For many of us, Memorial Day weekend kicks off the start of another great summer.  Thousands will flock to the beaches, lakes, and mountains of our great country to take in the warm sunshine and beautiful weather.  Of course, I’ll be right there with the rest of you.  Readied with a cold beer in one hand and a spatula in the other, I spend the majority of my Memorial Day weekends surrounded by family and friends at our lake house on Georgia’s scenic Lake Oconee.

On such weekends, my house typically becomes the center for all of the action.  After all, my family is pretty well-known for never meeting a stranger.  For instance, if you walked through my backdoor, momma would instantly offer up a variety of home cooked food and drink from her kitchen–quickly followed by an invitation to stick around for supper.  I suppose it’s true that the acorn doesn’t fall too far from the tree.  I owe momma a debt of gratitude for my cooking expertise and Southern hospitality.

Since I can’t invite you all over for supper, I figured I’d offer up the next best thing: my recipes.  Whenever I’m at the lake, I prefer to spend my time outside–just man and grill.  These recipes provide an outstanding base of grilled fare for you to enjoy at your holiday cookout.

Most importantly, when you are surrounded by family and friends this weekend, enjoying some of the great recipes below, say a prayer for the members of our armed forces and their families. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Many of them are fighting battles or serving far away from those that they love. May our hearts and prayers be with them until they safely return home.

Best,

MM

Bistro Steak Sandwiches + Caramelized Onion + Basil-Balsamic Mayo

Even with such a complicated name, this recipe couldn’t be easier.  However, don’t let the ease of this recipe fool you, as it boasts tons of flavor.  Follow my step-by-step instructions for this delicious and hearty favorite.  (Prep 15 mins, Cook 45 mins, Serves 4)

Bistro Steak Sandwiches

4 Hamburger Buns (French-style if available)
2 lbs. Skirt/Flank Steak
¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Caramelized Onions (see below)
Basil-Balsamic Mayo (see below)

Caramelized Onions

2 Large Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

Add ingredients into a skillet over medium low heat.  Cook onions for 25 – 35 minutes, stirring often until browned and tender.

Basil-Balsamic Mayo

1 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Clove Garlic, finely minced
¼ Cup Fresh Basil, julienned
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

Whisk together ingredients in a mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.  Cover and keep chilled until ready to serve.

Cooking and Assembly

Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.  Slice buns and cook cut-side down over direct heat until slightly charred and toasted.  Meanwhile, coat the skirt steak in oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Add the steaks to the grill over direct heat and cook for 2 – 3 minutes on each side for medium rare/medium (depending on the thickness).  Remove steaks from grill, allowing them to rest for 4 – 5 minutes before slicing.  Next, thinly slice the steaks on the bias and across the grain every ¼ inch or so.  Pile the sliced steak high on the bottom side of the bun, while generously coating the top side of the bun with the mayo and onions.  Top off the sandwich and serve immediately.

Grilled Beef Kebabs

These juicy, marinated kebabs are perfect for preparing a day or so in advance, and pulling out to quickly grill and serve in a matter of minutes.  Packed with tender beef and colorful vegetables, these are sure to be a hit with your guests. (Prep 15 minutes, Marinate 3 – 4 hours, Cook 15 minutes, Serves 4)

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1 Lemon, juiced
10 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons Fresh Mint, chopped
2 lbs. Top Sirloin Filets, cut into chunks
1 Large Red Onion, cut into chunks
Assorted Sweet Peppers, seeded and cut into chunks
2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Fresh Cracked Pepper
3 Pinches Red Pepper Flakes
1 Teaspoon Allspice
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Add all ingredients to a zip-lock bag and marinate for 3 – 4 hours in the fridge, or overnight.  Preheat grill over medium high heat.  Skewer ingredients evenly on metal or bamboo skewers (soak prior to using).  Place skewers over direct heat, grilling for 2 – 3 minutes on each side for medium.  Remove and rest for 5 minutes prior to serving.  Serve.

