Grilled Rotisserie Chicken

We recently acquired a nice Weber Genesis grill that came with a rotisserie! That got my cooking and grilling genes going...

My 1st attempt (I should have taken pics but I was too excited about my dinner) I bought a chicken and submerged it in a brine of salt, Rosemary, carrots, and onions for 13hrs... When I removed the bird it smelled so good!

I trussed the bird (first time ever doing this) and put it on the rotisserie with a whole pineapple, rind removed.

I was so excited!

While the bird and pineapple were cooking, I made some ka'bobs with beef and small red potatoes and some with pearl onions, zucchini, red and yellow tomatoes and....... honey crisp apples! I had them on another grill using charcoal. I started these about an hour after starting the bird.

After starting the kabobs, the bird looked awesome! (Again I should have taken pics) but I noticed the truss came loose with the bird flopping around as the spit rotated. I tightened the string and let it go....

I went to do my last brush of olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary... The chicken had broke in half, fell off the spit and was at the bottom of the grill in the drip pan!

I rescued the bird and shut down the rotisserie, removing the pineapple as well. We removed the meat and had to nuke some of it for a couple of minutes as the temp was only at 160°.

It was absolutely delicious! I thought maybe a little too salty door to the long brine but Melissa said it was perfect! And she should know., she is an awesome cook! The pineapple was great!

The kabobs were really good as well! I brushed them with the same mixture as I used on the bird. I didn't know the potatoes needed a long time....so they were under cooked... The beef was a little tough...The tomatoes fell apart...I used quartered tomatoes... Next time I'll use cherry tomatoes. Lol... the zucchini were under cooked as well. The apples were absolutely delicious!!

So for next time I need to:
-Learn to truss properly
-Use another set of rotisserie forks so the chicken and pineapple each have their own for support
For the kabobs:
-Use a better cut of beef
-grill the beef and potatoes for a bit, then kabob them with the veggies.

It was a lot of fun! It was delicious! My wife was proud of me! Lol
More to come! With pics too!

Super Moon.   -Nikon D3200 75-300mm lens at 300mm
First attempt on manual mode...I set ISO at 100..not sure what the shutter speed was though...I'll check the info on my pc and edit this. When I crop this photo and zoom in, the peaks and valleys are noticeable along the outer edge of the moon. Fascinating....(as Spock would say...)

Trying the blogging again...

Hello family and friends!
Trying to start blogging again...my dear wife was all over it but life gets us too busy...

Going to add photos..my new hobby..trying to be a novice photographer.. so I'll add my good ones as I go and grow....our once I figure out how to add pics..or a link to my pics.

We will add family content as well...my dear Melissa will probably take over if my ADD sends me in another direction...lol.. She's gonna be mad!.....I start many projects....but I rarely finish...then she puts my half completed puzzle together as I pour out pieces from another puzzle box....so she would rather I NOT start another project unless I plan to finish it. That is my intent though....besides...can one actually"finish" a blog??...lol

Stay tuned!!!  ---Brad

Bradley is a sailor! He had Battle Stations on Thursday and Friday and we received the call from him last night that he not only passed, but his division received the highest score of any of the recruit divisions at Great Lakes! They get to carry a special flag at PIR (Pass In Review - aka graduation)to show their excellence. We had read that this was a tough challenge but Bradley told us that he fell asleep standing up because he was so tired! LOL He was manning the valves for the fire fighters, and a group had gone before them and left everything on. So all Bradley had to do was turn off the valves when they were done, so he got a 15 min catnap while he was waiting. That's our boy - sleep anywhere. He said that his division had earned some extra freedoms now and that the last week was mainly down time. No more inspections, PT or drills. Just stretching and flexibility exercises to keep them from losing all the muscle they built up. He said it's boring now. After all the stuff they've done, you'd think it would be a nice break, but no, he's bored. They got to go to the Exchange last night where the phone banks are, so we had a nice hour-long conversation with him. After that they were going to be able to use the computers and eat. There are restaurants and stuff there too, so they could eat some different food than they've been living on. Bradley also said he'd be able to call us Saturday and maybe Sunday too. Ryan wasn't home when Bradley called so he definitely wants his shot at talking to his brother. Only 6 days til we actually see him!

