Welcome back from the weekend! Did you enjoy anything tasty or perhaps have a culinary adventure of your own? With Mother’s Day that just passed, I hope you enjoyed your weekend and to all our mothers out there, I hope you celebrated with loved ones!
This week’s Foodie Freebie Friday is getting a head start on the upcoming grilling season. We’re not as lucky as some of those who have the luxury of grilling weather all year round. But soon, Chicago will have their share!
Previously I wrote about Grill Charms as a great way to keep track of grilled items and how they are cooked on your grill. Leslie Haywood, founder and creator of Grill Charms, has generously offered to provide this week’s Foodie Freebie Friday!
Grill CharmsTM offer an entirely new concept in outdoor entertaining. They are dime-sized solid stainless steel charms that are placed in food BEFORE grilling. They have serrated stems which hold the charms in securely while flipping, moving and grilling food like you normally do. You Grill CharmTM your food prior to cooking to distinguish spices and flavors, steak temperatures, or to avoid health or allergy issues. They stay in the entire time, so when dinner comes off the grill, you simply look for your Grill Charm, and everyone knows which one is theirs. They are the perfect gift item for Father’s Day, birthdays, Groomsmen, Christimas, Valentine’s Day, Housewarmings or Hostess gifts… you name it! There are also various collections for different purposes.
For a truly unique grilling and dining experience there is The Charmed Life Collection and The Pink Collection. These collections have six different charms so food can be personalized prior to grilling to distinguish spices and flavors, to avoid health or allergy concerns or for any reason you can dream up!
If you’re planning a cookout with friends this summer, what not have a “season your own” cook-out?! This is where the host provides the meat, the guests pick their Grill Charm and choose from a variety of sauces or rubs that the host has set out. Guests flavor their meat any way they wish and nobody, including the grill master needs to know or care how it’s seasoned. When food is brought to the table, guests simply look for their Grill Charm.
With folks watching every penny, it’s even more important then ever that when people splurge on buying that beef tenderloin fillet, or carefully choose that chicken breast to spend their hard earned money on, that it’s cooked and seasoned exactly the way they want it.
Also, with The Pink Collection, 10% of the proceeds are donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Leslie and her mother were both diagnosed with breast cancer in their thirties, and with two daughters of her own, I’m sure you can understand the sense of urgency she feels to find a cure.)
These collections also help with health or allergy issues. With Grill Charms, if someone has a specific health or dietary need (such as needing a no sodium, low sugar or possibly a gluten free spice alternative) Grill Charms makes it easy for people to identify their food on the grill without any confusion or effort on the part of the grill master.
Thanks to Leslie, she will be giving this week’s winner the Charmed Life collection!
This collection has 6 individual and unique designs such as a sailboat, a tropical vacation and other items associated with living a “Charmed Life”. Use your individual Grill Charm to personalize your food before you grill to indicate your favorite sauces or flavors, avoid health or allergy issues or any reason you can dream up!
The Charmed Life collection is perfect for the “season your own” grill party you could have for the upcoming Memorial Day and they also make the perfect host or hostess gift if you’re attending a cookout for Memorial Day! Read on for this week’s Foodie Freebie Friday question…
Some guidelines:
– Giveaway is only for those who live in the United States. My apologies to my international readers!
– You must have a valid email address so that you can be contacted if you win.
To enter the giveaway, leave a comment answering:
– What’s your favorite thing to grill?
Deadline: Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 12 midnight CST.
One Winner will be randomly chosen by Random.Org’s Interger Generator based on the number of your comment and will be announced on May 15, 2009. Good luck!
Great giveaway! My favorite thing to grill right now is zucchini, yellow squash and onion, chopped with some olive oil and garlic over a charcoal grill. Yum!
How clever. Why can’t I come up with these smart ideas and make a million dollars??
My favorite item to grill is hands-down chicken kabobs. My mom made them once and it quickly became my favorite item. I usually make them pretty boring – chicken and a variety of sweet peppers and onions – but I’m going to try with some other ingredients this summer, I think.
My boyfriend also grills red potatoes with a rosemary mixture, and they are excellent. So much flavor little if any salt is needed.
Finally the weather is warmer in Chicago – barring a downpour, I’m grilling this weekend!!
Like the previous poster I’m very into grilling vegetables these days.
Asparagus is my current favorite. First I trim the asparagus them put it in a baggie with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pepper and salt to coat.
Dynamite!
Definitely corn on the cob!
Asparagus on the grill…seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper is my new discovery and favorite grill item!
Yes, very good giveaway!
My favorite thing to grill is kabobs. I love the fresh crispness of grilled veggies. If there is marinated chicken or shrimp involved, that’s just gravy!
I’m a true Wisconsin gal at heart (even though I don’t live there anymore). Nothing speaks to me like a bratwurst on the grill.
zucchini, garlic, asparagus.
Funny, but I made Chews Wisely’s favorite this weekend, and it was delicious, but I must say my favorite grilled item is asparagus, with a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.
How neat! I’m all about grilling steaks! Shish-kabobs are also on the top of my list!
There’s something about grilled chicken that tastes SO much better than any other way of preparing chicken. I love it!
I love grilling out.. chicken, steak, hamburgers- you name it– i love it
I love to grill salmon..and my new favorite recipe is grilled sweet potatoes
I love cooking potatoes with EVOO, sea salt, & rosemary on the grill and I LOVE grilled peaches.
I love to grill just about anything, but my favorite thing to grill is an Italian bell pepper/onion seasoning with grilled veggies!
I love a good juicy steak!
I love love love to grill chicken, steak, hamburgers, veggies, anything I just love to grill!
We love grilling kabobs! Marinated meat plus grilled veggies – peppers, muchrooms, onion, tomatos – yummy!
corn on the cob!
I grill all kinds of things – meat, seafood, veggies, fruit, you name it. My current favorite is grilled shrimp and sea scallops, because I had that Saturday night 🙂
Hamburgers and steaks are my favorites!
evitawylie at hotmail dot com
Mmmm! Sweet potatoes!
Truth be told, I’m not much of a griller–my husband usually takes care of that. But, the one thing I love to do myself especially when I have the girls over is Beer Can Chicken. It makes the chicken SO moist and gives it a slightly different flavor. MMmmmm, I’m salivating just thinking about it 🙂
I love to grill veggies, especially asparagus. I love to EAT grilled tri tip, which is a special treat here in Central California, but it requires a more skilled griller than me, so I just like to eat it, not grill it myself!
Burgers and kabobs are our favorites!
Being in So Ca our grill is always going! I’m the main griller, and usually it’s chicken.
Though as a treat, Mr. grilled steaks the other night, and they got mixed up as to who’s was who’s. These would be perfect!
Veggies in the grill pan, they are my favorite summer treat!
My favorite thing to grill is steaks. But I also really love doing mixed grill shish kabobs with LOTS of fresh veggies! I LOVE MY GRILL!
Those are so cute! I love them! My favorite thing to grill are ribs. yum!
I LOVE grilled chicken! It’s one of me and my husband’s favorite things to grill over the summer!
I really love grilling turkey burgers. They are delicious and good for you.
I love grilling tri-tip and hot dogs! YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!
My favorite is shrimp. Yum. Thanks for the giveaway!
beatspammer at gmail dot com