Grilled Rosemary Shrimp Kebabs

Tender, fresh shrimp are one of my favorite things to put on the grill.  The rosemary doubles as a skewer, while also providing a nice, herbaceous flavor to the hearty shrimp.  (Prep 10 mins, Cook 8 mins, Serves 4 – 6)

6 – 8 Large Rosemary Sprigs, soaked in water for 10 minutes
1 lb. Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
1 Lemon, juiced
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat one side of the grill to medium-high heat.  Meanwhile, season shrimp in a bowl with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper.  Add lemon juice and olive oil–toss until thoroughly combined.  Begin skewering shrimp, starting at the bottom of the rosemary sprig and working your way to the top (with the leaves), careful not to overcrowd.  Add shrimp to grill over direct heat, 1 – 2 minutes.  Move shrimp to indirect heat and cook for another 3 – 4 minutes, or until firm and pink.  Remove from grill and serve immediately.

Oven Roasted/Grilled Baby Back BBQ Ribs

This recipe is written with the assumption that most of you do not have access to a smoker.  For those that do, you can replace the cooking process described below with simply smoking the ribs over low heat (175 – 200 degrees F) for 3 – 4 hours.  The result is a fall-off-the-bone rib that still packs plenty of bite and flavor.  Substitute spare ribs if desired.  (Prep 15 mins, Cook 3 – 4 hours, Serves 4 – 6)

2 Slabs Baby Back Ribs, trimmed
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Garlic Powder
BBQ Sauce (I use Johnny Harris BBQ sauce out of Savannah, GA)

Preheat oven to 175 degrees F.  Meanwhile, line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Coat ribs in olive oil and season liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Place ribs, meat side down, onto the baking sheet and bake 3 – 4 hours.  Next, preheat grill to medium-high, carefully add ribs over direct heat with the meat side up (as pictured) and coat in BBQ sauce.  Grill for 10 – 15 minutes and serve.

Red Cabbage + Chive + Blue Cheese Slaw

A colorful and delicious slaw, this version omits the mayo without losing any flavor.  It’s best to prepare this at least an hour in advance, keeping covered in the fridge to allow the flavors to meld before serving. This slaw makes a great side dish for all of the grilled items above.  (Prep 15 mins, Cook N/A, Serves 4 – 6)

5 Cups Red Cabbage, thinly sliced
¾ Cup Chives, sliced every inch on the bias
½ Cup Crumbled Blue Cheese
¾ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ Cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Teaspoon Fresh Cracked Pepper

Add the first three ingredients into a large serving bowl.  Next, whisk together the remaining ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Pour the oil and vinegar mixture over the cabbage and toss until evenly distributed.  Cover, and keep in the fridge for at least one hour prior to serving.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

What’s on your Memorial Day menu? Share your recipes and grilling tips with us in the comments!

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Dwight D. Eisenhower had unarguably one of the longest and most taxing leadership roles in American history. For two decades, the lives of thousands, sometimes millions, of people and the fate of great nations hung on his decisions.

As Supreme Allied Commander during World War II, Eisenhower oversaw the greatest amphibious assault in history, organizing the largest air and sea armadas ever assembled and commanding 160,000 men in the momentous Operation Overlord.

After the success of that mission helped bring the war to a close, Eisenhower dreamed of going home to a happy and peaceful retirement. Instead, he went on to serve in five more globally pivotal positions: Head of the American Occupation Zone in Germany, Chief of Staff, president of Columbia University, Supreme Commander of NATO, and President of the United States of America.

In each position, Eisenhower achieved great successes and also made mistakes. But whether he was navigating setbacks or achieving triumphs, he led. A self-described “simple Kansas farm boy,” his humor and congeniality—along with that famous lopsided grin—hid a keen and curious mind, an unyielding work ethic, and an ironclad sense of self-confidence. That confidence allowed him to stand tall with the weight of the world on his shoulders and boldly make critical decisions. The word his associates most often used to describe him was trust; people trusted Ike to make the right choices and shoot straight with them. His dedication to principle and his bounding vitality could inspire people to lofty visions, while his aw-shucks humility created a feeling of friendship and intimacy even with those he had never met. These qualities and more won him the affection, loyalty, and admiration of those who served both under him and over him.

