13SEP01 - Attendees: XN, Alis, Ursula, Dan

• Originally this event was to supplement watching WWF RAW is WAR, but XN found out that his reception for UPN is very bad, and no one in his wrestling group showed up anyway.
• XN grilled hamburgers, standard fare.
• Morningstar veggie burgers were prepared for Urs; unfortunately, these were unsupervised and came out extra-crispy.
• Alis brought over some chicken marinated in garlic/black pepper/bourbon. This turned out exceptionally delicious.
• Dan showed up and hung out, having already eaten (and being reassured that no pro-wrestling was being viewed during this event).

20SEP01 - Attendees: XN, Alis, Ursula

• Rainy day! Regardless, we set the grill up on the side of the house beneath the eaves and everything turned out fine. We just ate inside, is all.
• XN showed the apartment to a prospective roommate who seemed unphased by grilling in the middle of a rainstorm; she declined moving in, however.
• XN attempted to thaw the remaining hamburger in the microwave and ended up baking the fat out of it, so hamburgers were impossible. Not that he didn't try...
• Alis and Ursula made sauteed mushrooms and garlic, and the hamburger was browned in this delicious mixture.

21SEP01 - Attendees: XN, Dan, Alis

• XN grilled sandwich steaks, making a big deal over a little thing.
• XN also experimented with "pita chips," halving the pitas laterally and brushing them in butter and minced garlic. They came out crispy and a little charred, but this did not prevent them from being devoured.
• Dan grilled a rib-eye steak; he reports that he removed it from the heat perhaps too soon, that it could have been cooked more. However, at the time, he did not look precisely miserable over it.
• Alis grilled fish with a different marinade.
• Ursula came over later, in time for the movie, Enter the Eagles.

22SEP01 - Matt & Sharon's party

Not XN's event, but he did grill at this occasion - despite it also being a rain-filled evening. This is a source of pardonable pride for XN. He had a fuck of a time trying to get regular Kingsford briquets to behave (he usually uses a combination of Kingsford Match Light and Kingsford Mesquite - in this case he used over half a bottle of lighter fluid before abandoning it to God's hands), but eventually they became a beautiful blaze and dwindled to perfect embers. Upon these he grilled his cheddar bratwurst to sufficiency, and almost seared Sharon's venison kebabs: the lesson here was to not cook these over flame, but to let them slow-roast over direct heat from the embers. Otherwise, the edges start to char and you think they're ready, when actually the inside/unexposed areas are still a bit rare.

27SEP01 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Alis

• XN has scored a new roommate who works in a butcher's shop. The future looks bright.
• The coals burn a little too long so the window for direct heat is very small; everything is thrown on the grill at once.
• XN grills his pita chips and doesn't scorch all of them. He also grills more hamburgers, getting them right this time, finally.
• Ursula grills some catfish; needs more heat, but still very delicious.
• Alis grills some chicken sausages, one of which is so resentful of its treatment that it explodes in her face, scalding her mildly. In retaliation, she eats it.
• A variety of vegetables (corn, pepper/garlic kebabs, orange pepper) are also grilled; despite being almost uncomfortably full, we finish nearly everything.
• Garlic butter will probably become a staple of this event.

28SEP01

XN creates the Kung-Fu Grilling webpage and, shortly thereafter, the GrillJournal.

05OCT01 - Attendees: XN, Jeremy, Ursula, Alis, Lorien, Martin, Michelle, Matt & Sharon

• Jeremy shows up briefly - can't attend, but he generously drops off a selection of desserts he scored for free at work.
• Large turnout; XN wonders if he'll have to refill the grill at some point. This turns out not to be necessary.
• XN hears a yowling kitten across the street, which turns out to be an overly affectionate stray. It hangs out with the group for the duration of the grilling, grinding into people and attempting to sneak inside. Eventually, XN releases Katze, who stares the kitten down until it gets the hint and flees.
• Matt and Sharon turn out long enough to grill some veggie burgers, though Matt is sorely tempted by the meat and vows to try that next time. Sharon is very tired, so they head back early.
• Martin has brought a large Alaskan salmon; XN accidentally blackens one side of it but the fish is still better than merely edible. Martin spends much time fretting about the qualifier "flaky" and has no idea if it applies to how his fish turned out.
• XN also scorches his own fish, but it's cajun-seasoned catfish so that's okay. It comes in two pieces, so he experiments with the smaller piece: underdone but juicy. He grills the larger chunk longer and it toughens up as much as it should, but still stays moist and flaky.
• Michelle brings Fitz' rootbeer to the event, and it's possibly the most delicious rootbeer XN has ever experienced.
• Lorien grills some squash and other vegetables; the squash is notable in that it turned out so delicious, the stray kitten that plagues us is willing to gobble it down.
• Though XN does not wish to encourage the kitten to return, he ends up setting out a bowl of old cat food for it, which it wolfs down so fast it nearly chokes. Apparently this stray is starving; Michelle finds a home for it, if we ever see it again.
• Ursula prepares all the ingredients for her Philly sandwich, but an overly enthusiastic XN puts the sandwich steaks on too early. Ursa intended to melt provolone cheese over the meat and have it ready about the same time the bell peppers and boiler onions were. XN will now leave people to their own cooking schedules and worry about his own business from now on.
• Before the embers have died completely, Alis wraps some garlic cloves in a tinfoil pouch and rests this among the coals. We accidentally forget about them for 20 minutes, then run out and check on them. They have turned out so perfectly they fall apart like melted butter in our mouths.
• We avail ourselves of the lemon princess bars, coffee cake, and apple pie that Jeremy dropped off. Once again, we are stuffed nearly painfully, but very happily.

