Kenmore Greatest Generation of Grilling Cook-Off entry by Michael C. Moscato, Ohio State Fair

My father was not the best cook, that was my mother’s job but like most WWII guys, he liked to pull out the grill and cook out. He and Carl Lord, a friend he met in the military from Detroit, MI, would find creative ways to enhance their culinary solution. As young children, the fire in the grill fascinated us. My father never spoke about the war but when he’d BBQ he would tell us of the time they were given some meat by the townspeople and they put a broken grate over a fire and cooked out using various things they gathered up to best make the goat meat they were giving palatable. The goat was very old and had been dead for a while. They soaked it in vinegar, best seasoned it with what they could find. In the end, my father said, "it was one of our better meals".