BBQ has a very strong tradition in the US and it just fits our German meat love. First we reanimated the bacon-breakfast we used to have almost every weekend.

Then Michael was looking for the best grill almost since the day we arrived. He made his mind about the advantages and disadvantages of coal and gas grills. You all know it is mostly a philosophical question but for me not of importance. So Michael was in charge and decided to invest the money.

Now we are proud owners of a gas grill and only its appearance on our balcony makes Michael very happy. So we tried all the great receipes we used in the US -- pork chops Ukrainian style, burgers American style and honey-mustard chicken Michael´s style -- and it tastes just fine.

Since we also learned that having a BBQ is double the fun with friends we invited some of our oldest. Sebastian was Michael´s classmate and is now a great cocktail mixer beside his job as an expert in economic sciences.

He, his lovely spouse Annett who is a successfull bio-chemist and daughter Johanna visited us just four weeks before we moved back to Germany and live now only some blocks away. Together we really enjoyed fine burgers the way we learnt to make them in the US.

Anyway, Michael is very keen on grilling every weekend now. But good beef is almost not affordable in Germany so there are still things we miss even if we now own a great American grill.