BBQ Canvas Grill Covers

Internet friend Arjan from BBQ Canvas.com

in New Zealand has come up with a great product.... some nice looking grill covers!
I've not tried one yet but wouldn't mind seeing one of these sitting on my patio.

Here is a bit of information about the covers......

"AT LAST: NICE LOOKING GRILL COVERS
The antidote to dull and boring barbeque covers, the 2010 début range of bbqcanvas® features four twin-toned contemporary designs, from the subtle to the striking. Current designs include ‘Tuscan Olive’, ‘Shady Elm’, ‘Mad Snapper’ and Sheep’, all of which can be viewed online at BBQ Canvas.com
The covers combine maximum protection from the elements with an up-market aesthetic appeal – so you can add a splash of style and colour to your garden or patio.

Co-designer of bbqcanvas®, Arjan van Woensel, says: “The bbqcanvas® has already cornered a niche market in New Zealand, where it’s transforming boring covered barbeques into an attraction rather than some sort of outdoor style crime. And now we’re expanding by taking bbqcanvas® to the rest of the world, where we anticipate that this stylish and long-lasting item will be welcomed with open arms."

To ensure it meets the demands of year-round usage, bbqcanvas® combines the best of craftsmanship and functionality. The covers are manufactured with an ultra-tough, weather-tight 600 denier weave, along with piped seams and tough Velcro bindings. The bbqcanvas® provides maximum protection against the scorching sun, rising damp, falling rain and whipping winds, plus bacteria and mildew. All designs come in three sizes, to cover 3-4 burner, 4-5 burner and 5-6 burner hooded barbeques respectively.

Check out www.bbqcanvas.com for details and online ordering."



These two designs are my favorite but there are others on the site and more designs are to be coming out next year.










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Arjan also assured me about shipping from New Zealand to the US...
His grill covers are being sold through Amazon.com so the shipping costs will not be as high as you would expect....


"We're going to be available through Amazon (already possible to buy bbqcanvas there), we will ship from New Zealand for the moment but don't be afraid of high shipping costs: it will be a normal price for shipping, as if you were ordering in the US. So for customers there will be no difference but we will be stocking Amazon and they will fulfill the orders."



I purchased one of those black grill covers from the hardware store for my Memphis Pro.. It lasted for about one week. lol The first good wind that came through ripped a hole right in it. One of these might last longer, it looks like the material used to make these would be a lot stronger than the one I had.
If I purchase one, I'll be sure to post about it! :)

Thanks again Arjan, looks like a great product!

Just some pics...

The pasture grasses are almost stirrup high in places and still have a bit of a green tint .....





the horses are doing well...




the windmill is still pumping strong..







everything is peaceful and quiet out here. :)

Grilled Shrimp Eggrolls

I used the extra shrimp I grilled on the Memphis Pro...from my grilled shrimp and veggie salad....

I rough chopped the shrimp, added shredded cabbage, minced garlic, green onion and some minced jalapeno..(that I didn't get in the photo)



then... keeping with the bbq/grilled flavor, I sprinkled all with Seafood Splash dry rub....




rolled them up....














and fried til crisp.....

still staying with the grilled theme, I used a spicy Billy Sims Boot Kickin' hot Q sauce as a dip..






They were pretty danged tasty.. :)

Grilled Shrimp & Veggie Salad

This was a fairly quick and easy meal... just what I needed after working outside in the Oklahoma heat all day.


I also wanted to try out a new dry rub seafood seasoning made by a friend of mine.. Smoky Okie.

I drizzled some peeled and deveined shrimp with olive oil, then sprinkled with Smoky Okie's Seafood Splash dry rub seasoning...




raided my garden for some veggies....







cubed some hunks of bread, tossed with olive oil, kosher salt, cracked black pepper, garlic, parsley, oregano, and a bit of basil ....

Onto the Memphis Pro for a quick grill.

I tossed the croutons often to toast all sides...

I used the firewire again.. I love those things. :)

The grilled shrimp and veggie salad, drizzled with Vidalia onion dressing and topped with fresh herb croutons...

Smoky Okie's Seafood Splash was great! The shrimp needed no other seasoning.

It was a nice ending to a hot summer day... :)

Crawdads

I had a few friends (15) over this weekend for a small crawdad boil. I straightened up my patio and added an extra table and a few more chairs....

set up the homemade cooker and started heating my pot of water....




I prepared some corn, potatoes, onions, garlic, lemons, smoked sausage, shrimp and crawdads....



made a batch of smoked beans n ham...also a yellow squash/ zuc casserole...then smoked them in the Memphis Pro with hickory...




one of the salads... slaw

the pictures of the other salads, didn't come out well.
I forgot to take pictures of the other snacks...

I made some strawberry triffle.....



heated my garlic bread in the Memphis Pro.....

seasoning the pot....

I seasoned the pot with crab boil, lemons, onions, garlic, smoked sausage and cayenne..




I added the potatoes, cooked until almost tender, then added the corn, crawdads and shrimp...








covered a table with plastic, then newspapers...

poured the drained goodies onto the table and added bowls of garlic butter and cocktail sauce....




served with lots of garlic bread, napkins and cold beer...

It was a fun night.. we ended up playing guitars until 3 am...

What do you do.....

when you lose one of your best friends...

you remember the walks together, the secrets you shared, the warm hugs and wet kisses and the unconditional love from her big brown eyes...



I'm going to miss her.

Creamy Smoked Garlic Scalloped Potatoes n Ham

One of my favorite comfort foods.... a big cast iron skillet full of bubbly, creamy scalloped potatoes and ham...
Kicked up a knotch with garlic and a light smoke.....I was in heaven. :)

I sliced some of the smoked ham I had on hand from my last cook...

sauteed a few onions in butter, then added 2 minced cloves of garlic. Cooked until tender.

I made a basic white sauce by adding about 2 TBs of flour to the onion, garlic butter..stirring constantly to cook the "flour" taste out of the flour. :)

then added half cream, half milk ... to make a nice sauce. I wanted it on the thin side, the sauce thickens while in the smoker. seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper...

Layered peeled sliced potatoes and ham in the skillet, topped with some of the creamy sauce, then repeated layers...


Into the Memphis Pro with hickory, I set the Pro to a temperature of 225F for the first 20 minutes then kicked the heat up to 375F .

The creamy scalloped potatoes and ham cooked for about one hour.. until hot and bubbly and tender.

served with some tomatoes and cucumber salad from my garden...

I don't do this very often, but when I tasted the creamy smoked garlic scalloped potatoes and ham.. I let out what sounded like a whimper. The same little sound I made when I tasted my first smoked bacon wrapped bacon. lol

Smoked Biscuits n Ham with Beer Braised Onions

Kind cooking friend Ashmont, from Missouri, surprised me with this nice gift of a HUGE smile.. and a Cooking With Beer cookbook! Thank you again Ashmont, that was really thoughtful of you! :)

I decided to try the Beer Braised Onion recipe first...

I scored a ham and placed it in the Memphis Pro at 275 with a drip pan of beer and apple juice.

After smoking the ham with hickory for several hours, I added the skillet of onions...
butter, sugar, beer, balsalmic vinegar and salt.



Then added a batch of biscuits...









The biscuits looked funny, a bit flat, but they had great smokey flavor..




The beer braised onions were sweet and tasty!




The ham was nice and moist...




I split a biscuit and added several slices of ham...



Then topped the ham with beer braised onions...




I couldn't decide if spicy brown mustard would go well with the sweet beer braised onions, so I served it on the side.
The smokey biscuits and ham topped with the beer braised onions were great on their own! I will be making this again. :)