lollipops" but they definitely take some work and I'd only do them for special occasions where people can actually admire my hard work. Yeah, I'm that vain. I love making food for my family but they don't fully appreciate the intricacies of creating these things and ate them all in about 10 seconds flat without even a second glance.

Mango and Peach Salsa Burgers

It's summer and for my birthday last month I treated myself to a new grill and smoker. I love smoking meat but I wasn't a huge fan of the electric smoker I purchased a few years ago so I didn't use it much except for a turkey at Thanksgiving. My new grill is a Traeger and it smokes as well as grills and I've been experimenting with it as much as I can. My favorite thing so far has been the huge pork butt I smoke a few weeks ago. We used it for over a week and had everything from sandwiches to tacos with the meat. My mouth waters even now when I think about it.

Wild Rice and Hummus Burgers

I don't like the idea of veggie burgers more for the reason that people are typically trying to use them as a substitute for a real meat burger. And there is no substitute. Period. But if instead you just want to have a really good sandwich and it happens to not have any meat in it, I'm all for that. And honestly with these Wild Rice and Hummus "burgers" I'm OK with them not having any meat. I almost topped them with some bacon though. And that would have made them just that much better.

Flank Steak with Pineapple Salsa

Hope everyone had a great Fathers Day! For us it was the weekend of steak. My wife and I went out to dinner Friday night, one of the last times we'll have without a newborn for awhile, and we had a great steak there. I had the leftovers from that Saturday for lunch and then I grilled this amazing flank steak for the family Saturday night.

Spicy Blackberry Glazed Ribs

Are you ready for grilling season? Technically, I could say it's always grilling season as I've been known to even clear a path in the snow to get to my grill but now that the weather is warming up, our grill is being used 2-3 times a week. To be honest, a lot of the time it's just grilling some hot dogs for the kids but I still try and grill some fun stuff more and more during the summer.

Blog Anniversary, Ribs and a Tribute to Dad

 

I can't believe I've been doing this for a year now. A year ago today I began my food blogging journey and here I am today; 73 posts later, countless recipes, exciting food events and many new friends along the way. Above all, a little clearer vision and a hope that I'll still be enjoying this for many years to come.

In my first post last year I paid tribute to two of my culinary inspirations, my Mom and my Grandma. Today, coming off a great Father's Day weekend, I think it's appropriate to pay tribute to another inspiration, in the kitchen as well as life; My Dad.

Grilled Shrimp with Chive Butter

Sometimes simple is just perfect. I've been craving seafood lately and I got some shrimp this last weekend. I love seafood but since my wife doesn't like it I just don't end up making it very often. I wanted to make something amazing but just couldn't find anything that great that really featured the shrimp.  Then I found this recipe that is so simple I almost passed it up. It just bastes the shrimp in this chive butter and then uses the same mixture as a dip. Our chives are growing like crazy and it sounded interesting enough and of course I was right. The chive butter is simply amazing and would work on almost anything. I made some steamed artichokes along with the shrimp and dipped the leaves in it as well.