He was a regular guy, with a regular guy name:  Bruce.  A mechanic, if I remember correctly, with hands weathered by years of working on HVAC equipment.  We knew each other from church, but he was wary of church.  He grew up there, and obviously liked a lot about it, but was somehow distant at…

This past January, I had the pleasure of meeting up with a few other Weber Kettle Club members. We met for lunch and beers at the Weber Grill Restaurant in Schaumburg, IL. Who was there. Jeff K, the man whose colorful collection sparked inspiration and collection envy for me and countless other grill Weber grill…

I grew up in the Midwest, including college and grad school outside Chicago, and then had an opportunity to do my internship in the Bay Area of California.  It was a grand adventure.  My wife and I quit our jobs, piled most of our stuff in Gram and Gramp’s basement, stuffed our small car to…

It is a question that is not often asked explicitly, but usually implicitly with a quizzically poised eyebrow while I drone on about minutiae regarding outdoor cooking: “Why the obsession with grilling, Mike?” There are a million answers to that question, each one stacking up on top of the ones that came before it, just…

This Thanksgiving, my family and I decided to stretch out our feasting– we would join some friends at a church nearby on the big day, then gather with a smaller group on Friday for a quieter get-together.  Which meant a lot of fun and friendship, but which also meant a chance for this die-hard Weber…