12OCT01 - Attendees: XN, Adam, Ursula, Ian, Laurie, Amanda & Collin, Dan

• Absolutely no planning or organization for this one: people just brought stuff at random and grilled it. Usually there's some kind of coordination between people, but this is fine.
• XN grilled more catfish, unable to think of anything else since the last time he did so. This time he bought two large cajun-seasoned fish and scorched them happily. Adam pointed out that glazing them with butter will make them less likely to stick to the grill.
• XN also attempted pita chips again, grilling them over open flame but for much less time. This seems to keep them tender, not crispy, but plenty hot. Is that so bad? Being that it's an appetizer you'd think it would go on first, but to heat them up without scorching them they almost have to go on after everything else.
• Amanda brought sausages, distributed these out between interested parties.
• Laurie brought corn but the coals were too dead - really should've poured on more coals and started up a small fire for these.
• At the last second, XN peels and skewers some garlic to throw on the grill. People look at him askance and wisely decline to share.

19OCT01 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Jimibald "Bexley" Speed, Martin, Michelle, Mike, Alis, Dan, Karen, Joel, Troy

• Improvement: Bexley has a halogen work light in the trunk of his car - suspended from the eaves, this provides excellent illumination for this after-dark event.
• Realization #1: XN discovers that he was misled about coal preparation time. Being that he was working in near-dark before, he saw tiny little flames that he wouldn't have seen in the daytime. Thanks to Bexley's worklight, XN is now able to determine when the coals are actually ready and not let them go for too long, deluded by insignificant licks of fire.
• Realization #2: After peeling and skewering a full bulb of garlic, XN puts them on the grill way too early and the skewers are consumed in flames; some of the cloves fall into the inferno. Bexley reports he'd just seen a cooking special in which the chef soaks the skewers in water a day ahead of time. Ursula later appends that metal skewers may also suffice.
• Bexley marinated large chunks of beef and pearl onions in a potent curry vindaloo, skewering these. They turn out delicious, though XN makes a mental note to learn the science of grilling kebabs all the way through.
• XN, predictably, fries up some more cajun-seasoned catfish from Rainbow. He can't help it - it's so delicious!
• Ursula grills some sirloin burgers and shares these with whoever wants some. XN trades some for some of his catfish.
• Alis has marinaded some orange roughy in orange juice, and sets out potatoes and a foil pouch of garlic to roast.
• Dan grills a couple pork chops and readily accepts XN's offer to glaze them in garlic butter - XN made an assload of garlic butter but completely forgot he did not have any pitas, so everything else gets liberal coatings of garlic butter for the night.
• Martin brings BBQ mock duck with onions and green peppers to go over rice. He has his own rice, but XN has to convince him that using a rice cooker (XN has one on hand) in no way emasculates him or compromises his image among this circle of friends. (Surprisingly, this required a lot of convincing; Martin must harbor a terrible stigma against rice cookers, and possibly other appliances of culinary convenience.) He also roasts some potatoes in curry butter.
• Joel has packed rosemary and other fresh herbs into some chicken breast and skillfully grills these to perfection. He and Karen share a foil pouch of vegetables and herbs that roasts up nicely, though some of the asparagus lashes out at him with a jet of boiling juice.
• Karen unleashes a surprise for the group: while XN is drinking heavily in the kitchen, she lays upon the grill slices of pineapple that have been marinated in rum, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. No one is prepared for how aggresively delicious this is.
• At one point, a group of young undergrad coeds shyly filters over from across the street, looking for directions to a house party on East Hennepin. A vanguard of XN, Dan, and Ursula forms to cast up and down the block to help them, but their address does not exist. After a phone and two phone books are fetched for them, they pass around the original invitation until the leader of their group identifies the address actually reads "Hennepin South", which is actually in the neighborhood of one of their group. Chastened, they take off for their party though XN invites them to show up any Friday; however, they are from Wisconsin.
• A car with two women in their mid-20s pulls up, asking for an address in the 700 block. XN attempts to help but his alcohol-addled mind thinks that "drive three blocks south of here" is a deceptively simple answer, and the process takes longer than it has to. He extends them the invitation to join the grilling and ensuant kung-fu movie; they do not take him seriously and peel away hastily.
• Twice, XN had someone else lift the grill for more coals to be thrown on. This is a successful operation - after the first attempt, XN remembers the 2nd time to move the food away from the center, as the fire that kicks up will scorch anything sitting there.