Latest Letter from Bradley...

"Dear Family, Hi! How are all of you? Today is my 5-5 Day, just 2 more weeks. I had Gas Chambers today - that really sucked! It was my division and our brother division doing it for a total of 163 people, in a room no bigger than our basement (NOTE from Melissa: It's only a half-basement so not very large). We all had gasmasks on our face. We were in rows of 18 so we got to watch everyone else do it in front of us. I was second to the last row. they would have each row move up to a red line and tell us to take off our masks and hold them up in the air with one hand and cup our other hand under our moths to catch all of the drool and snot that pours out LOL

Let me go back to the beginning. The way they make the gas is on a hot plate, they drop 3 tablets on it (tear gas) and it smokes up real bad, then when there's a big cloud of smoke they turn on the fan to spread it around the room. So, if you're close to the hot plate then you'd get it alot worse than anyone else. I was 4 people away! That's about 7 feet. When I stepped up to the line, my skin started burning all over my head and neck. The instructor told us to take our masks off, and at first it didn't hurt at all, just a slight irritation but all at once it kicked in. My eyes were on fire, like insane amount of pain! I couldn't breathe because I was coughing so much. My eyes were pouring and it felt like my eyes swelled up 3 sizes. We had to stay in there for 40 seconds and we had to say our name and our division number and we had to keep our eyes open or else we had to redo it til we got it right. And keep in mind we had to wait for everyone to do it and some people were messing up. It was bad. I can't describe it but you feel amazing once the effects wear off LOL.

On a serious note, I have this weird rash on my left side, I went to the doctor here and they diagnosed me with shingles. I don't know much about it but they kept calling it a disease but they also said it's nothing to worry about. But I could go blind from it when I'm older and it breaks out around my face. They said it's not typical in young people and mine is bad and only seen in the elderly. IDK, this sucks. As you can tell, I don't know much about it. (NOTE from Melissa-I will be writing to him with more info about shingles and reassure him that he's not going to go blind from it.) They gave me some cream for it and its starting to go away.

But anyways, tonight is my 6-2 day. I'm almost out of this hell hole LOL. All I got left is a PFA test and Battle Stations. So basically I have 5 real days of boot camp left and my RDC's are being nice to us. They joke around with us and give us more freedoms..I gotta go I love you all,
Love Bradley
P.S I went to church"

MB: Wow - our poor recruit! I left out a few gory details about the body fluids from the gas just FYI, for those that thought it was too graphic! We are so excited about his PIR...only 9 days away. We're heading to Great Lakes early to make sure we can sit close and get a good look at him.

The PFA is the Physical Fitness Assessment and they need to pass that to graduate. If they fail, they get sent back 2 weeks and will have to try again. Battle Stations is the final boot camp test. It is a twelve hour long simulation of battles, crises, and ship life. When they're done, they get to trade in their "recruit" hats for real "Navy" hats and are officially able to call themselves "sailors". So, we're almost at the end and I know Bradley is SO ready to move on to A-school. Keep in in your prayers-hopefully he'll breeze past these last 2 weeks!

Great video - overview of Great Lakes Recruit Center

Find more videos like this on Navy For Moms

The long awaited phone call...

We waited and kept our phones on us at all times on Wednesday, because that's when Bradley called the first time and we missed it. But no call from an unknown 847 area code on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.

Yesterday, we were sitting around after lunch trying to decide what to do with the rest of the beautiful day when the phone rang. It was an 847 number that I didn't recognize. So glad I answered - it was Bradley! He sounded good but stuffy. Says he's been sick twice since he's been there and is catching something again. Guess that's what happens when there are 80 guys all crammed into a relatively small room. I asked about the "racks" - Bradley got a bottom bunk, which he likes, because it's easier when they have inspections. He's passed them all so far and has one more running test this week. This week is the tear gas test, too. They actually send the guys into a room full of gas. Ugh. He'll get through it I'm sure but it doesn't sound like something I'd ever want to try. When he was home, he had to go to the recruiter's office once a month for a meeting. At the last one before he left, there were some recent graduates and they told them that they also shoot them with a Tazer and mace them in the face in a "Z" pattern. Hopefully they were just trying to scare them!

