Grilling on the Fourth of July, My Favorite Hobby

When it comes to a hobby, I have many. However, my favorite hobby is grilling. I especially like to grill over the Fourth of July. This article explains how I spend my hobby enjoying the Fourth.

I am in a very unique location. Our small town has a parade on the Fourth of July that comes by my house. We can sit in my yard and enjoy the parade as it rolls by. I even invite friends and relatives to enjoy the festivities with me. The parade is at 3 pm, so we eat earlier at 1 pm.

This year I am do butterfly pork-chops and pork-steaks as the main grill item. However. I will also grill mixed garden veggies and cowboy beans. My wife will make baked potatoes and corn on the cob along with a mixed fruit salad of strawberries, peaches, blueberries and bananas.

Grilling
Since the grilling is my hobby, here is how I do each of my three items. Let's start with the cowboy beans.

Cowboy Beans
They are a mixture of navy beans (already cooked), pork and beans, and one can of chili beans. I add chopped onions and BBQ sauce (Hunt's). I mix them into an open pan and slowly cook them on top of the grill. I close the grill so that the smoke will give them a better taste.

Grilled Mixed Garden Veggies
Double up some aluminum foil. You will need a lot. Then I take asparagus, long green beans, zucchini slices, carrots and one sliced green pepper. I soak them in olive oil. Remove them from the extra oil and place them on the foil. Next add seasoning of your choice. Roll everything up tight in the foil and cook it on top of the grill for about 20 minutes or until they are tender.

I then place these two grill items in an oven just to keep them warm.

Meat Grilling
The night before I grill, I use a rub for the meat. I place the rub on each piece of meat (both sides). I place them in a large plastic bag and place them in the fridge overnight. The next day I grill them slowly on a low flame. You will find, that the rub from the night before will stick to your meat as it cooks.

On important think to be careful of is grease splatter from your meat. Pork grease can easily make your grill hotter. Keeping a low flame can reduce flare ups.

After the Meal
We then take our drinks and our lawn chairs and sit to watch the parade go by. We finish off the evenings with grilled hot-dogs and brats as we watch the city fireworks from my backyard.