c/o Blake Klein

Last Monday, my friends and I visited a secondhand store in Middletown: the Estate Treasures and Moving Services’ “Amazing Everything Store!” I intended to buy a dress shirt, but then I saw an 18-inch charcoal grill that cost $15 while perusing the aisles of used gizmos and gadgets. Naturally, I bought it and declared that the coming Friday night would be “Grill Night.” I spread the word and ended up inviting about 15 people to the backyard of the Community Engagement House, a program house that two of my friends live in. Grill Night was on, and I would quickly see if I was in over my head.

The first step was procuring the food. After class on Thursday, I went to Price Chopper and bought an enormous amount of ground beef (I’m a burger purist, so I decided to make my own patties), hot dogs, chicken sausage, peppers, onions, corn, and buns. I had no clue how much food would be enough, but I figured that someone could run to Weshop in the worst case scenario.

Next was the grill supplies. My first stop was Home Depot, but they only sold charcoal in bulk, so I tried Target instead. There, I found a clearance treasure trove. Not only did they have charcoal, lighter fluid, a metal grilling tool set, and a lighter for incredibly low prices, but they also had a Weber Smokey Joe 14-inch grill originally for $60 that was on sale for $20! I bought the grill. Grill night was all good to go, now with two grills instead of just one.

Finally, Friday came. Immediately after class, I picked up my friend Zach Liu ’26 to move everything from my dorm to the Community Engagement House and start prepping the food. We mixed beef with eggs, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, formed patties from the conglomeration, and let them sit in the fridge. People soon begin to show up, and I quickly put them to work slicing peppers, seasoning asparagus with olive oil, garlic powder, and salt, and laying out cutlery. Meanwhile, I attempted to light the bag of match light charcoal. Although I didn’t need to add any lighter fluid to the bag, I was afraid of messing up (I called my dad earlier in the day to get his advice). Five minutes after lighting the bag, the fire roared to life. Grill Night had truly begun.

Everyone had arrived and the food was all ready to go by 6:30 p.m., yet I still could not begin cooking. When using a charcoal grill, it’s essential to wait for the actual flame to die down and the charcoal to turn grey. I didn’t anticipate how long this process would take, or that the sun would set so early. I began getting nervous that Grill Night would be an abject failure. But my wonderful friends, most of whom would have otherwise eaten hours earlier in Usdan, waited patiently for the grill to be ready. We sat near the grill together, telling jokes and stories. Eventually, the fire died and I started grilling. 

First up were the burger patties, which took a while to cook. I’m a fan of a rare burger, although some people were less adventurous and insisted that their burgers stay on the grill until they were insultingly well done. Since there was still a lot of food to make, I set about lighting the other grill. The grate did not fit properly and kept falling into the fire (remember: this was a $20 Target clearance purchase), and the charcoal didn’t want to light. But eventually it roared to life. The vegetables and hot dogs cooked quickly, and soon I had food ready for everyone. The burgers were a big hit; the garlic powder was key to making them flavorful and delicious. I wasn’t as concerned about the hot dogs and chicken sausage since they were already pre-made, but they also had some excellent grill marks and tasted delicious.

As everyone sat down to eat, they swapped tales, complained about their workloads, and talked about their weekend plans, as befits a proper college cookout. Meanwhile, I was in full-on grill mode, taking the occasional respite to yell at people when they took something directly off the grill, interrupting my system of grill-to-serving table transfers. But I wouldn’t change anything about how the night went.

Overall, Grill Night was a smashing success. There is nothing better than hanging out with your friends, enjoying each other’s company, and cooking for people you care about, even if they start getting hungry and yelling at you. All I can say is, if you find a grill for a super low price, I insist you host your own Grill Night (and invite me). Just remember to light the charcoal early.

Blake Klein can be reached at bklein@wesleyan.edu.