A burnt chicken is better than a cold sausage

I burned my chicken last night and it was delicious!

I bought a charcoal grill at the beginning of the summer and have had a miserable time trying to cook things on it. I read through a grilling book and looked at some websites and thought I knew what to do. But each time I tried cooking sausage or hamburgers, the fire would go out really fast, the food would get hot but nothing every had the grill marks. Something was just not right.

I found an awesome grilling book from Cook's Illustrated and they set me right -- I had been pouring the hot coals from my chimney starter onto the bottom basin of the grill, not on the bottom rack. The coals couldn't get any oxygen to keep burning and were too far away from the food to get it really hot right away.

So last night, I fixed this problem and actually burned my chicken and corn on the cob! It was fabulous! Between the 70 degree weather and finally solving my grill problems, I think I'll be grilling way more - like maybe every night.

Tonight's menu: beef fajitas with grilled veggies, fire-roasted fresh salsa