27OCT to 3NOV01

XN and Ursula roadtrip to New Orleans, LA, for Hallowe'en and Urs' sister's wedding. While N'Awlins is exposed to be much less romantic and gothy than those charlatans Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite made it out to be, XN shifts gears and focuses on the cuisine. He writes down a travelogue of the weeks' events and carefully annotates the most exceptional meals in which it is his good fortune to indulge. He looks up ingredients and studies the spices used in most dishes, intent on replicating their effects up north as much as he is able. In fact, his swamp tour guide informs his group that his father hunts and prepares alligator for food, and will ship out sizeable quantities of meat to interested parties. XN plans to order 5 lbs. of alligator meat for his grillings - stay tuned!

16NOV01 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Dan

XN wasn't planning on having a grilling this weekend, as he'd skipped out on last week's event due to overt financial instability. But Dan called to ask if there was going to be a grilling, and Ursula left a voicemail to the same effect, so XN decided to dump the coals and set them aflame, what the hell. XN grilled more cajun-seasoned catfish (and, while trying to make his own red beans and rice dish, discovered that his neighborhood Rainbow Foods no longer stocks cayenne pepper. Lame! XN supposes he'll have to go to the Rainbow across from Targhetto in south Mpls., a predominately low-income minority neighborhood and likely to have a superior spice selection. Dan brought over a couple chunks of ribeye and Urs grilled a Morningstar Griller patty.

23NOV01 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Troy

XN actually called a bunch of people this time but, being that it was the day after Thanksgiving and raining heavily, he didn't expect a great deal of success. Neither Troy nor Ursula brought anything to grill, so XN simply grabbed some more of that good ol' Rainbow Foods "cajun-seasoned" catfish, with the intent of really blackening it. Basting it in butter helped keep the charred outside from sticking to the grill - the one time he didn't do such a good job in basting, the "skin" peeled right off and he had to start over.

However, XN hit upon a revelation this time: in sampling the fish while it grilled, he realized it absolutely called for a bourbon marinade. Lacking any, he tried pouring a little Red Stripe beer over it. While the beer did not extinguish the coals, neither did it produce a marked flavor in the fish, though the smoke it produced (beer filtering through the fish and hitting the coals) was especially flavorful and appealing. XN will give this another try, soaking the fish in pure bourbon for 24 hours before the grilling. This week, he reheated some red beans and rice to go with it.

He had everyone come in from the rain (this being the third rainstorm he's grilled in) and played Jan Svankmajer's Alice to entertain. Karen showed up for a few minutes in the beginning, took off to see a live band; Jessica showed up halfway through and remained, but bailed, as did Troy, before driving out to see My Schoolmate, the Barbarian at Riverview; Dan showed up just before departure. Once there we hooked up with Jim "Bexley" Speed; after the movie we found Alis.

30NOV01 - Attendees: XN, Jeremy, Ursula, Alis

Snowfall at last! XN thought nothing of firing up the grill and let the ice melt off the lid of the Weber, to greet the winter evening. Most other people were off doing other things, and XN himself wasn't sure whether there'd be a grilling tonight or not.

• XN grilled "southern style" ribs, which must mean all-meat and no bones. He had four chunks of rib meat, so he pulled out four kinds of BBQ sauce for them. The clear favorite was the Jack Daniels sauce.
• Jeremy grilled some sirloin and was reportedly happy with how it turned out. XN's curiosity was piqued and made a note to try this next week.
• Alis grilled stuffed mushrooms and vegetables, and they of course turned out perfectly delicious.

07DEC01 - Attendees: XN, Dan, Jim "Bexley" Speed, Troy, [Troy's Swedish friend (probably Mike)], Amanda & Collin, Molly & Scott, Dusty

• XN bought a tender-looking sirloin and grilled it just about to perfection. Not bad for a first try at a steak: slight char on edges on one side, slightly pink on the other, very tender, grilled with A-1 and seasoned with the Jack Daniel's sauce.
• Dan had already eaten - XN had just received Shaolin Soccer in the mail that day and set it to playing. Dan probably saw this three times in the course of the evening.
• Bexley brought some huge long strip of beef to grill. XN should've flipped it once more than he did as one side became quite charred and the other underdone. Luckily, Bexley likes his meat rare. Also Bex was concerned about how much seasoning had spilled onto the meat - he was trying to command just a little cayenne pepper but a lot came out at once.
• Amanda brought no meat but a psychic message had caused XN to bring some more catfish, so he grilled that up for her. He finally mastered the "blackened" part; now he has to master the "just slightly blackened to lock in the flavor, not char the fucker deeply on both sides until it's dry as chalk" part. Regardless, Amanda enjoyed it very much.
• Troy and his friend showed up late and grilled some brats just before we all split to see One by One, which we probably could've afforded to miss. On the other hand, it is a Shaw Brothers classic and part of a comprehensive background in this cinema.
• Grilling as late as that necessitated throwing on more coals. XN has been using a bottom layer of Match Light Kingsford and piling regular Kingsford atop it. This works well for ignition. As these coals were already burning he simply poured on a pile, put on gloves and rolled down his sleeves to arrange the coals neatly, and looked around for a match while the pile ignited itself. XN spread these coals around in a stage he thought would've been too early but turned out to be perfect in terms of heat and duration, so he'll have to remember to do this each time.

