Cooking meat

I often say it's the little things that make life enjoyable.

A nice walk on a crisp and clear morning, binge watching "Orange is the New Black" with family, a quick conversation with an old friend, and winning Shayla multiple stuffed animals from the claw machine at Jefferson Fresh Foods are just some of the things that have made this a wonderful summer.

Last week I added to the list with a purchase from the local pawnshop.

Anyone who knows me is well aware how much I like to cook. One of my favorite things to do is to spend hours outside in the summer grilling, and I will grill just about anything possible. It can be steak, burgers, ribs, chicken, pack rat, shashlik, or even a pizza. I love standing in front of the grill and watching food come to life.

When I moved to Whitehall last May, I unfortunately had to leave my propane grill behind. It was tough, but there wasn't any place to fit on the way up and the poor thing now sits in Wyoming with a new owner who probably doesn't love it like I did.

We have five people who live in the house, so there are a lot of purchases that would come before a grill, so I really haven't fought to hard to get a new one. I settled for a while for a charcoal grill, but it's just not the same. It's little and I have not mastered how to light the coals in an efficient matter. It doesn't help that every time I tried it would become the windiest day of the year and I was afraid I would light my neighborhood on fire.

There is certainly an art to charcoal, but I'll never master it and will leave that to the professionals.

I also wasn't too keen on putting a grill together. Some people have mechanical aptitude and that is awesome. I am not one of those people. When I was a kid I stunk at Legos, so imagine me trying to put together a grill. It would take more than a day and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work. The chances of a fire with charcoal were high with me, I can't imagine what they would be like if I assembled a gas grill.

It turns out my patience was well worth it when Melissa told me she saw an awesome grill while delivering newspapers to the pawnshop. It was an amazing four-burner grill that had rarely been used, and even better it was put together.

I didn't even look at my bank account; it was for a good enough price, so I just went ahead and make the purchase. It was something that was well deserved and within an hour of purchase I was placing meat on the grill.

It was so nice not having to cook inside without air conditioning or fight with charcoals. I had a smile the entire time I cooked. I plan on using this thing as much as I can this summer and fall. I also plan on using it during the winter.

It was such an awesome price that I will get my money money's worth before September, and was also great not to buy it at a big box store in Butte. Anytime I can give back to the local community it is a win-win. If you're ever hungry, come on over, I'll most likely be outside cooking, even if it's a blizzard. Rain, snow, or shine, my spatula won't be far behind.