“Morale is born of loyalty, patriotism, discipline, and efficiency, all of which breed confidence in self and in comrades…Morale is at one and the same time the strongest, and the most delicate of growths. It withstands shocks, even disasters of the battlefield, but can be destroyed utterly by favoritism, neglect, or injustice.” -DE

Truly, there is much to be learned from the life of Dwight D. Eisenhower, and so every other week for the next couple months, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the many rock-solid leadership lessons that can be gleaned from his life, particularly his time in the military. While the rest of the articles in the series will be shorter, today we begin with a lengthier exploration of what was perhaps the cornerstone of Eisenhower’s success as a leader: his ability to build and sustain the morale of those under his command. Eisenhower worked his men hard each day, taught them not to cut corners, and pushed them to always do their best. At the same time, he listened to them, inspired them with his own example, and cared for them like a father.

Whether you’re a student body president, a corporate manager, or a coach, these principles will hopefully help you better inspire and bring out the best in those for whom you are responsible.

See and Care for Your Men as Individuals

“You must know every single one of your men. It is not enough that you are the best soldier in that unit, that you are the strongest, the toughest, the most durable, the best equipped, technically—you must be their leader, their father, their mentor, even if you’re half their age. You must understand their problems. You must keep them out of trouble; if they get in trouble, you must be the one who goes to their rescue. That cultivation of human understanding between you and your men is the one part that you must yet master, and you must master it quickly.” –Eisenhower in a speech to the graduating cadets at the Royal British Military Academy, 1944

Eisenhower loved life and he loved people. He believed in the latter’s strengths and was very sympathetic to their failings. Whether he was training a small unit or commanding thousands, he never saw the men as numbers, as push-pins to be moved across a map; rather, he always remembered that each man was an individual with hopes and aspirations of his own, with a family back home that loved him more than anything else in the world.

“I adopted a policy of circulating through the whole force to the full limit imposed by my physical considerations. I did my best to meet everyone from the general to private with a smile, a pat on the back and definite interest in his problems.”

In order to keep this remembrance at the forefront of his mind, whenever he could Ike would slip away from his desk and the big shots who paraded through his office and make his way out to the front lines to meet with the men on the ground. He had a highly developed listening ability, and wherever he went he asked questions. He welcomed complaints, and if it was in his power, he worked to improve the situation. The men enjoyed meeting with the general, and Eisenhower always found himself rejuvenated by these conversations. “I belonged with the troops, he said. “With them I was always happy.”

In the months before D-Day, Eisenhower made these visits to the troops an even higher priority. He understood that once he issued the order for Operation Overlord to begin, he himself would become powerless; the success of the mission rested with the men who were storming the beaches of Normandy. If they bravely struggled through the Germans’ withering fire, the Allies’ aims would be achieved; if they cowered in the sand, the enemy would triumph. The level of the troops’ motivation could turn the tide.

And so, as June 6 approached, Eisenhower went out to meet as many of his men as possible, visiting 26 divisions, 24 airfields, 5 ships, and a dozen other military installations. He wanted as many of his sailors, airmen, and soldiers to see the man who would be sending them into battle as possible, and to personally speak with as many of his men as he could. When he arrived at a camp or airfield, he’d ask the men to break rank and circle around him. Then he’d offer some encouraging words, shake their hands, and talk to the men one-on-one. Eisenhower did not ask them just about their weapons or training as most generals did, but instead where they were from, what they hoped to do when they got home, and what life was like back in their home states.