14DEC01 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Jeremy, Alis, Dan, Molly & Scott

Unable to immediately recall the details of this one.

• XN marinated catfish in bourbon, Penzey's Red & Black spice, and minced garlic; it turned out fucking delicious. The alcohol blackened it gently yet the fish retained its moisture. The fish was only marinated for four hours; next time, XN plans to steep it for a full 24.
• Ursula bought some pre-marinated chicken at the grocery store and basted it in garlic butter, and it also turned out incredibly delicious.
• More details pending, as I ask around and find out who actually showed up and what they cooked.
• We skipped the movie tonight, The Mad Killer, since last week's movie stank so badly. Instead we ate and drank through Dan's selection: Tokyo Fist, as visually visceral as it was incomprehensible, and a lot of fun.
• Now I remember why this one's so hard to remember: XN kept the bourbon out after marinating the catfish and just kept drinking it. Knob Creek 9-year-old 100 proof bourbon. Good stuff. We also mixed the vanilla rum that Molly brought and the Southern Comfort that Alis brought and really, really got pretty well lit. This was a fun night.

21DEC01 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Jim "Bexley" Speed, Molly & Scott, Dusty, Laurie, Bill

• Impoverished, XN relied upon the kindness of strange people, partaking of Ursula's chicken and Bexley's beef curry skewers.
• Ursula grilled her other marinated chicken and it, too, turned out very delicious.
• Molly brought a selection of peppers and mushrooms to grill, wrapping these in foil and locking in their vegetative essences. They were, of course, delicious.
• Bexley, flush with success at his past attempt at curry vindaloo beef skewers, tried his own recipe of curry and spices for his beef skewers. They came out medium rare and tender, reminding us why we like eating meat so much: it feels good in your mouth.
• Dusty exemplified a simple grilling concept that hadn't occured to us to date: he brought veggie burgers, but sealed them in foil for the grilling. This way, not only did they get hot but they retained their moisture for his burgers and turned out great. In the past, XN has metamorphosed perfectly suitable veggie burgers into extra-crispy charcoal diskettes, just by drying them out over the flames.

28DEC01 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Jeremy, Hedge, Brixton, Mya, Martin, Michelle, Laurie, Dan, Alis, Jessica

• XN attempted to institute a sign-in sheet wherein people list their names and what they made - this will make it easier to update the GrillJournal, should it pan out. It doesn't: for some reason, people included where they lived instead of what they cooked. Being that all but two of them live in Minneapolis, this is among the most useless information they could've written down.
• XN made "southern style" ribs, which just means the rib meat without any of the bones. The concept easily allured XN, and he tried out various sauces and rubbing spices upon them, and they all turned out delicious.
• Urusla grilled some spicy brats that, amazingly, lived up to their name, especially considering the regional palate: Norwegian Lutherans. They were so spicy she couldn't eat even two this night and saved them for weeks to come.
• Alis, with her usual remarkable aplomb, marinated some sea-scallops and these turned out delicious. She also grilled some red peppers in garlic and they maintained the precedent.
• If anyone made anything else, I don't know what it might've been. However, the movie tonight, Once a Thief was... bizarre. Even among HK films, while it was lacking in certain areas, it certainly made up for it with one of the most inexplicable endings Dan or XN have ever seen, and that's saying something.

04JAN02 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Jim "Bexley" Speed, Dusty, Molly & Scott, Bill, Matt & Sharon, Dan, Jessica, Martin, and others

• As suggested by the attendance roster, this week's attempt at a sign-in sheet was fraught with even more peril, the brand-name kind: between the alcohol and the videogames, the sheet did not make it all the way around the room, and was not taken seriously by all into whose hands it did fall. XN decides to scrap this cunning plan and go back to taking personal notes for future updates. This way just seems too anal.
• Matt & Sharon brought over ingredients and supplies to make fondue, which is of course a very pleasant surprise! Matt is teaching himself fondue just as XN is teaching himself grilling, and it cooked off very well. Everyone was delighted, it was an outrageous success, and many of us made LV16 this evening.
• XN cooked some alaskan salmon: he thawed it out in hot water because he forgot to thaw it the day before, and then he thawed it for too long and it was way too tender to sit on the grill by itself. With the wile of a ferret he wrapped the bitch up in aluminum foil, creating a basin wherein it might simmer in garlic and butter, and set that on the grill. This turned out to be the ideal solution as not only the meat itself was tender and delectable, but the butter also turned the skin quite scrumptious in its own right.
• Jessica also brought some salmon but claimed the coals had gone out and set some up to burn. She then claimed they were taking too long and attempted to cook hers in the microwave. XN later found some ideal coals simmering in the grill with no one using them and Jessica hunched over her salmon in the kitchen. He did not ask questions.
• Many people thought they would avail themselves of the videogames and launched into a four-person bout of the N64's Goldeneye; XN decided to take the other people down into the basement to play Zombies!!!; at which point, the people on the videogame wanted to play too but there was way too many people for that so they stopped playing but couldn't play the other game so they sat around and XN grew very agitated. Also he had to teach five newcomers how to play Zombies!!! so between that and people showing up at the last minute he was a freakin' basket case. But in the end everybody won (read: did not die).
• Jim "Bexley" Speed, per his usual style, brought big hunks of beef to grill. He is presumably gaining more experience with slow-roasting than XN is, who seeks to remedy this. Bexley grilled beef ribs and ribeye steak, and according to reports these were hearty gustatory indulgences, all said.
• Dan also brought salmon. If XN could've predicted this conflux of events he might've done something to prepare for it. Probably not, though. NO reports as to the consistency of Dan's salmon, to date; presumed good.
• Bill reports having eaten mushrooms. XN at first assumed this meant someone had brought portabellos to grill, probably Alis, but he can't remember if Alis was actually there (the incomplete and sabotaged sign-in roster, see), and in fact as he writes this out he wonders if it entails something else entirely...
• The movie, however, kicked mondo ass, and we looked forward to its sequel the next week.

