| Growing up, my family was never big on throwing | | | | yelled back. “I don't even know how to cook |
| parties or having any sort of social get-together at | | | | pork ribs. How long does it take to grill pork |
| our house. It is not as if my parents were not social, | | | | ribs?” |
| it is just that they always went over to other | | | | “Figure it out.” |
| people's homes for any social arrangement. | | | | Now I was as frantic as my parents. I searched the |
| For some reason, something changed in my mother's | | | | house and eventually found a cookbook with a quick |
| head one day. When I was about 14 years old, my | | | | grilling guide. I saw we had pork chops, pork loin and |
| mother declared to our family that we were going to | | | | pork ribs. I fired up the grill and started cooking up |
| have a barbecue at our house. As a surly teenager, I | | | | some baby backs. My father returned, and I started |
| was not particularly excited about the concept, but I | | | | peppering him with grilling questions. |
| was also intrigued. Could my parents even pull it off? | | | | “How long do I cook pork chops on the |
| The night before the barbecue, my mother came | | | | grill?” I asked. |
| home with what looked like an entire pig. While at | | | | “Not now, I'm busy,” he replied. |
| the grocery store, she decided the party would have | | | | My father left again before I could say anything else. |
| a luau theme. In her hands were armfuls of leis, | | | | I was stuck with the cookbook, so I decided to pick |
| pineapples and enough pork to feed all of Hawaii. She | | | | some recipes that sounded good and hope for the |
| brought back cuts of pork I have yet to see again. | | | | best. I began grilling up some easy plum-glazed pork |
| As the hour of our guests' arrival drew nearer, it | | | | kebabs with the pork loin and some grilled pork chops |
| became painfully clear that my parents were woefully | | | | with cinnamon-apple relish. |
| under-prepared. My father kept having to run back to | | | | By the time I was done, our guests had been in our |
| the store to pick up another forgotten item. My | | | | house for two hours are were ravenously hungry. I |
| mother furiously paced around the kitchen, cooking | | | | could not tell if it was because everyone was hungry |
| appetizers and preparing the house. While my parents | | | | or if I actually succeeded, but everybody loved my |
| were frantic, I wanted to retreat into my room. My | | | | grilled pork recipes. |
| mother had other plans. | | | | Now, cooking pork ribs is easy and grilling pork loin is |
| “Matthew, I need you to grill the meat,” she | | | | a cakewalk. I now enjoy making those same grilled |
| yelled at me. | | | | pork recipes, because any pork grilling experience is |
| “What? I don't know how to grill pork ribs,” I | | | | stress-free compared to my first endeavor. |