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| Early spring no leaves yet in the mountains. |
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For the last couple of weeks I have been on the road a lot. Usually I have a lot of pictures that I put up as part of the Photos from the Road series. Unfortunately, this time I was driving and did not get a chance to take many pictures. It may be just as well, because most of the pictures would have been taken of traffic on the interstate. I drove across a good bit of Virginia during the last couple of weeks.
Spring is here, and the vacation season is starting. It seems like everyone is ready get out and go somewhere. The temperatures are rising and it feels great to get outside. It was warm during the day. Some days it was even warm enough for short sleeves. It was cool in the evenings. You needed a fleece.
The travel was an interesting experience at this time of year. At lower elevations most of the dogwoods and early spring flowers have finished blooming. The oaks and maples have their leaves almost fully out. At middle elevations everything is a the bright green of early spring and the early flowers are just starting to bloom. At upper elevations most of the trees have no leaves on them yet. The daffodils and forsythia have bloomed and the dogwoods are just opening up their blossoms. The apple trees are blossoming up there. It is amazing that the apple trees are able to withstand the cold weather and produce fruit when it is so chilly.
My road trip ended up at the cabin. We are still doing renovations up there. I will have more on that on Sunday's blog post. Today I wanted to show photos of our grilling out. Usually in April it is cool enough to start the wood stove. If the wood stove is going, my husband makes English Muffins and cooks them on the griddle. This trip we decided that it was too warm to run the wood stove. It might have been cool enough in the morning, but by afternoon the temperature was supposed to be in the upper seventies (Fahrenheit). If we started the stove, the cabin would be roasting hot in the afternoon. Once the stove gets hot and the cinder blocks of the cabin heat up, it stays hot for quite a while. Since we were working we did not want to it to be too hot in there.
Since he was not making English Muffins, my husband decided that he would make some Italian Bread and bake it on the grill so we would have fresh bread with dinner. We have experimented a few times with baking bread on the grill. We made Naan and we have cooked pizza dough on the grill. There is a learning curve on cooking bread on the grill but we are getting better at it. Once the bread is on the grill, the top of the grill was closed so that it would build up enough heat to bake the break. The bread cooks very quickly on the grill. You have to make sure to check it often and turn it before it burns. The bread had a toasty, smokey flavor to it. It was delicious.
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| Dry rub on the meat. |
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| The apple tree is blooming. |
I made a steak rub and cooked the London Broil on the grill. I guess I should say that I rubbed the steak and my husband cooked while I assisted from time to time by taking the temperature. As a general rule at home he is not very interested in grilling. Up there, he seems to enjoy it. The charcoal is laid so that the grill has a hot side and a cool side. The London Broil is seared on each side on the hot side for about five minutes each side, then moved to the cool side to finish cooking. It was rotated during the cooking so that the meat cooked evenly. Once the meat has been moved to the cool side the lid of the grill is closed to let the heat build. A London Broil is a thick piece of meat. It took about twenty to twenty-five cook it to rare. The appropriate temperature was determined by an instant read thermometer. I think that type of thermometer is the bet cooking tool ever. By using a thermometer my steaks and chicken do not overcook.
I feel embarrassed every time there is a picture taken of me up there. I am always in my worst clothes and have been working like a dog all day so I am dirty and disheveled. We decided to cook before changing so our clean clothes would not smell like smoke for the rest of the evening. One of these days maybe there will be a decent picture of me.
I think that a new grill is in our future; or at least a new grilling station. The ground is not level up there. We have to prop the grill with some boards so that it is stable. We discussed the possibility of building a small level platform for the grill. I think that a new project is in our future.
Spring is here, and the vacation season is starting. It seems like everyone is ready get out and go somewhere. The temperatures are rising and it feels great to get outside. It was warm during the day. Some days it was even warm enough for short sleeves. It was cool in the evenings. You needed a fleece. 
The travel was an interesting experience at this time of year. At lower elevations most of the dogwoods and early spring flowers have finished blooming. The oaks and maples have their leaves almost fully out. At middle elevations everything is a the bright green of early spring and the early flowers are just starting to bloom. At upper elevations most of the trees have no leaves on them yet. The daffodils and forsythia have bloomed and the dogwoods are just opening up their blossoms. The apple trees are blossoming up there. It is amazing that the apple trees are able to withstand the cold weather and produce fruit when it is so chilly. 
My road trip ended up at the cabin. We are still doing renovations up there. I will have more on that on Sunday's blog post. Today I wanted to show photos of our grilling out. Usually in April it is cool enough to start the wood stove. If the wood stove is going, my husband makes English Muffins and cooks them on the griddle. This trip we decided that it was too warm to run the wood stove. It might have been cool enough in the morning, but by afternoon the temperature was supposed to be in the upper seventies (Fahrenheit). If we started the stove, the cabin would be roasting hot in the afternoon. Once the stove gets hot and the cinder blocks of the cabin heat up, it stays hot for quite a while. Since we were working we did not want to it to be too hot in there. 
Since he was not making English Muffins, my husband decided that he would make some Italian Bread and bake it on the grill so we would have fresh bread with dinner. We have experimented a few times with baking bread on the grill. We made Naan and we have cooked pizza dough on the grill. There is a learning curve on cooking bread on the grill but we are getting better at it. Once the bread is on the grill, the top of the grill was closed so that it would build up enough heat to bake the break. The bread cooks very quickly on the grill. You have to make sure to check it often and turn it before it burns. The bread had a toasty, smokey flavor to it. It was delicious. 
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