11JAN02 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Jim "Bexley" Speed, Dan

• Much to his surprise, tonight's event is nearly deserted. XN considers expressing some alarm at this, and does eventually, but for the time being he reminded himself that ultimately these grillings are just to heat up his own dinner and if other people wanna show up, they can. XN resolves not to take anyone or anything for granted from here on out, however.
• XN is slowly adding more and more people to the Kung-Fu Grilling email list, but may also consider removing some people who have consistently represented no interest in attending. He may let more time pass before that happens, however.
• On the plus side, XN was pulling into his driveway in back when he noticed someone else was throwing away another grill. Roughly the same size as his current grill and in reasonably good condition, XN absconds with it and resolves to reserve it entirely for veg*n usage. Now people have one fewer excuse not to attend! However, he must scrub the rust off the grill itself; however, it still may be used for food wrapped in foil if the meat grill gets too full of stuff, as it frequently does.
• Jim "Bexley" Speed cooked some more ribs and brought his halogen worklight to illuminate the area, and this especially helped out. XN resolves to purchase his own rather than imposing upon Bex every time.
• Dan did not intend to grill anything as he was just getting over the flu, but once he smelled the heady fumes of charred flesh his tummy rumbled and he partook of some London broil patties - these were intended for two other people who opted out at the last second so, waste not, want not.
• Less people at the grilling meant more people missing out on the sequel to last week's movie - their loss. Unlike most sequels, it was thrilling and hilarious and compromised nothing. Viva Scotia! Viva!

01MAR02 - Attendees: XN, Ursula, Jim "Bexley" Speed, Martin, Mike, Dan

• The weather was very cold this night and even the Matchlight coals were unwilling to ignite at first. XN had to stand there with an automatic lighter for quite some time before they consented to catch fire. He wonders if this is going to become a serious problem in the future...
• Bexley brought huge chunks of pork ribs obtained from Sam's Club - XN resolves to visit that place with him sometime because the deals seem incredible.
• XN himself grilled a couple sausages. He forgot to put them out to thaw, however, and thought he'd thaw them on the grill itself, as they were grilling. This was a poor idea as it left the insides insufficiently cooked; XN was so hungry he did not notice, but had it pointed out to him by Ursula when she tried some.
• Ursula grilled her favorite marinated chicken breasts, obtained from Rainbow. Prepackaged and convenient, these always turn out delicious.
• Dan showed up later in the evening with a steak, after the coals had died some, but said he didn't need to grill anything unless someone else showed up with food as well. No one else did, though.

15MAR02 - ATTENDEES: XN

Everyone's busy tonight so XN cooks alone. Two catfish, nothing challenging. Garlic butter and olive oil glaze, lots of cajun seasoning. XN mixed himself some Kirschberry and Coke and leafed through Dragon magazine. Jeremy showed up and hung out before taking off to show The Princess Bride at Oak St. Cinema; Jim "Bexley" Speed also turned up later to hang out before going to Deaf Mute Heroine at the Riverview.

22MAR02 - ATTENDEES: XN, Danarchy, Jim "Bexley" Speed

Grilling started late: XN played Worms: Armageddon on the Dreamcast while he waited. Dan turned up at 9pm so the fires were lit; XN had to run out for more coal, then got the bright idea to buy a box of fireplace logs so he can attempt to skillet his catfish next week. Hopefully the logs aren't too toxic.

Dan brought a couple pork steaks and Bexley had some beef to throw on. XN marinated his catfish in Knob Creek bourbon again, and was very satisfied with how tender this makes the catfish, letting it cook yet almost protecting it from scorching. He was very attentive in basting it with butter/olive oil/garlic and seasonings so its "skin" didn't stick too badly to the cooking grid. XN also threw on some of the premarinated chicken breasts Urs used to get, and those were of course delicious in a cheating kind of way.