We asked about Hell Week - and he said it was no big deal. They just had physical tests, inspections and drills all in once week. I thought it would be something awful. Not that all that exercise and testing isn't hard enough but I was glad to hear that it wasn't worse.He said his feet are better and the only reason he put off going for medical help is that some guys did get sent home for bad athlete's foot or put on light duty which sets them back a month. He wants out of boot camp on time - says he is bored just because of the routine. Gee - the military has a routine?!? Didn't think that was a big surprise but when you're 19, I guess everything is a surprise.

He's ready for A school and actually thinks the Hull Tech job will be ok because he will get to do different things instead of just one job every day. Some days it may be fire fighting, other days it might be welding, plumbing or HVAC. So, hopefully it'll be what he thinks and he'll enjoy it.

I asked about the 6 year enlistment and he says his contract states that it is only 4. Brad told him to read through it again because from what we've read, HT is a 6 yr commitment. The contract will say 4 years with a 24 month extension or something along those lines. Hopefully he knows what he's signing.

He got his orders for A school and it will be at Great Lakes again, and he'll get some time off on weekends when they're not in class. He has to report on August 1st - the day after PIR...but we're still hoping he get to check in, and then the Chief will give them the day off. We won't know til he after graduation but we're keeping our fingers crossed. If not, Bradley also told us that he gets to have his phone and will get email access when he gets to A-school, so we'll have more contact with him, which will be nice. His training is 117 days...but that is the minimum. From what Brad & I have read, Hull Tech training is difficult because the scope. They have to learn so many things and have many tests. Failing any of them puts you back 2 weeks and some kids have been in HT training for 5 months. So, time will tell. Since this is 'hands-on', and he has matured, I think he'll buckle down and work harder. This is a boy who never studied, rarely, if ever did homework, and generally avoided doing anything in school but hanging out with his friends. I hope he takes this seriously and works hard. If he does poorly and gets discouraged, his old self would throw up his hands and give up. Hopefully the tough, brave sailor Bradley will dig in and excel. We're proud of him no matter what, but I want him to continue to be proud of himself and KNOW that he can exceed his own expectations. I think this experience is going to do wonders for his self-esteem and help him realize that he is smart and strong and capable of doing anything he sets his mind to. We'll remind him anyway :)

Brad asked him about the food - Bradley said it's "like school food only way better" LOL He's lost 14 pounds so far and says a lot of people only lost 5 or 6 lbs. I'm guessing he had more to lose since he wasn't in Navy shape when he left. He is probably much more muscular and lean than he was...and he had to lose 15 pounds before he left so he's probably changed a lot compared to the last time some family and friends got to see him. He passed the sit up and push up tests and this week is the final running test. He was slow on the first one even though he ran fast at home and with the recruiter.. we told him it was probably because he's so darn tired now and he has been sick, which doesn't help. He says the shoes hurt too - they fit him with shoes to help his semi-flat feet so the arch hurts. Hopefully he'll dig in and run hard. I know he doesn't want to go back 2 weeks.

He loved shooting. Told us he was one shot away from getting his Sharpshooter rank. He can re-qualify when he gets deployed and he says he's going to do that. What little boy doesn't like guns? Guess my big boy is no different. He says they got to shoot 9mm and shotguns. Sounds like he liked the shotgun better!

It felt like we had so much to say and ask and there just wasn't enough time.Although we did make time to tell him we missed him and how proud of him we were. It sounds like he's actually proud of himself for a change - which was nice to hear.

Of course there were still things I forgot to ask so hopefully he'll be able to call again or will answer them in a letter. It made our day to talk to him and can't wait to see him at PIR. Only 14 days to go!