Debbie Says: You Grill Girl!

Guest Blogger Debbie Moose says:

It happens every June. Father’s Day approaches and the ads are all about Dads and grilling. Men and grilling. As if we’re back in the Stone Age. Well, my hair is too short to be used for dragging me into the cave and forcing me to whip up the side dishes. I refuse to relinquish my place at the grill.

I am the grill master at my house. Always have been. Always will be.

I’m carrying on the tradition learned at my father’s knee, when we bundled up in parkas and gloves to slather sauce on ribs in the middle of winter. The grill was always where the fun was, not indoors where my mother was fretting with buns and condiments.

With all respect to my brothers in flame, ladies like it hot, too. My friends The BBQ Queens, Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, started up an all-girl barbecue team at their home in Kansas City, where people are serious about grilling and smoking. They have since written six cookbooks, all while wearing tiaras.

On her Website Girls at the Grill, fellow North Carolina native Elizabeth Karmel encourages other women and also with her cookbook Taming the Flame: Secrets for Hot-and-Quick Grilling and Low-and-Slow BBQ.

So, gals, if you, too, love the smell of charcoal in your hair and the feel of a cold one in your hand, grab your tongs and stand up. Don’t let those boys have all the fun. Send Dad inside this year. If he balks, bat your eyes sweetly and say, “Why, Honey, you shouldn’t have to cook on your special day. You just go in and relax. And, while you’re there, make the deviled eggs, coleslaw and potato salad. There’s a lamb!”