29MAR02 - ATTENDEES: XN, Jim "Bexley" Speed, Martin, Dusty

• Martin and Dusty went to the grocery store while XN ignited an artificial fireplace log in his grill, setting coals off to the side. He set some cod (marinated in lemon pepper pre-mix) over the coals, having no experience with cod before and curious as to seeing what one does with it. The striations in the meat flaked and crisped until it looked like a huge centipede, but the body of the fish remained coherent and could be flipped a couple times. The marinade was good but cod deserves straight lemon and parsley, should perhaps be in a stew or served with hash browns and creamed mushrooms. It has a very ocean musk to it but is a little more rubbery than very flaky salmon or trout, closer to catfish in its consistency.
• XN held a skillet over the fireplace log and greased the surface with quite a lot of butter. Wielding the skillet with the spiked fire glove of tradition, he fried two cajun-seasoned catfish (left soaking in leftover bourbon marinade - not recommended, just dump the shit out, don't save it) and flipped them with a spatula. Tossing in seasoning and more marinade, XN successfully blackened the catfish in the spatula and considered the experiment an unmitigated success! However, the log itself turned into a toxic ashen mess that was prepared to ignite at a moment's notice so XN probably will never put one in the grill again, opting for a firepit at the very least.
• Unsure of what Martin and Dusty cooked - something vegetarian and presumably delicious, turning out with satisfactory results.

19APR02 - ATTENDEES: XN, Jim "Bexley" Speed, Jarrin, Ursula, Molly & Scott, Dusty, Alis, Jeremy, Mike

• Trying out the fireplace log one more time, XN foregoes the coals altogether and skillets more catfish in bourbon and garlic, with a log of pork loin on the grill. However, when the log goes unattended for too long the fire goes out, but it smoulders like a bitch. Billowing plumes of toxic fumes floated down the block until his neighbors complained, so XN dragged a hose around and doused the grill down, swearing never to attempt this again. The pork log, however, was delicious by all accounts.
• Molly and Scott each brought tuna steaks and grilled those as best they could, before the hose incident. In fact, most grilling was done before the hosing down, with a few exceptions.
• Bexley threw on another delicious porterhouse. Proficient with grilling and attuned to making it the way he likes it, there's little to report.
• Dusty, Mike, and Jeremy didn't have anything but hung out and socialized.
• Ursula brought chicken to grill, as well as some garlic in foil. By this point the grill was useless so XN brought out his Simpsons smokey joe. The cooking grid on this is nice and low so the coals do their job efficiently, but for some reason the heat wasn't intense enough to fully roast the garlic. XN resolves to experiment with this, setting up the smokey joe specifically for side vegetables in foil.

22NOV02 - ATTENDEES: XN, Jim "Bexley" Speed, Erika, Dwain & Mel, Kari & Eric

This was the special pre-Thanksgiving roast! The biggest experiment here was under Bexley's direction, in which he attempted to grill an entire turkey. For this, XN gave him exclusive use of the vegetarian grill (gods know no vegetarians ever show up to use the damned thing) and Bex monitored the progress of the bird with an electronic meat thermometer. The coals were set in a circular pattern to ring a large metal drip pan Bexley brought to catch the spatterings of the bird; XN also filled the pan with water as the heat from the coals would evaporate the water and permit moisture to re-enter the turkey. No, seriously, he read that's how it works. Bex had also brined the turkey in (I believe) salt water and lime for at least a day beforehand.

At least as significant as attempting to grill an entire turkey over coals was the stuffing: White Castle Slyders. White Castle actually sold 99-cent packets of stuffing mix (sage, thyme, rosemary, etc.) that you boil in two cups of water and drizzle over ten Slyders (no pickles or condiments, torn up), and this is what you put inside the turkey. To the morbid fascination of many and the culinary desire of others, this legendary turkey was lain to rest on the grill, destiny played the straight man, and the rest was history.

Actually, the turkey turned out fantastically: the brining kept the meat flavorful and moist, and the stuffing was fucking delicious. Nobody really knew how to formally carve a turkey but Bexley made a good show of it and there was more than enough for everyone. Much more. Bex brought the rest home for sasndwiches and everything else, even made turkey noodle soup out of the carcass, which he presented to XN two weeks later.

I guess other people made stuff too: they should email XN if they remember what they made on this night so he can complete the entry, but really all he remembers is the turkey...

No, wait! Also that day, Erika drove XN out to Coastal Seafoods (and a few other errand-type places) where he picked up half a pound of Chilean seabass, a couple fresh catfish, and cans of Tony Chachere's creole seasoning and gumbo filé - he's been looking for these ever since he came back from Louisiana and feared they were exclusive to the region. The catfish were, of course, perfectly done and the seabass was wrapped in a basin of garlic butter and Penzey's lemon/garlic seasoning, and it was so unbelievably tender it fell apart as soon as the fork touched it. Definitely a work of art.

