by Jill Zuckman
SEDONA, Ariz. – It was a busy weekend of socializing and tending to the grill for Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Today, he invited reporters covering his campaign to his cabin for a barbecue. On Saturday, he entertained about 30 friends – elected officials and their spouses who have supported his presidential bid and put in long hours of campaign time on the Straight Talk Express.
On both days, McCain stood over not one, but two gas grills, cooking up ribs and chicken for his guests. McCain says he loves to grill because it’s social and people can sit out on the deck, sipping wine and chatting with him as he does the cooking.
“I have so much nervous energy, it keeps me moving,” said McCain, dressed in jeans, running shoes, a sweatshirt and baseball cap as he used tongs to flip the ribs.
McCain’s recipe, which he shared with anyone who asked, is made up of one-third garlic powder, one-third pepper, and one-third salt slathered on the ribs and doused with a bit of fresh lemon juice.
But the real secret to his success, he said, is that he cooks the meat over a low heat, allowing the bone to get hot and help cook from the inside out. The 12 racks of ribs he cooked on Sunday took as long as an hour and a half until McCain deemed them ready for consumption. (They were excellent, all agreed.)
McCain’s property is down a twisting, rocky dirt road, nestled at the bottom of a canyon between Sedona and Cottonwood. McCain and his wife, Cindy, and longtime family friends own a total of six homes on land that sits on the banks of the rushing Oak Creek, which recently overflowed. The extra homes are used as guest cabins for friends who come to visit, such as Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and his wife, former Sen. Phil Gramm and Wendy Gramm, and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, among others.
Clusters of Sycamore trees shade the area, and a black hawk’s nest has taken up residence in one. McCain said there are about 64 different types of birds that fly through the valley, in addition to the occasional cougar looking for deer.





Comments
"John McCain, grill master supreme"
Yeah, Johnny McWalkingCane want's to make sure everyone is well fed before he sends them off to die in his 100 years of war on Iraq.
Posted by: John Hussein E | March 2, 2008 8:04 PM
"...McCain stood over not one, but two gas grills..."
Clearly, this nitwit does not even know how to grill. Calling Stephen Reichlen....
Shorter McCain...I'm so stupid I can't even do this manly thing.
Get your chardonnay loser.
He probably drives a Volvo while sipping a latte.
Posted by: weinerdog43 | March 2, 2008 8:08 PM
McCain acts like he has the nomination locked up. To win the nomination he needs to win all the rest of the primaries by a big margin. Huckabee is still dogging him and he can win enough delegates to stop McCain short of the amount of delegates needed to win
Posted by: Michael | March 2, 2008 8:32 PM
Boy, an article about john mccain grilling and mr. john hussein and weinerdog43 make negative comments... And liberals say conservatives are mean!!! Unbelievable... An article about grilling and these 2 liberals still say something negative...This tells me why I don't vote democratic ever!
McCain in 08!
Posted by: brian | March 2, 2008 8:45 PM
The Manchurian Candidate still has to answer for the "Keating-Bush" Savings and Loan scandal. 5 Senators were involved and he was 1 of them. Any retort? Please, nothing from FOX.
Posted by: Jim | March 2, 2008 8:45 PM
Obama will be grilled this November by McCain and the recipe will be, high taxes, no experience and a douse of Rezko.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | March 2, 2008 8:47 PM
Upon further reflection, I've decided to endorse Obama.
Posted by: Paulo II | March 2, 2008 9:12 PM
Brian: Amen. You got it right!! That is why I am no longer with the dems.
Thanks for the short but to the point blog.
jj
Posted by: JJ | March 2, 2008 9:48 PM
But, then I realized I'd rather vote for a spitting lama.
Posted by: Paulo III | March 2, 2008 9:52 PM
Of course, when reporters spend the next eight months overlooking every contradiction, misstatement and outright lie out of John McCain's mouth, nobody in the press corps will ever think to look back at this to explain why...
Posted by: Starscream | March 2, 2008 10:24 PM
Oooh. Brian is unhappy. I guess he's never heard his buddies Limpbaugh and Coulter and all the nice things they've been saying for years.
To Brian: Get used to being laughed at. And we are laughing at you, not with you.
