Kitchen Demolition

Work schmerk. It isn't long until my mind drifts to food. And before you know it I have wasted an hour reading food blogs, searching for recipes, and planning my next grocery trip. Shh - don't tell. Or planning my dream kitchen. The great kitchen remodel has begun. So far we have demo'ed one wall and bought three cabinets - progress is slow but steady - or so I keep telling myself.

Moving day was also my sister's (the Little Potato and future Wildwood tenant) birthday. Here is a good before shot of the wall and also her birthday cake. Notice lots of Pimm's scattered around the room and the bottle of Dom left behind - which is being saved for Wildwood's 100th birthday party in 9 years.

Before.

Demo.

It will be awhile before I have an after picture, but I can't wait!!

Check out these beautiful melons - all grown locally and arrived with the CSA. Have you ever had yellow watermelon? It is, believe it or not, juicier and sweeter than the pink stuff, phenomenal.

In the attempt to use the mid-demo kitchen as little as possible, CC and I have been grilling daily. I picked up a whole chicken from Tea Hills on Saturday and thought I would try the beer can chicken craze I have heard about. I used this recipe for the rub, but I forgot to rub some under the skin as well. We don't eat the skin, so I think we missed out on a lot of the flavor. But the chicken cooked up fast (like 45 minutes) and was very moist. It is a simple technique that I want to play around with some more. Plus, it is fun to play with chickens.

Ingredients
Beer Can Chicken Rub:
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder

For the Chicken:
4 pounds chicken, washed and dried
Vegetable oil
Beer Can Chicken Rub
1 (12-ounce) can beer

Directions
For the chicken rub:
In a small bowl mix all the ingredients together and use for the grilled chicken. You can store extra rub mixture in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

For the chicken:
Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
Rub the chicken and its cavity down with the vegetable oil. Season the chicken with rub mixture, remembering to season the cavity. Pour out 1/4 of the beer and sit the chicken on top of the beer can. Place the chicken in the center of the hot grill and cover. Cook the chicken for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F. Once cooked, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.