29NOV02 - ATTENDEES: XN, Erika, Ashley, Ryan, Martin & Sasha, Karen

A starndard KFG of people showing up and grilling things - perfectly sufficient. XN probably grilled the remaining Boca Burgers and made a couple hamburgers out of them or something, other people brought maybe swordfish or tuna or other things. If you were here and you remember, email XN and clue him in.

06DEC02 - ATTENDEES: XN, Erika, Bexley

Wow, this time absolutely nothing happened. At no point were the fires lit - XN didn't have anything to grill; Erika came over and hung out, without anything to grill, just chatted for a couple hours before meeting Ashley and them at Sporties'; Bexley came in after that, without anything to grill, and XN made him watch Flash animations for the next three hours until he fell asleep a couple times and had to go.

Which is fine! This proves that you can show up even without anything to grill, just come by and hang out and... stuff.

13DEC02 - ATTENDEES: XN, Martin & Sasha, Troy, Dusty, Karen

Quite a colorful night, actually, everyone's food turned out perfectly (at least, no complaints were voiced). XN grilled some cajun catfish with his beloved Tony Chachere's shake and insta-prepped garlic butter (this just means the stuff he makes in the kitchen while the coals are warming up, not some prefab stuff from the store), and a foil packet of marlin in garlic butter and seasoned pepper. Which reminds him, that's still upstairs in the fridge...

Back. Martin had a salmon steak and threw that on the grill. Evidently he did it perfectly right, the way to do it is to leave it bare, skin-side down, and let it cook like that because it can only be assumed it was entirely edible and Martin enjoyed it very much.

Sasha made an elaborate and impressive arrangement of seasoned potatoes in oil ("Listen to that oil sizzle!" she noted when XN placed the foil packet directly over the fiery coals) and some Gardenburgers for herself. She seemed to mince some onion to a very fine degree and set it aside for a post-grill addition, which XN found interesting and now he's going to email her for the recipe of the exact composition of her finished burgers, to be posted here. Or maybe XN will start a new recipe's page... or an attendee's page... It's a big Saturday and he certainly has the time.

Karen just poked her head in the door and dashed off again, perhaps dropping Dusty off for he showed up with her. Dusty didn't know we were going to the movie that night - as frequently we'd failed to do so for many nights previous - but when informed of such only made some piroghis (sp?) and not the other stuff he thought he might grill.

It is not directly recalled what Troy brought to grill, he too shall be solicited for chronicling.

10JAN03 - ATTENDEES: XN, Jeremy, Penny, Troy, Erika, Ashley & Ryan, Martin & Sasha, Bexley, Hedge

XN still has not learned the trick of starting the coals when everything else is ready first - he thought he'd have plenty of time to light a load of charcoal and clean/chop some garlic while watching Stargate: SG1, but instead the coals burned themselves down to nearly nothing and he had to start another batch. But by this time more people had shown up so he felt better about lighting a larger payload of coals and mesquite.

XN just experimented with new seasonings, coating one catfish in very hot, peppery "blackened seasoning" and the other in a Penzey's jerk seasoning that was part of a gift from his supervisor.

Jeremy and XN employed a couple techniques to help thaw out his steak, wrapping it in cellophane and boiling it in the microwave in a Corningware container of water. That started it: slow-roasting it on the grill finished it.

Troy also threw on some very good turkey hotdogs of superior taste and texture. XN resolves to find the brand of these and avail himself of their tender delicacies.

Finally we launched into game-playing. With the Netflix selection playing in the background, and Bexley's very smoky and delicious Bowmore Islay single malt scotch, we started with learning... what was that, Pop Culture? Pop Quiz? It was actually pretty interesting, we just weren't so hot at the literature section. Then we tried Mad Gab, also a lot of fun but you really have to be careful who's on your team. Also, it's interessting to note that in the instructions they are very careful to indicate exactly how funny everyone is sure to find this game, iterating at several junctures at which points both teams will be racked with debilitating laughter. I found this a little proud of them. Finally we came back to Catch Phrase and played the fuck out of it. Set up into two very fierce teams of five people each, teams that never changed members (only their seating order), we played this until something like two in the morning. At which point most people took off, but Troy, Bexley, and Erika stuck around to hang the last dog and XN brought Classic Dungeon up from the basement. Very drunk on scotch, it was impossible for XN to understand the rules so we abruptly launched into the game and made a good show of it. It afforded opportunities for heroism, teamwork, personal gain, treachery, and revenge. Around 6am Bexley finally won - he saw how long this game could drag out and went straight for the high-dollar monsters while the rest of us were healing and forming weak alliances and such.

13JUN03 - ATTENDEES: XN, Erika, Jarrin & Ursula, Troy; everyone at Jesse's party

The first of the Travelling KFGs, this one took place at Jesse's house. He's been inviting XN to his parties forever but they always happen on Fridays, and everyone knows XN never does anything else on Fridays but grill. So he held a quadruple-threat birthday party and asked XN to grill for it. XN figured he'd just invite his group to show up there, he didn't know that people at the party were anticipating grilling stuff as well!

