Column: New Things?

The older I get I don’t really like to try new things. I’m not sure if it is a good or bad thing, but I have a comfort zone and don’t often care to step outside of it.

Every once in awhile I do, and I have to remind myself that doing something different is probably needed.

I had heard for years about just how good the television show “Game of Thrones” is. I swear that about every third person I talked too would tell me how wonderful and addicting it is. I have never been a huge fan of fantasy or anything dealing with kings and queens, so I didn’t have the desire to watch it. I’m glad the show made them happy, but it just did not sound like my cup of tea. I was also six seasons behind and didn’t not think it would be possible to catch up before the start of season seven.

I watch a ton of sports, but last summer there wasn’t much going on and one Saturday morning I decided I would give GOT a shot. I figured one or two episodes wouldn’t hurt to watch and then I could move on with my life. One or two episodes turned into all 60 episodes in one month. There were a few Sundays when I didn’t leave the coach and I’m sure my butt print from those binge-watching sessions is still there. I also think I may have worn the same clothes that weekend and only left the couch to use the bathroom. It turns out deciding to watch the show was a grand idea. It is easily one of my favorite televisions shows and I’m happy I made that decision.

I’m wishing life was as simple as finding an incredible television show, but unfortunately it isn’t. I’m still pretty sure that I can broaden my horizons in the future. I’m really going to try and do this in the kitchen or on the grill.

I like to think I’m a good cook, but I have my normal routine of things I cook and that’s about it. It’s the same thing at a restaurant. When I go to LaHood, I always have a blackened rib eye steak. That is what I enjoy and I figure why should I change it. One of these days I’m going to try and cook a new recipe and order something like crab from LaHood. While these may sound like not a big deal, it’s huge for me. If I don’t like it oh well, but maybe it will be a GOT type situation and crab is the new steak.

While it certainly wasn’t cooking something different, I did however last week try a new technique with grilling a steak and it didn’t end well. That’s always the scary part of trying something different. For a few weeks I had been seeing a commercial for a copper grill mat. The basic idea behind it is that it keeps the heat of the grill, but there are not flame ups or huge messes. I had thought about buying one and was pleasantly surprised when my mom came to visit and brought me a package of them.

I wanted to put them right to the test and fired up the grill. I followed the instructions and put the steak onto them. Within about five minutes I’m pretty sure people within 20 miles cold see the flames. It was an epic disaster. The mats melted and chaos ensued. What looked so easy to do on television, was not. I’m still growing back some of my eyebrows and eyelashes. Everyone at the house shared a laugh, but for a few minutes I was a little bit worried.

In the future there will be no more grill mats, but at least I tried, and know one got hurt --- barely.

So I’ll try new things here and there, and hopefully nothing burns or blows up.