Because Eisenhower was unwilling to let himself slip into seeing the men under his command as a faceless mass, their deaths pained him greatly. Some experts had estimated that the causalities of Operation Overlord could reach as high as 70%, and he could envision the news of those casualties reaching each man’s mother, father, wife. In the hours before D-Day was to begin, he was busy doing the job he thought most important to Overlord’s success: once again meeting with his men. He talked with and shook the hands of the paratroopers of the 101^st Airborne, and then stood on the roof of the nearby headquarters to salute each plane as it took off en route to France. As the planes soared into the night sky, he thought of the dangers these brave men would soon be facing, and tears filled his eyes

The genuine tenderness Eisenhower felt for his men, and his acknowledgement of the very real, individual repercussions his decisions would cause, greatly increased his anxiety and the burden of his responsibilities. But while it wearied him, it also fueled the excellence of his leadership and the success of his command. Ike was the kind of commander both the men themselves, and their families, hoped they’d serve under. They knew that Eisenhower would not make a decision to send his men into battle if he had not thought long and hard about it and believed the action was absolutely necessary—that he would not play fast and loose with their lives, deciding their fate from inside an ivory tower.

A Leader Must Always Be Optimistic

Eisenhower was not only wearied by having to make decisions that would affect the lives of thousands of men—not to mention the fate of great nations—but also by the many logistical and political problems he had to grapple with every day in running a war. For a decade he worked 12-14 hour days, 7 days a week, keeping himself going with 4 packs of cigarettes and cup after cup of coffee each day. Very soon into that grinding schedule, Eisenhower “realized how inexorably and inescapably strain and tension wear away at the leader’s endurance, his judgment and his own confidence.” “The pressure becomes more acute,” he added, “because of the duty of a staff to present to the commander the worst side of an eventuality.”

But Eisenhower was committed to never revealing the strain he felt to others. Instead, he firmly believed it was necessary for a commander to “preserve optimism in himself and in his command.” “Without confidence, enthusiasm, and optimism in the command,” Eisenhower argued, “victory would scarcely be obtainable.”

“I have developed almost an obsession as to the certainty with which you can judge a division, or any large unit, merely by knowing its commander intimately. Of course, we have had pounded into us all through our school courses that the exact level of a commander’s personality and ability is always reflected in his unit—but I did not realize, until opportunity came for comparisons on a rather large scale, how infallibly the commander and unit are almost one and the same thing.“

Eisenhower saw two powerful benefits to being a consistently optimistic leader. First, he was a big believer in the “act-to-become” principle; by acting hopeful around others, the “habit tends to minimize potentialities within the individual himself to become demoralized.” Second, it “has an extraordinary effect upon all with whom he comes in contact.” Reflecting on these benefits brought Eisenhower to a “clear realization:”

“I firmly determined that my mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect the cheerful certainty of victory—that any pessimism and discouragement I might ever feel would be reserved for my pillow.”

Never Esteem or Place Yourself Too Highly Above Your Men—on Whom You Rely

“In a war such as this, when high command invariably involves a president, a prime minister, six chiefs of staff, and a horde of lesser ‘planners,’ there has got to be a lot of patience—no one person can be a Napoleon or a Caesar.”

While Eisenhower was the one man during the war who might have been tempted to put on Napoleon-esque airs, that was far from his style. He saw the whole undertaking as a team effort in which each person, from the lowly private to the Prime Minister, had a vital and indispensable role to play. His job was simply to fit the many disparate parts into one effective whole. It was a heavy job, but he did not feel it made him special. Eisenhower was a man of modesty and humility who hated being singled out for praise and loved to sincerely put the credit on others. It was “GI Joe,” who won the war, he said, not him.

Eisenhower believed that one of the things that destroyed morale was complaints of unfairness or injustice among the men—feelings that could be engendered by seeing that their leader did not give them enough credit and took too many privileges for himself.

“Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.”

When Eisenhower was stationed in Italy, he took a cruise around the Isle of Capri with some colleagues. When they passed a large villa, he inquired as to whose it was. “Yours, sir,” someone answered. “And that?” Eisenhower asked, pointing to another stately villa. “That one belongs to General Spaatz,” was the answer. Eisenhower exploded: “Damn it, that’s not my villa! And that’s not General Spaatz’s villa! None of those will belong to any general as long as I’m Boss around here. This is supposed to be a rest center—for combat men—not a playground for the Brass!”

