Play ball

1 – Upgrade your grill game – Traeger & Blackstone

I cook roughly 90% of our meals at home. I wouldn’t call myself a great cook, but I know my way around the kitchen and grill well enough to create enjoyable meals for my family and me. Every once in a while, I put in the effort to follow a recipe (Example see Metfix post), but most of what I make is simple and healthy—usually a combination of meat and vegetables.

I enjoy cooking, but I don’t enjoy cleaning up, which is why I cook most of my meals on either my Traeger or Blackstone.

I’ve owned a Traeger for over 10 years, and nothing beats its ease of use and range of capabilities. Whether I’m doing a long smoke (pork or brisket), grilling chicken for meal prep, or roasting veggies, I can trust that my meal will come out delicious. Cleanup is minimal—just sweeping out the pellet dust and replacing the grease drip tray.

I’ve had the Blackstone for about 6 months now, and the main reason I bought it was for searing steaks. My wife was tired of me smoking up the house with our cast iron skillet, so I got a Blackstone. When I’m short on time, I opt for it because its startup time is much quicker than the Traeger. The surface is easy to maintain if you know what you’re doing, and cleanup takes just two minutes once you pull your food off.

Josh’s Reverse Sear Ribeye Method

1. Preheat the Traeger to 225°F.
2. Season a thick-cut ribeye (1.5”–2”) generously with salt and pepper. (We get ours from Costco.)
3. Once preheated, place the steak on the Traeger and insert a thermometer if you have one.
4. Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 115°F (about 45–60 minutes).
5. A few minutes before removing the steak, preheat the Blackstone on high heat.
6. Add a small amount of oil & butter to the Blackstone.
7. Sear the steak for 1–3 minutes per side until it reaches your desired internal temp.
8. Remove from heat, rest for 5–10 minutes, and enjoy!

My Setup – Traeger Pro 780 & Blackstone 28″ 2 Burner

2 – Connecting with people. Be Curious –

Say you’re talking to someone about a topic they are really into it. There are two types of people. Person A thinks I know nothing about this topic and can’t connect. Convo ended. Person B is the type of person who is like, well, I’ve never heard of this but tell me everything. What is this thing and why are you into it. Maybe I’ll be into it too. (Paraphrased from a conversation by Adrian Bozman)

This idea is a skill I’ve been working to develop. When I was younger, I think ego kept me from embracing curiosity—I didn’t want to feel stupid or seem uneducated. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more secure in myself, and those thoughts no longer hold me back.

I’ve realized that most people don’t care if you’re unfamiliar with a topic—they’re just excited to share what they know, as long as they feel you’re genuinely interested.

Coaching has given me a ton of reps to practice this. I genuinely care about the people I train, and diving into random topics has opened my world to some cool things while also strengthening my relationships.

3 – Free books, video, & music – Hoopla Digital –

I’m a huge fan of using the local library. My first job out of college was with Midwest Tape, a company that was then a physical distributor of CDs and DVDs to libraries across the U.S. and Canada. I was hired onto a small team to help build their digital branch—which eventually became Hoopla Digital.

Fresh out of school, I had little experience and few skills, so I don’t know how much of an impact I made. But I was lucky to have great managers who assigned me projects that helped move the needle. My main role was as a data coordinator, ensuring that all metadata was uploaded correctly in our system so everything functioned smoothly.

I worked with Hoopla from its pre-launch stage, through beta testing, and into early launch. Back then, fewer than 100 libraries were using the service—now, that number has grown into the thousands from what I can tell.

I encourage everyone to visit your local library and get a card. There are tons of free resources (funded by your tax dollars) that you can use for learning and entertainment. Then, download the Hoopla app and explore everything it has to offer!

Hoopla Digital is a streaming service that lets you borrow audiobooks, eBooks, comics, movies, TV shows, and music—all for free with a library card.

And you’re out. Have a great week

Josh