Let's take a moment of silence!

There has been a tragic and SERIOUS situation here at Not-so-serious headquarters. A family member has been diagnosed with a serious illness. I have been in communications with people that can help and we are hoping that we can rectify the situation today.

I know you're asking; Who is sick? What is going on? Well let me tell you. It's our Traeger Li'l Tex BBQ070 grill. It is a VERY serious situation and it has been a very tough week since Li'l Tex went down. I discovered last Wednesday that the heating element went out of our grill and Li'l Tex was put on the transplant list, stat. We fired the ol' girl up last night using the manual starting method, and it worked fine, but it isn't the same.

I hear the follow up questions; What is a Traeger Li'l Tex BBQ070 grill? Why is it a serious situation? Who CARES?

Well, if you've ever had the JOY of having or using a Traeger, you'd understand my pain. It is a pellet grill. A pellet grill uses pellets that are not unlike the pellets people use in the stoves to heat your house, but they (the pellets) are not just for heating. They have flavored woods (garlic, onion, etc.) and they have different woods (oak, hickory, mesquite, etc.) for adding the perfect flavor to you favorite foods. The pellets dump from a hopper, via an auger system, into a combustion chamber, which is ignited by said heating element. A person could smoke meats, grill foods, and even use the grill as a CONVECTION oven. We've smoked chickens, turkeys, grilled any kind of foods on it you could imagine (including bacon!), and made bread and pizza on it. The Traeger grill makes me look like a grilling genius! And, while there is a certain touch that a person still has to have with grilling, it takes a good "griller" and makes them AWESOME. People that typically make their food look like the charcoal they are cooking with NEED a Traeger. You have to work hard to burn stuff on a Traeger. Even the most absent minded griller can use a Traeger with success. I know I sound like a paid reviewer of Traeger products, but trust me, I paid hard earned money for my Traeger. Thats how much I love this grill.

We cook/grill on it 4-5 times per week and since it has been broken, I've been lost. When it comes time to make dinner, I feel like I have some sort of amnesia or dementia. I don't know what to do. I keep going to the door, thinking that everything will be OK, but it isn't. Li'l Tex isn't going to heal itself, as much as I want it to. I have done all that I can. I've put Li'l Tex on the transplant list and I have an excellent set of tools. Now, it is time to wait. The life-flight team (FedEx) is scheduled to bring in the transplant organs today and for my sanity and their health, I hope they come through.

Now, I just need to decide on the first thing to grill on Li'l Tex once the transplant is successful. Buffalo burgers or some steaks? Hmmm...maybe both.