Summer Grilling and More

in #story5 days ago (edited)

Since getting the Ninja Woodfire Grill earlier this summer I’ve had a chance to cook almost everything except for brisket and salmon (those are coming soon). I say this without exaggeration, everything I’ve made on this grill is a personal best for me, and I’ve been grilling for over twenty years. The built-in digital thermometer and smoke box, which holds wood pellets, makes grilling and smoking nearly idiot proof—which is imperative in my case.


Grill.jpg

The thing that’s impressed me the most, so far, is something I never expected—pizza. This was a veggie, pepperoni, and fresh mozerrella cheese, with copious amounts of garlic. Instead of using a standard tomato sauce base I brushed a generous layer of extra virgin olive oil on the crust before topping it. It was grilled for a total of 8 minutes on HIGH with the cherry wood smoke feature turned on. The subtle hint of smoke permeated the entire pizza elevating it more than I could’ve imagined. I don’t want to make pizza any other way now.

After and Before

We’re knee-deep in home renovations at the moment and I'm feeling a little like a general contractor. Most of our flooring is being replaced as are the kitchen countertops, and the cabinets are being refaced. Coordination and timing is proving itself to be fairly complicated. The work will culminate this autumn when we have the master bathroom gutted and redesigned.


Bathroom.jpeg

After looking at what seems like an endless amount of examples online the photo above most closely matches my vision. The bathroom isn’t horrible now but reminds me of something I would have seen in a Golden Girls television episode from the 1980s. I could handle something a little less “vintage”.


Old Bathroom.jpeg

This photo of the more modern bathroom reminds me of the one we had in an Airbnb we stayed at in England in 2019.

Speaking of England…

When I got my first tattoo in 2016 I never imagined that it would become such an obsession. Well, the urge is striking me again. I had Grok design me this one the other day.


Tattoo.jpeg

Image created by Grok.

This tattoo design is a nod to three things—my love of tea, adventure, and my British heritage. I think it’ll go on the right side of my chest. I’m still playing around with the final version of the design but this is a general idea of what it’ll look like. Here we go again!

All for now. Thanks for reading.


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And why is the cup broken? The pizza looks delicious and if it has the smoky flavor, then not only does it look, it sure was delicious. I read you and I feel like I'm watching a kid with a new toy, Eric! How nice to have those pleasures every now and then and those motivations. As for the remodels, I love them, the problem is how much work they are. An ideal bathroom, though, can be something akin to glory. hahaha. I send you a hug

For some reason AI created it with the cracks but I'm going to have the tattoo artist get rid of the cracks on the final design. Like a kid with a new toy is 100% correct! Lol. I really have enjoyed experimenting with the grill. I'm trying to enjoy the remodeling process but it's a lot of work and added chaos. The end result will be worth it, hopefully! : ) I hope you're having a good week!

Something like 3 in 1 would be this publication.

I loved that grill, hopefully I can find one so I can make my pizzas and more dishes. I think another advantage of grilling is that you don't consume a lot of fat, quite the opposite.

From the bathroom, I really like both options, although you are the one who decides and you already have the clear idea.

As for the tattoo, you are also clear about how you want it, the place where you are going to get it tattooed and the design.

Good luck in all your projects.

Have a nice day.

Greetings and best regards.

Thanks @tonyes! I hope you have a good rest of your week!

Looking good! I'm glad the grill is working out well for you. The bathroom looks amazing. I can understand why you like that design. The floating vanity reminds me of a high end hotel. Although I have never really stayed at a truly high end hotel. I like the tattoo design too. I still need to get mine augmented somehow.

Thank you Jay. That's high praise coming from you! I really like the coziness and serenity of the new bathroom design—the grey makes it almost cave-like. The Airbnb we stayed at in Covent Garden was almost identical but it was a smaller space. Every place we stayed in over there had towel warmers and I'm thinking of adding that feature since half our year seems like it's below freezing. Grok does a pretty good job of coming up with these tattoo designs. You should give it a shot and see what it comes up with based on your prompts.