Posted by: weinerdog43 | March 2, 2008 10:26 PM
"Obama will be grilled this November by McCain..."
Holy Cow, Paulo made a funny! Sorta. Actually, Obama's going to serve him a 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich'. (Courtesy FZ)
Posted by: weinerdog43 | March 2, 2008 10:40 PM
how can anyone with half a brain consider these candidates equally matched...i'm no mccain fan but obama has absolutely nothing to offer and the great majority of true americans, come november, are going to go with mccain...
Posted by: henry butler | March 2, 2008 11:31 PM
Jim:
Please don't take me for a McCain fan, because I'm not. (And there are creepy people out there watching me to see if I am). But I believe McCain has already answered for his involvement in the Keating 5 scandal. The matter was investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee. They concluded that, McCain was guilty of nothing more than “poor judgment," and declared his actions were not "improper nor attended with gross negligence."
Read more at http://www.slate.com/id/1004633/
So, either you are holding out on us for something other than the Keating 5 business, or there is some special reason the Senate Ethics Committee results don't sit right with you. What is it?
Oh, and for a retort, how about: Your mother dresses you funny.
Posted by: John W. | March 3, 2008 2:23 AM
""Boy, an article about john mccain grilling and mr. john hussein and weinerdog43 make negative comments... And liberals say conservatives are mean!!! Unbelievable... An article about grilling and these 2 liberals still say something negative...This tells me why I don't vote democratic ever""
This is probably the most idiotic reason i have ever heard not to vote for a particular party.
Your thoughts have the depth of a petrie dish! The republicans deserve you fully!
Posted by: Neljarretel | March 3, 2008 4:38 AM
Yeah John you got the Hussein part right who are you one of those traitors that protested Berkley and said that they agree with killing our troops? You should be emprisoned for the TRAITORS that you are and that is where the 100 years should play a part.
Posted by: vicki Hampton | March 3, 2008 5:18 AM
how can anyone with half a brain consider these candidates equally matched.
Posted by: henry butler | March 2, 2008 11:31 PM
I guess the same way you have decided who are true Americans and who's not. Sorry to hear of your loss. May you find the other half.
Posted by: bill "hussein" r. | March 3, 2008 7:32 AM
If he's not up for the hardships of running a campaign and thinks he needs to kick back and relax for a while, then is he really fit for presidency? Maybe gramps needs to spend more time grilling ribs for his buddies and grandkids.
Posted by: Juhi | March 3, 2008 9:13 AM
Gotta love the smarmy attacks of guys like John E. They post all these negaitives about McCain but when you post something about Obama back to them they just ignore it. Obama wrote a letter on behalf of Rezko in order for Rezkos company to secure $14 mill in state funding for a project inside Obamas district. Lets see Obama writes letter on behalf of someone who happens to be his BIGGEST FUNDRAISER on a project that just happens to be in Obamas district. alter Rezko pays him back by helping him buy a house for $300,000 less and dropping the price 20%. Yeah no wrong doing there.
Posted by: Vinny | March 3, 2008 9:22 AM
Obama has nothing to offer.
I noticed something troubling last night as I was listening to my tv while surfing.
I thought I heard Dr. MLK. I turned to look to see if Obama was using clips to campare himself to a great man. Nope, he was mimicking a great man.
As a matter of fact, he does it in a lot of his rally speeches and commercials.
I'm not saying it's exact.
If you pay attention to the cadence, and inflections, you should be able to pick it out.
That is low.
Hillary's a proven crook.
Obama is a clueless far left phony.
I'm not in love with McCain but, he's without doubt the least of the three evils.
By the way, when he said 100 hundred years he meant presence, not combat.
Keep it real folks.
This is the most important election since 1960.
We need a real Moderate in there. Not a far Lefty, not a far Righty.
Whatever your political persuasion you need to look past the hype.
Specifics are needed.
"Change" can mean literally anything.
How, what, when and how much are the questions of the year.
Wishing we were not in Iraq is popular. Unfortunately, it will not solve the problems.
Simply regurgitating campaign soundbytes will not solve the problems.
The actions of the next 4 years will have reprecussions for the next 40. Bear that in mind.