These kinds of stories always got back to the troops, and helped win Eisenhower their affection and loyalty.

Keep Your Men Up and Doing

In 1918, during WWI, Eisenhower was assigned to run Camp Colt in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with orders to “take in volunteers, equip, organize, and instruct them and have them ready for overseas shipment when called upon.” Because the men would go directly from the camp to a port to be shipped to the trenches of Europe, Eisenhower was “warned that no excuses for deficiencies in their records or equipment would be accepted;” when they left camp, the men had to be ready for battle.

The men were to be part of the newly-formed Tank Corps, and Eisenhower thought he’d get one group ready for a month, they’d ship out, and then a new group would arrive. But when the government put a temporary halt on shipping out any units except for infantry and machine gun battalions, none of the men at Camp Colt were called up, while new volunteers kept coming in. The number of men at the camp soon swelled to over 10,000, and Eisenhower worried about what all the waiting around would do to the men:

“Once they were competent in basic drill, they would have little to do. With time hanging heavy on the recruits’ hands we could be sure of one thing: morale would deteriorate quickly. I began to look around for a way to instruct the men in skills that would be valuable in combat and prevent the dry rot of tedious idleness.”

So without any orders from Washington, Eisenhower set up a telegraphy and motor school and obtained small caliber cannons on which to train his soldiers. He also got ahold of some machine guns and made the men get so familiar with them they could fire the guns from the back of a moving vehicle and could take the weapon apart and put it back together while blindfolded.

Later, although the brass had told him that the Tank Corps in Europe would have no need for men with training in telegraphy, the War Department requested 64 men with that skill; Eisenhower was ready to furnish them.

Give Your Men the Why Behind What You Ask Them to Do

Because Eisenhower made such frequent trips to the battlefront, he knew the challenging conditions his men were living and fighting under. And he knew that while duty and discipline were essential in keeping the men going, such things alone were insufficient in maintaining morale. There must also be a “deep-seated conviction in every individual’s mind that he is fighting for a cause worthy of any sacrifice he may make,” Eisenhower argued. In other words, the men needed to know the why behind their orders.

“You do not lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership.”

Eisenhower strongly believed that “In this war, more than any other in history, I think that we find the forces of evil arranged against those of decency and respect for human kind…We are on the side of decency, and democracy, and liberty.” And he asked his commanders to express this conviction to their men, to impress upon each individual soldier the idea that:

“The privileged life he has led is under direct threat. His right to speak his own mind, to engage in any profession of his own choosing, to belong to any religious denomination, to live in any locality where he can support himself and his family, and to be sure of fair treatment when he might be accused of any crime—all these would disappear if the forces opposed to us should, through carelessness or overconfidence on our part, succeed in winning this war.”

You can see Eisenhower’s desire to only give his men orders, but the why behind their duty in the opening paragraph for his Order of the Day for June 6, 1944:

__________

Sources:

Eisenhower: Soldier and President by Stephen E. Ambrose

At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends by Dwight D. Eisenhower

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2. Lessons in Manliness: Chuck Yeager
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I’ve been an iPad owner for almost a year now.  I love it. I feel like I’m holding some magical window to the future whenever I’m using it. One minute I can be reading a biography of Theodore Roosevelt and the next I can be watching a free video lecture about Roosevelt on YouTube. And of course, the iPad is great for surfing the net, checking email, and playing games.

For the first six months or so of owning and using my iPad, I didn’t use a protective case. One fateful day, my son Gus, then 9 months old, got his menacing little baby hands on my iPad when I wasn’t looking and chucked it onto the tile floor. My $600 iPad sustained a small crack on the screen near the corner. Luckily, the crack is over the black border surrounding the main iPad screen, so it doesn’t obstruct my viewing. But after dodging that bullet, I didn’t want to tempt fate again by leaving my iPad uncased with an iPad-destroying toddler on the loose in my apartment.

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