An hour late, XN started in on his huge-ass southern ribs with Idaho Redneck BBQ Sauce (obtained in McCall, ID). Pretty delicious, though the ribs were disappointingly full of gristle, fat, and bones. Southern-style ribe typically feature the meat cut away from the bone. Regardless, he made quite an impression setting down in a patio full of goths with a big steaming pile of sizzling meat in his lap.

Troy again brought large shrimp and had a few of those, forgot a couple on XN's grill, and forgot a package of them; XN wasn't much better, as he brought them home and forgot about them in his bag, refrigerating them the next day or so. They're probably no good.

Angie, one of the birthday girls, cooked some steak and brought a package of very interesting veggie bratwurst: apple and some kind of cheese. The concept was so intriguing that XN had some, and he thinks he remembers liking it.

Molly (molly_grrl) was there and had marinated an enormous goddamn steak for four hours, and this too dominated the cooking grid for a period of time - not too much, as she likes it rare. Good girl. And it was delicious.

Other people brought other stuff; if you remember what you cooked, email XN and inform him.

14JUN03 - ATTENDEES: XN, Jarrin

This was not an official grilling, fear not! XN had gone over to drop some shelving off with Ursula and hung out with her and Jarrin as they refurbished an exterior windowpane. When Ursula went to have dinner with her family Jarrin and XN decided they were hungry too, but Jarrin had band practice (his other band) in an hour, so XN suggested they get some food at the grocery store and grill at his place. He lit the coals and they went shopping.

XN knew right away that he wanted hamburgers. He wanted to pick up some Coleman beef, since they use no growth hormones or anything and make delicious steaks but the steaks are always gone lately but there's always hamburger, except this time there wasn't so he got some other stupid kind of stupid hamburger, dammit.

Jarrin picked up some vegetarian chicken patties and had intended to make a kind of chicken parmesan burger, but then XN discovered a squeeze-bottle of "wasabi horseradish mayonnaise" (yes, we know it's redundant) and they both wanted that instead. So they grabbed regular hamburger trimmings and that was that.

One of Jarrin's faux-chicken patties got a little charred on one side but he seemed pretty pleased with the overall results. XN's hamburgers were a little on the rare side, so much so that he put the 2nd one back on while he ate the first, but fat and juicy and he was in meaty heaven. He also grilled a couple pork chops in Moose Drool Brown Ale BBQ Sauce (also from McCall, ID) for later.

At any rate, Jarrin was still at least half an hour late to practice. But well-fed!

26SEPT03 @ Logan/Todd's house
ATTENDEES: XN, Sasha, Parker, London, notTHATtodd, Jeff, Jarrin, Demi, Christel, Erika, Courtney, Ashley & Ryan, Ursula, Troy, Aimee & Savannah, Logan

Obviously, the biggest surprise of this night was in showing up at Logan and Todd's house, only to find it completely dark. XN stood on the porch with Sasha and her kids, rang the doorbell, and no one answered for a while but eventually Todd came to the door looking a little sleepy. Evidently Logan had not informed him there would be a KFG here tonight. He was amenable to the idea, however.

This was XN's first attempt at marinating pork chops in char siu sauce, a thick, carmelly paste that oozes like molasses and refuses to spread properly. He does manage to get both sides of the chops covered, though, and they turn out pretty good - except for his neglecting them and allowing them to char on one side while he's inside drinking and socializing. Char siu chops will have to be watched more diligently than this.

Ashley and Ryan grill a very large salmon - there is no skin on one side of it so XN is at a loss to offer advice. He sends Ashley in to get some aluminum foil but she turns out to be scared of going into other people's houses; Ryan goes inside eventually and can't find foil anywhere, so they just throw the salmon directly onto the cooking grid. XN is afraid that this will char one side of the fish (burned by his past experiences) but actually it turns out moist and tender, perfectly cooked all the way through - there's just so damn much of it that we can't eat it all!

Erika grills up sausages and hotlinks and people enjoy these as a nice accent to everything else going on with the grill. Ursula has brought a six-pack of Moose Drool ale and these prove to go very well with grilled dishes as well.

Logan did, eventually, show up towards the end of the night. Bless him.

03OCT03 @ Ashley and Ryan's house
ATTENDEES: Ashley, Ryan, Courtney, Aimee & Savannah, XN, Allison, Ursula, Erin & Abby, Jarrin, Christel, Troy, Martin

XN showed up late with Allison and Ursula to find the earlier attendees. Ashley was struggling with the coals so XN made them retrieve the charcoal chimney and got those underway just fine. As soon as they were ready to go he threw on more char siu pork chops (and again let them char on one side, though not as bad this time) and a couple bison burgers, the latter shared with Ursula and Aimee.

Erin made some more of his cheeseburgers (the cheese is inside the burger) and XN needs to find out when he's going to show up again so he can either request some be made for him, or maybe XN could just take a stab at these again. He does solicit, however, Troy to bring his famous "Behnke Burgers" to a KFG at some point.

A bunch more people cooked whitefish on the grill and this, presumably was eaten, but at 11:45pm the group rose up en masse and actually went to the Riverview Theater for to see the Hong Kong selection that night. We haven't done this in forever, seems like!