Growing up, I never was a really big fan of a lot of different foods, especially meat. Actually, I was a pretty picky eater until I got older.

It really didn’t matter what I was eating; I literally would drown it in ketchup.

If we had steak at home, and I was not a big fan of it at all, it had to be completely burned and smothered in ketchup. I never, ever would dream of ordering steak in a restaurant. If I was at someone’s house at a BBQ and steak was on the menu, I always asked for my steak to be burned. I was scared of the red.

One evening, when I was older, I went to a steakhouse with friends. I usually order chicken but they talked me into broadening my horizons, so I let a friend order steak for me. At least I got to order the sides, including grilled corn-on-the-cob, baked potato, coleslaw and a hunk of cornbread, just in case. Then I sat back and waited for my dried-up, shoe-leather piece of meat to come, already noticing there was no ketchup on the table.

Finally, our order came. As the waiter was placing our steaks in front of us, I noticed something was wrong with mine right away. It was not all dried-out looking, or burned around the edges. When I touched it with my fork, it was very tender. I actually thought it was raw but decided to tough it out.

My one faux pas was requesting ketchup, which made all my friends turn to me with a resounding “no!”

Well, one bite into my medium rare rib eye and right before everyone’s eyes, a new steak addict was born. It was absolutely delicious and I have been a steak snob since.

I do like a good chunk of garlic butter melted over it or, occasionally, fresh blue cheese. But I never have used ketchup or steak sauce on a steak since.

To this day, I have trouble cooking different kinds of steak but give me a good rib eye, and I can grill a pretty great steak.

Plus, there always are lots of side dishes to be had, like grilled onions, peppers and jalapeños, grilled corn and baked beans. But this week, it's coleslaw since I think of that a lot more in the summer than the winter.

So get the grill out, add great coleslaw and top it off with a cold cocktail. Enjoy!

The Picnic Watermelon Cocktail

2 ounces vodka

2 ounces watermelon chunks

2 ounces lemon lime soda

½ ounce lemon juice

½ ounce simple syrup

1. Chop the watermelon and muddle in mixing glass with lemon juice and simple syrup. Add the vodka and shake really well.

2. Strain into a glass over ice and top with lemon lime soda. Garnish with a slice of watermelon and enjoy!

Coleslaw that tastes like KFC’s

½ cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup milk

¼ cup buttermilk

2½ tablespoons lemon juice

1½ tablespoons white vinegar

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

8 cups finely chopped cabbage (about 1 head)

¼ cup shredded carrot (1 medium carrot)

2 tablespoons minced onion

1. Chop the cabbage and carrot very fine (small, like rice)

2. In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, milk, buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar and salt and pepper; whisk until smooth.

3. Add cabbage, carrots and onion and mix well.

4. Cover, refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving, and enjoy.

Vinegar Coleslaw

1 large head of cabbage, finely shredded

1 medium bell pepper, finely chopped

1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, grated

Dressing

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp celery seed

1 cup cider vinegar

Combine coleslaw vegetables, chopped cabbage, chopped bell pepper, chopped onions and grated carrots in a large serving bowl.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved; pour over vegetables and toss well. Cover and refrigerate until chilled (best overnight). Stir and serve.

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