Beans, Brats, and Chicken Legs

Last week Isaac and I invested $25 in a charcoal grill.  And another $10-ish in miscellaneous grilling supplies such as charcoal, lighter fluid, and smores supplies.  We hadn't planned on getting stuff for smores, but WalMart made it so easy.  Situated right beside the grilling things was a display of graham crackers, marshmallows, and Hershey chocolate bars.  How do you say no?

We got our purchases back to the apartment and I started assembling the grill.  As many of you may know, my husband is extremely skilled when it comes to fixing people--not so much with broken things around the house or anything that requires assembly.  It's just not his forte.

I got a call at noon that someone had scheduled at Ken Paves Salon at 3pm, so I tried to finish the grill before I left, but alas, it was not to be.  I abandoned it, legless and half-finished around 2:30, so I could work with my client, Barb.

When I got back, it rained.

So we postponed our outdoor fiesta and cooked brats on the stove, planning to try to grill out again the next day.

And it rained again.

And again.

Tonight we could finally grill.  But it was only 60 degrees out.  Probably colder.  So while our little grill huffed and puffed and smoked itself to death in spite of the frigid wind, Isaac and I parked ourselves beside it and waited for the chicken legs and brats to cook.

Even cooler than that, I made my own hummus today.  If you're interested in a really good recipe, here's what I did.  Warning: it's not for the faint of heart.

Soak one 16 oz bag of garbanzo beans overnight, at least 8 hours.
The next morning, rinse and strain beans.
Then, place beans in a pan and add water until 2 inches higher than beans.
Bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer for an hour.  Yes, literally, an hour.  I promise, the next step will be more difficult if you don't.


Remove skins from beans.  I found this to be easiest if I took one scoop of beans at a time straight out of the hot water in the pan and ran them under cold water (shocking them).  Then the skins popped right off.  HOWEVER, IF YOUR BEANS AREN'T COOKED LONG ENOUGH, THIS WILL BE MUCH HARDER THAN NECESSARY!  Don't worry, more than likely you can't over-cook them.  If you find the skins hard to get off, throw them back in the pan for another 5-15 minutes.


Get out your food processor.


Blend together 5 large cloves of garlic, 1/2 C. of lemon juice, 1/2 C. olive oil, 1 Tbsp of tahini, 1Tsp of salt, and 1/2 Tsp of Cayenne Pepper.  Then toss in your garbanzo beans, sans skins, and process.  If you find that things are a little bit thick and not blending well, add a little water.  Keep adding, little by little until things are silky smooth.  Don't worry if your mixture is a teensy bit runny compared to store-bought hummus--it will thicken once you refrigerate it.


Taste hummus, add extra seasonings if you feel it to be appropriate.


And that is what we do with a day off of work.