Spring Grilling Fever

This was a particularly brutal winter.  I was starting to get a bad case of seasonal affective disorder - by the end of February, I was desperate to see the sun again.

And then?  March started with a week of blazing sunshine and warm weather.  Now the gray thoughts from gray days have been replaced with my springtime grilling mania.*  This happens every year; the moment the thermometer hits 50*F, I'm ready to rush out to my back yard with my tongs in hand.
*I know that early April usually has one last snowfall.  I don't care.  I'm doing my part to convince summer that it's time to arrive by firing up the grill.  

The downside to spring grilling is the rain.  It seems like every day comes with a 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms.  The day I don't grill, that 40% turns into blue skies and sunshine.  They day I decide to chance it, the clouds roll in and thunder starts to rumble the moment I start to preheat the grill. I try not to get too invested in grilling this time of year, but as you can probably tell, it's hard.  I want to be out there, enjoying spring!
*Why is it that temperatures are so relative?  Come September, the first 50 degree day sends me running for my coat. In Spring, after months of freezing temperatures, I want to put on shorts and a t-shirt the moment it hits 50.

The key to spring grilling is flexibility.  One day it's 40 degrees and raining; later in the week it's 60 and sunny.  Or, if your weather is like ours here in Northeastern Ohio, it might be both in the same day.*  I love my charcoal grill, and use it whenever I can...but in the spring, if there is any question about the weather, I use my gas grill.  The "light it and forget it" advantage of the gas grill lets me stay inside during a passing rain shower if I have to.
*This has been a really weird spring.  In two weeks, starting in late March, we had 65*F and sunshine, followed by 2 inches of snow (so I had to shovel my deck again, arrrgh), followed by a record 85*F in the first weekend of April.  In two weeks!

This week's posts are dedicated to spring grilling.  Get out the tongs, fire up the grill, and let's get cooking!

What do you think? Are you a spring griller? Or do you wait for the lazy days of summer to light up the grill? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

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