My first year of blogging is almost over, and I’m looking forward to 2007 to determine what direction I want to take.  I’ve been fortunate to be able to contribute to blogs in the Well Fed Network as well as to continue the blog here, but the variety has been more than just barbecue and grilling and competition.

I’ve tried to think of why the variety, and I think I finally figured it out…

I like to cook all kinds of stuff, not just barbecue.  Barbecue got me started in blogging, kind of as an extension of my involvement in some of the online communities.  In turn, blogging got me involved more in at least one of the online barbecue communities, the BBQ Brethren, which has been a good thing, and I’ve learned a lot being around there.  But I love to cook different stuff, too.

I will keep my main focus on outside cooking, since most of my time cooking is done outdoors, it makes some sense.  But I’m going to do more and better bread baking this year, as well as pushing into cooking outdoors with health in mind.  I’ve been on a bit of a kick that I’m going to continue about using less processed foods. 

So let me know if you’d prefer that I stick to the barbecue/grilling topics or if you’d like to hear the other stuff, too.  I know I need to do better about categorizing and keeping things easy to get to.  I’ll use more categories.  Let me know also if you’d like me to title posts with something that indicates more what the post is about or now.

Ok, I’m really not trying to get votes by posting this.  I do, however, want to get people that read blogs to get involved.

The 2006 Food Blog Awards have begun nominations, from now until December 15… Just this week!  There are several categories in which to nominate your favorite blog.  Take just a minute to pick a category and nominate a site.  Trust me, it’s a good feeling to get any recognition at all doing this, though that’s not really why most bloggers do it. 

Nominations can be made HERE.  Again, I’m not asking for nominations, just involvement!  That means some of you lurkers may have to leave a comment.

EDIT:  Ok, I’m going to ask for nominations. :)  The categories I think I might be eligible for are:
Writing, though that’s a stretch
Best New Food Blog (I didn’t start until January of this year)
Photography… I have some good photos, though not the best… at least they’re almost all mine!
Original Recipes… I generally don’t post a recipe unless it’s not from another source
Overall… not true, but what the heck!

I forgot a couple… Theme (Barbecue/outdoor cooking (with others thrown in) and Post, if there’s a particular post someone liked.

Come on… help a guy out!  At least a nomination would be nice… And I know some of you come by pretty often!

This month is nuts already.  I’ve been off the computer, or at least off the blog, quite a bit due to 1. writing for the Well Fed Network, and 2. getting ready for Christmas, and 3. starting up my last term of classes that I’m taking.  I’ll try to be more diligent through the next few weeks. 

In fact, next week is going to be fun.  I’m cooking for a holiday lunch that one of the vendors at work is putting on, for 30 people.  The vendor rep stopped at my desk and talked through the details, and the menu is set to be:

• Smoked turkey breast
• Brisket
• Tomato Pie
• BBQ beans, with and without pulled pork
• Cole slaw
• Tiramisu cheesecake
• Heath Bar cheesecake
• Apple pie
• Jaay’s Best Ever chewy chocolate chip cookies (you have GOT to try these!)

It’s getting close to one year that I’ve been blogging, and I’ve stuck with one main style almost from the beginning for photos, etc.  I’m considering a change, but to what?  Here are 3 examples… Let me know which you like best!

The first example is basically the way I’ve been doing photos on the site.

This example is just the plain photo.

And the last is a polaroid type treatment. 

Any comments are welcome!!!

On the startup of Get Your Grill On, the editor, Robert Fernandez, has asked for photos of meat.  I thought about what post to send him pictures from, and I decided it would be a good time to just go through the last 10 months and pull out some good ol’ meat photos… So here they are!

The first photo here is what I consider the King of Steaks, prime grade porterhouse steaks on the grill.  The steaks pictured here were done for my wife’s birthday party back in July, along with basil butter grilled lobsters. 

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I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into, but all of a sudden I’m going to be a contributing blogger to the Well Fed Network, a group of self proclaimed "Culinarily Obsessed" people.  I think I kind of fit in that category!

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Brian Pearcy, the BBQ Guy, is holding a contest!  If you’re interested, details can be found on his blog.  Basically, anything you want to write on barbecue in 500 words or less can get you entered, with the prize of a bottle each of the BBQ Guy’s sauce and rub.  No entry fee,  and you’ll get published on his blog just for entering!

Here I am at the end of October.  This is the month I tell people shows why Ohio is a great place to live… The fall colors are great!  Living in the woods means I get to see a lot of color, and this year is one of the best recent years to do some leaf viewing.

October is also really busy for us.  It’s great weather to be out, so we do a lot.  Every weekend seems to fill up, almost too much.  Luckily, we have a couple of weekends to relax between now and the holidays starting.  It’s also been a tough October for me, with Woody gone.  He always liked the turn in weather, and I just have great memories of spending time with him at this time of the year.  If anyone reading this has a dog, especially a lab, make sure to spoil them a little extra for me this week!

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It’s finally here, the 2nd edition of Carnival of the Grill!  Adam of Men In Aprons was kind enough to let me host the Carnival this time, and he’s got a great entry for this edition.

A lot of people think that September is the END of grilling season,
with Labor Day signifying things like pools closing and grill
accessories being packed up.  I live in Ohio, but my grill gear never
goes into hibernation!  If you’re thinking of packing it up, keep it
out a bit longer and see how autumnal grilling can be the best of the
year.  The weather is cooler, so the fire is more inviting than during
the summer.  And it’s just that much nicer to sit out with friends,
manning (or womanning) the grill.  Don’t be afraid!

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Nicole at Pinch My Salt just tagged me to participate in a Foodblogger’s Guide to the Globe.  The idea is to list five items, and only five items, that I think someone should try sometime during their lifetime.

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In 3 weeks exactly, my barbecue competition teammate, Mark, and I will be holding our first cooking class!  (Details can be found here.)  With that in mind, later this week, we’ll be reviewing the class and deciding what we’re going to be doing.  The theme is tailgating, and, weather permitting, we’ll set up a pseudo-competition site to show the people in the class how a comp might be run.  We’ll also be cooking all the food we’ll be going over with the class.  My thoughts are to include more than recipes, though; I want to talk about the different types of outdoor cooking and how/when to use different types of outdoor cooking (direct, indirect, smoking).  I hope to have a really good packet of info for everyone, with the 2 part goal of getting more people interested in barbecue/outdoor cooking and to be asked to do a class again.

Also this week, I’m going to go over flank steak and how I like to prepare it.  It’s a great, healthy hunk o’ beef.  The only real downside is the toughness, which is negated if cut correctly against the grain.  I’m partial to coffee based rubs for flank steak, and I may try grilling it directly on the coals this time…

I am planning on doing a little bit about over-smoking.  Over-smoking can leave bitter tastes, and can really turn someone off of smoked foods.  There are easy ways to recognize over-smoking, though, and some pretty simple ways to avoid it (hint: don’t use so much wet wood!).

Next Monday is the deadline for the next Carnival of the Grill, which I’ll be hosting.  Click here to submit entries, and the Carnival of the Grill will be posted on September 5.

And the next week, on September 11, I’ll be posting the first of the Carnival of the Food Photography entries, with the topic of "Grill Marks".  Submit any blog entries you have that show great grill marks!  If you have any suggestions for food photos you’d like to see, let me know!