Yeah I should check that out. I designed the original one, but my ex got it too, so my wife isn't too keen about it in the current state! 😃 I hope your bathroom turns out awesome!

Thank you!

Here in Asian countries, houses are not kept so clean. You have kept everything very clean and the good thing is that there is every machine in the house with which we can cook and eat any food of our choice.

Sometimes things are probably a little too sterile here. A person could probably accomplish all their cooking with this grill. It's also and air-fryer.

Damn man that's plenty of good stuff!

Setting personal grilling bests and finding an even better way to make pizza? That bathroom looks amazing and makes me want to get some gutting done around here. I hear tattoos are addictive and I am half glad I never found a design I wanted permanently on me or I might look like those damn MMA fighters.

This Ninja really does make it easy. Boneless chicken breast is the ultimate test of a grill for me and this produced some of the best I've had. It's so easy to dry it out. Salmon will be another test.

Now that I've started I'm enjoying the feeling of accomplishment with these home-projects. It's the getting started that's the tough part.

Haha, it's definitely an addiction. I have probably 1/5th of my body covered now. I can have them all totally covered up if I need to though. I'll never have my neck, face, or hands done. I get a kick out of people's expressions in public if I'm dressed up and roll up my sleeves. You wouldn't think there would still be a stigma surrounding tattoos but there definitely still is.

Loads of good stuff here. The grill looks amazing for one, cherry wood smoke infusion, wow! Their products are fantastic. We’ve got a couple of their blenders including a small one for making purée and a mean pesto.

Good luck with the house upgrade!

I’ve no tattoos and can’t ever see myself getting one but I love that teacup design. Very British and being a fellow Brit, I’d go for a slice of Victoria sponge as a design!! Would go well with tea!!!

Thanks! I've had good luck with all of their products I've owned as well. My wife has one of their blenders. I see they make an air-fryer/toaster oven and that'll probably be our next purchase.

Haha, an afternoon tea-themed piece would be epic!

A tattoo made up of scones, sponge, cucumber sandwiches. There must be someone out there with such a thing!!

The air-fryers are really good. We have a different one though but friends have the Ninja version.

The grill has been one of your companion at such because it has been making your favorites.

It's definitely been fun!

The tattoo design even has a reference to Turner, outstanding. So British. I wouldn't lose the tub in a bathroom renovation, I've found them (since moving into this new house, at least) - to be amazing for relaxation, reading and recovery.

It probably helps that it is the first one that I actually fit in since I was a child, too....

Woodfire cooked pizza is the best, but all pizza is pretty incredible.

I wouldn't have noticed that if you hadn't mentioned the nod to Turner! In a strange bit of serendipity J. M. W. Turner was born in Covent Garden and that's where the Airbnb was that I got the inspiration for the grey bathroom design from. Weird connection there. I do like the occasional bath but we'll be keeping at least one of those in the other bathrooms of the house.

Pizza is the most perfect food, IMHO. If I had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life it would probably be that.

I mean, you can put anything on a pizza, so it is the most logical "only food to eat".

Debates will still occur in thousands of years if pineapple is one of those things. My stance is that a pizza knows no boundaries.

One of my favourites (which my sister in law made me once, and I have made myself many times since) - marinated artichoke, jalapeno, and pineapple. If I add chicken and bbq sauce to it, it is one of my my most favourite things.

Yes, there's a reason it's survived so long! I'll have to try that artichoke, jalapeno, and pineapple pizza. It sounds delicious! I think my favorite is just a simple Margherita from a wood fired oven.

You can fight my wife for the Margherita, its not my jam :D

Your experience with the pizza is really interesting, substituting olive oil for the usual tomato sauce base is such a smart idea ;)

That grill sounds like a total game-changer! I can imagine how that smoky flavor on pizza must be next level. Also, good luck with the home renovations — the modern bathroom inspo looks sleek! And the tattoo design? Unique and meaningful.

It's so versatile! I think the smoke-flavor would elevate just about anything. Thank you!

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