Cooking inside and out.

This is my second summer in Richmond, Virginia. Last summer I lived in a modern apartment in a boring complex in the suburbs. It was shady, cool and had central air conditioning. It also had a dishwasher, a garbage disposable, off the street parking and some pretty nice neighbors.

Nonetheless, I decided that suburban life was not for me and moved to the city. Now I don't have air conditioning, a garbage disposal, off street parking or a dishwasher. I do still have great neighbors. I can now walk to bars, restaurants, the butcher, the record store, etc.

The shady location and the air conditioning are what I miss most about my shag-carpeted white sheet-rock walled suburban digs. At two o'clock in the morning it is still 90° in my apartment downtown. God forbid I turn on the gas stove to cook dinner, then the inside temperature approaches 100°. Nothing quite like basting in your own sweat all night long.

In order to survive I have been cooking my evening meals outside since mid-May. I have learned a lot about cooking over flames and coals in the past months. My father and my younger sister have been grill-masters for years, but I somehow never caught on. My first couple of grill cooked meals -as my friend Brian will attest to- were a little...um...overdone.

Currently armed with a meat thermometer, a little knowledge and a dusting of experience, I cook everything and anything on the grill and I've learned to cook it well. In fact, I am a little worried what is going to happen when the weather gets cold and I can no longer grill every night.

Hopefully in subsequent web logs I will have the energy and the time to share some of my follies and successes at the grill, beer, wine, life in foreign countries, dirt jumping, trips to the hospital and life in general.