am i in charge of the grill now?

To be honest, when I agreed to take part in Ontario Gas BBQ‘s #OGBChallenge back in May, I was just excited to go along for the ride. As I mentioned in my introductory post for the Challenge, “I rarely grill. Did I say ‘rarely’? I meant ‘never’. Grilling is Paul’s territory.”

But during a month of almost daily grilling, I learned A LOT. I read up on indirect vs. direct grilling. I learned to stifle my curiosity and keep that BBQ lid closed! I found out what ’40 to 140 in 4 hours’ means and how important it is. I discovered that patiently grilling a pork butt for 13 hours is totally worth it! And I learned…I can grill!

Overall, I was completely satisfied with how my recipes turned out and with my new confidence around a BBQ. I didn’t expect to win the Challenge, I just wanted to push myself into new territory and gain some grilling experience along the way. So, imagine my complete shock when this happened:

Wait…WHAT?! I WON??? … I WON!!!

Of course, this now means that my friends and family will expect me to do most of the grilling. But I don’t mind – bring on the BBQ!

As with anything like this, there are SO many people to thank. So I’ll try to keep it short and sweet!

THANK YOU to:

(obviously) Paul – besides everything else, during the OGB Challenge, he became my chief taste-tester and idea brainstorming partner. Plus, he had to give up his grill to my experiments!
my sister Suzy – always my #1 cheerleader
my parents – for taste-testing almost every recipe and getting emergency ingredients when I couldn’t leave the grill
my in-laws – taste-testers (and approvers) of my grilled breakfast quesadillas
the Belly Monsters team (Adrienne, Chanry, Davindra, Judy, Justin and Sid) – for being the best support group a gal could ever ask for and for being my food stylists!
the team at Ontario Gas BBQ and Branding & Buzzing – for inviting me to take part in the OGB Challenge, making it a fun experience and possibly creating a Grilling Monster out of me! LOL

A special THANK YOU to my fellow OGB Challengers for stretching my grilling imagination. It was a friendly competition and they are all SO talented! Their enthusiasm for all things BBQ and recipes have really pushed me to try new things on the grill. Make sure you add their blogs to your regular reading list – you won’t be sorry!

Charmian – The Messy Baker
Steve – The Black Peppercorn
Jennifer – Seasons & Suppers
Mara – Be Nice or Leave Thanks

And of course, THANK YOU to YOU my readers, Twitter and online friends and everyone else who spared a moment to vote for me. I can say without a doubt that I couldn’t have done this without all of you and I’m really humbled and grateful for your support!

Check out all five of the recipes I created for the #OGBChallenge: