Yes Virginia, Jay is Grillin'...

Alright, it's hard for me -right now- to be objective and reasonable about a topic that was tossed into my lap earlier this week...

On Wednesday, we received a letter from our apartment complex. This letter was a basic form letter and was given to every resident in the entire complex. This letter, reveling in all of it's nanny-state/fascist bullshit greatness, stated that we immediately have to get rid of our grill.

Thats right, we are no longer allowed to have a grill within ten feet of our apartment.

I'm super-f'ing pissed.

But, like all things nanny, it's a small change. That's what makes it all the more irritating. Sure, it's JUST the grill today. What's next?

So to show my defiance of such a BS rule, I did some amazing grillin' last night.

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Grilled Bar-B-Q Beef

1 Flat Iron Steak (1lb per two people)
Bar-B-Q sauce (Your choice)
---Dry Rub---
3 T Packed Brown Sugar
2 t Ground Cumin
2 t Chili Powder (Not Pure)
1 1/2 t Salt
1 t Black Pepper
1 t Ground Mustard

Combine all dry ingredients together, and rub generously all over Flat Iron.
Allow steak to marinate at room temp for about 1 Hour.
Grill on low heat for 10 minutes per side. When you flip the steak the first time, brush the grilled side with BBQ sauce. When the second side is done, flip and brush with BBQ sauce and cook for about 1 minute.
Allow meat to rest for 5 minutes, slice thin.

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I served my Grilled Bar-B-Q Beef with some fresh baked Cheddar Biscuits, and while I pounded out the last of my Cutty, Kerrie had a few Negro Modelo's. To finish it all off, I made a classic Corner Grill Apple Crumb Pie.

It was a very satisfying meal, to say the least. Sometimes the best food I prepare come out of a complete disregard for rules, regulations, of the feelings of the PC thugs. Contempt for authority, what a beautiful thing...

unauthorizedgrillinggrove:
Dr. John - Right Place, Wrong Time
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around
David Bowie - Rebel, Rebel
New Order - Regret
Ozzy, DMX, ODB & The Crystal Method - Nowhere to Run

I had no idea that North East Ohio was a major wine producing region. Okay maybe not "major" in the Californian sense, but at a glance I counted over forty winery's in the extreme North Eastern corner of Ohio alone.

To elaborate, Kerrie and I spent some time with her Mom and Dad recently and while we were visiting, we stopped at a few different winery's. Most notably was Ferrante's Winery & Ristorante, and the South River Winery which was actually an old chapel that had been converted into a winery.

First off, I should admit that I did NOT realize Ohio had so many vineyards and winery's. When I heard we were going to Ferrante's, I just figured it was a winery all by itself - end of story. I quickly began to notice signs everywhere for different winery's and many plots of land dedicated to being nothing BUT vineyards. (Sweet! No fucking Corn!)

We were dismayed to hear that the tours had stopped for the season at Ferrante's, but we simply traveled from spot to spot taking in the sights and even trying a few wines along the way.

At the South River Winery, we tried both a Riesling and an Ice Wine. The Ice Wine, I thought, was far too sweet but the Riesling was amazing. Slightly sweet and perfectly cool, I'm kicking myself for not snagging a bottle before we left.






For dinner, we returned to Ferrante's. It's a basic Italian restaurant, but one thats a reliable Italian restaurant. Classic Italian dished, prepared properly without fuss or pretension. I had the House Red and Kerrie had the Rossato. Both went well with our meals, but I found that I liked hers much more than mine. Hers was served at a slightly lower temperature and had a very pleasant sweetness to it.






When all was said and done, I was very taken by what I had learned of that day. I would say discovered, but lets face it - I was lead by hand to the wine. And thankfully so! I had never dreamed there was so much wine being produced up North, but I'm glad to have found out because I don't get over to Sonoma all that often and Bordeaux doesn't look too likely either.

Ohio Wine Association