Saturday Roof Party
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Photos by MJ Klein – Attention: Food Photos!
The weather has been great for the past few days so we decided (of course!) to have a party up on our roof! We invited Andres and his family along with his friend and co-worker Rich. We had a great time with good company and good food.
I have been wanting to build some kind of an outdoor cooking table for some time. I wanted one that could hold a Dutch oven and also a grill and do everything I needed to do in connection with cooking outdoors on the roof. So, I went to B&Q and bought some stuff, and spend a few hours on Friday putting it all together. Take a look at what I built:
This is the far end of the roof at the back of the house. This is the cooking table that I made from ordinary shelfing materials you can buy in Taiwan. We also picked up the small black grill in the left corner. It’s basically a copy of a tried and true US design.
I have a pile of charcoal on the table and a Dutch oven in progress. What I like about this photo is the sparks flying off the charcoal.
The table is an upside-down shelf. I drilled the shelf and legs and then fastened them together with pop rivets. I had to use the black plastic inserts upside down to close the gap.
I then tied the whole assembly to the fence rail with #10 Tech screws. Tied to the fence, the table is strong and stable. When the hole broke through water came out meaning that the entire upright tube is filled with water. I’m going to have to drill weep holes in the tubes.
This is what it looks like from overhead. You can see that the shelf is perforated and will let air pass though easily. With the high winds we sometmes have up here, a bag of charcoal burns off in 15~20 minutes, and it burns hot! I’m going to have to make a shield to cut down on the wind (another story).
This is a nice beef calf roast that I’m starting up.
And this is the vegetable content of the dish. There is a layer of white pepper on top.
Basil on the top along with garlic and we’re ready to cook.
This dish cooked for awhile and then our guests arrived.
We also had some of Hui-chen’s marinated grill meat, featuring duck and pork.
Hui-chen and Becky (R) handling the grill duties.
Karen and Olivia enjoy the afternoon.
Olivia is so cute! She’s really a great kid.
Andres and Rich (R) share some stories, backdropped by the sun setting over the Taiwan Straight. The day was wonderful and I was noticeably short on the photography.
I got this one crappy shot of the Dutch oven food. It tasted a lot better than how it looked in this photo.
The ladies went inside after the sun went down, but the men stayed up on the roof for some time, drinking and sharing stories of work and travel.
Late in the evening we went over to Shao-hui’s, where a sizable crowd was singing karaoke. We enjoyed some of the legendary Thai cusine that Shao-hui is known for, and then we called in a early night (relatively speaking).
Thanks to everyone for coming over and making our party and enjoyable one.
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April 27th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
That looks great.
A student that just saw me read your blog said to me – “The biggest problem with reading the Bushman is that afterward I always feel hungry”.
True.
Filis last blog post..Around India in 24 days – a trip summary
April 27th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
@Fili: hehe, i will take that as a compliment! thanks.
great work on the India series. i learned a great deal from that series.
April 27th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Mmmm….MMmmm…..MMMmmm! I just got my appetite back. Thank you! It looks like you guys achieved a perfect day on Saturday.
Carries last blog post..Taroko Gorge Redux
April 28th, 2008 at 1:23 am
That looks so good! I love your rooftop deck. I wish I was so handy with making stuff from metal.
Sandys last blog post..What’s your travel personality?
thenhbushman
reply on May 1st, 2008 11:39 am:
Roof Video? {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/n0qgsBx63z_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”Roof Video? ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/JaAGz5j3QW”}}}
MJ Kleins last blog post..Video Comments
April 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Sandy » one of the reasons why we bought this house was the flat roof. the other places we looked at had large balconies, but it’s not the same thing. hope you can join us someday!
April 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Carrie » it really was a perfect day Carrie. i was light on the photos because i spent my time talking with the people
April 29th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
With such great equipment, I know you were eating well! I’m so envious you have a place to cook outside! Damn these Japanese apartments with their “no balcony BBQ” rules!
Bryans last blog post..The Future of Engineering and Engineers?
April 29th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Bryan » something to be said about owning a standalone house! thanks.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:04 am
I knew it will be excruciating to read your Saturday post man as I missed out this one. Like I told you I was away in Jiufen last weekend. Anyways I know there will be more roof top parties in the future and even if I have some plans they will have to take a backseat for sure
Ashishs last blog post..Weekend at Jiufen
April 30th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Ashish » we’re putting together the next Blogger Bash now. your name is on the list! thanks Ashish. btw, we are enjoying the Old Monk very much!
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 am
Looks good man.
I wonder if the charcoal is burning faster because of the holes in on the bottom of the table? Would it help control the temperature of the charcoal, if there was a plate to help control the airflow? Also, is ash a problem? A plate or tray could help you control ash too.
I would love to try that dish.
Colby
thenhbushman
reply on May 3rd, 2008 12:09 pm:
Colby » the charcoal absolutely is burning fast due to the circulation and high winds. i’ve concluded that i need a shield. the ash doesn’t do much because the holes are so tiny, but putting the charcoal in a pan is a good idea mainly to slow down the burn. fortunately such stainess stamped pans are cheap here.
Colby the dish is good but i’ve made it like 10 times and i’m sick of it. my wife loves the flavor of the basil garlic beef but i want to experiment more. fortunately we’re going to have another big blogger party soon where i’ll be using all 3 DOs. thanks for your comments.
btw readers, Colby is an international Dutch oven cooking competition winner. he forgot more than i know about Dutch oven cooking!