History should be a lesson not a destiny. We've had over eager negotiaters before. Anybody remember Carter?
We need somebody from the middle.
Anybody who catches flak from both sides may be the best choice.
Just a thought.
By the way, insulting people in this venue does nothing to actually hurt the intended recipient.
It does say a lot about the person who uses them.
Posted by: Realist | March 3, 2008 11:05 AM
I'm not sure who to vote for but I do remember how things have happened in the past. In about 1962 the Russian Premier Kruchev (sp?) thought he could bluff a nieve new President and put missles into Cuba and we almost shot nukes at each other before it was over. All be cause Kruchev thought JFK was too new and unsure of himself. I'm thinking about that now.
Posted by: BRU | March 3, 2008 1:13 PM
Bru, etc,
As it turned out Krushchev completely under estimated Kennedy as he was a WWII vet who actually had some combat experience and had absolutely no illusions as to what the Soviets wanted.
One of their favorite quotes: "We are gong to hang them and they are going to gives us the rope to do it with." Was not propaganda.
While we certainly do not want a real war monger, we just as certainly cannot have a surrender monger as President.
Those extremist / terrorists will eat us alive.
How do I know this? I was over there '79-81.
While I agree with some of their policies, I grow weary of the self loathing, blame America for everything, far left, with their "if only" mode of thinking that never takes into account that there actually is such a thing as an implacable evil in the world and that WE are NOT IT.
If you doubt me, ask the victims of the Nazi regime 1933-45.
Ask the victims of the Japanese Empire 1926-45 which include the Chinese, Koreans, Burmese, South East Asia, the Phillipines, and the Bataan Death March.
How about the Khmer Rouge, Milosevich, Hamas, Taliban, Lenin, Stalin, on and on.
Do yourselves and the rest of us a favor, look this stuff up.
Negotiations never, ever worked with these folks.
They were and are evil and are only interested in negotiations to gain some kind of advantage to make their next objective easier.
It's depressing but true.
There is no such thing as a perfect candidate for there is no such thing as a perfect human being.
Kennedy wasn't perfect. His private life would make Bill Clinton blush.
We cannot live with Neville Never Fight any more than we can live with Duke Nuc 'Em.
Sorry, Libs, it is the reality we live in today.
Posted by: Realist | March 3, 2008 4:24 PM
I thought this would be appropriate.
Grilled Lemon Mustard Chicken
(serves six)
* 6 pieces single chicken, skin on, wingtip attached
* ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
* ½ cup dijon mustard
* Juice and zest of two lemons
* 4 cloves of garlic minced
* Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
* 1 medium head of crisp romaine, washed and spun
* Dry torn into bite size pieces
* 1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
* 6 small plum tomatoes
* ½ cup pitted kalamata olives
* 4oz diced feta cheese
* 1 small cucumber, peeled seeded and thinly sliced
* 4 garlic cloves minced
* ¼ cup lemon juice
* ¼ cup sherry vinegar
* ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
* salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1. Marinate the chicken breast in the olive oil, dijon mustard, garlic lemon juice and lemon zest for at least an hour. Grill the chicken and set aside until the salad base is assembled.
2. For the salad base, gently toss all the ingredients in a large salad bowl. Gently wisk the vinaigrette, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Divide into four large plates. Slice chicken and arrange tastefully on the salad bed.
Posted by: Emeril Lagasse | March 3, 2008 5:13 PM
BTW that WAS from Hillary's White House Kitchen.
Posted by: Emeril Lagasse | March 3, 2008 5:14 PM
Thank you Emeril.
That sounds tasty.
Posted by: Realist | March 3, 2008 7:08 PM
SHUT UP EVERYONE! John McCain is a great man. Not only a great man, but a great politician. You guys dont know what you are talking about
Posted by: mkant6 | March 3, 2008 11:10 PM
mkant,
Are you including me in that rash generalized statement? I'm not bashing him. As it looks now, I'll be voting for him. Two things are certain, I will not be voting for the other two.
Posted by: Realist | March 4, 2008 3:21 PM
I'd rather eat a McRibwich than on of McBush's slow-cooked suck up to the press rib slabs...
Posted by: p | March 7, 2008 12:30 PM