Grilling sausage on a gas grill can be challenging. But every man should be able to do it well. Here are some quick tips on gas-grilling sausage. 

After many attempts at our test grill, we came up with a good method to achieving a:

• well-cooked piece of meat,
  
• browning the exterior without burning, and
  
• reducing flare up issues.

 
First brown the exterior on high heat to seal and mark the exterior of the sausage. 

The gas is on high. All burners. Throw down the sausages. Sear 'em.

Look for the marks. Nice! Flip them. It's only a few minutes on each side. You'll start to see the sausages spitting juice. This juice causes flare ups to happen. So, watch it. I control the flames with a clean, fresh water spray bottle. 

Searing and marking takes only a couple minutes on each side.

Reduce the temperature of the burners to medium. Turn off the front burner completely. Slide the meat to the front burner area. The heat will now circulate around. This adjustment placement and burner adjustment help also reduce flare ups. But you can't stop them. The flames will come! 

​Cook until you achieve your desired temperature. 

The sausages have been sitting at room temperature for a bit before you threw them on the grill. Right? It's very difficult to properly cook very cold or frozen meat on a grill. So, start off on the right foot by allowing the meat to achieve room temperature. 

Keep the temperature-probing of the meat to a minimum. I prefer to cook the sausages until they are well done. The initial searing and minimal probing of the temperature gauge will help the sausages retain moisture and juice. 

 Yum. Dig in. 

Who said veggies? How about some mayo-based salad? We made and tested our own potato salads, coleslaw salads, and lettuce salads. They all win! Be sure to get yourself a big jar of sauerkraut. Our recommendation is Bubbies. 

Sausage and kraut. Look out! 

We tested and paired a few wines and whiskey to match the spicy sausages. We found a nice whiskey from Colorado Springs, Colorado, that is produced by a new company called Distillery 291. They are distilling their own whiskey, but keeping the aging to a minimum. 

​Distillery 291 Colorado Bourbon Whiskey is a sour mash corn whiskey that has been aged less than 2 years in American White Oak barrels that have been charred. It's powerful. Good kick on the first and then smoother sips afterward. You'll smell notes of cherry tobacco. If you want, drop a small chunk of ice and let the water calm this powerful youngster. 

Enjoy, fellas. 
​

What you're in a tight jam, here's something to throw together to make your kid's school lunch.

Wrap up some good-quality lunch meat (turkey, ham, beef) and sliced cheese. Dab a little organic mayo inside the wrap. Grab some grapes (wash them a bit). Add. Done. 

Looks lame? Maybe. But whatcha gonna do in a pinch? It's a quick school lunch idea.
​ 

Here's a very easy sausage dinner that any man can make. 

That's me. 

I eat a Paleo diet as much as I can. At 45, I feel healthier, stronger, and, most importantly, I've lost fat and gained muscle because of my diet. And this is an easy-to-do Paleo dinner that we've tested in our test kitchen many times to get it just right. It's a simple dish. We use a combination of sauteing and steaming to get sausages with a nice crisp brown exterior and a juicy interior. Chopped veggies, a light tomato sauce, caramelized onion, a bit of wine, and bourbon (no kidding) round out the taste. 

Cut up an onion, green pepper, red pepper, and a bunch of mushrooms.

Cook the sausages in a pan. Scoop a few tablespoons of butter or ghee in a hot pan. Heat pan to the point where to start to see a little smoke developing. Saute and brown the sausages. Then, turn down the heat to medium, cover with a glass lid, and cook to the right temperature. I like to add a bit of water to steam-cook the meat. 

In another pan, saute the veggies. In a pot, make a little red sauce. Get a can of organic peeled whole tomatoes. Blend them in the pot. Done.

Onto the sausages, pour a little of the red sauce and add the veggies. All the while, you've splashed a little wine here and there, and sipped the bourbon. 

We tested this sausage and veggie dinner several times and paired it with many beers and wines. We recommend pairing this dish with a Shiraz red wine. One of my favorites is from Two Hands. ​​​It's a very dark red wine. I love the notes of spiced berries, cocoa blobs, squished dark plums and juice in a deep, hand-carved cedarwood bowl. Smell it? Bright acid. Fine tannins. The King's Guide gives this wine a 91. 

I know what I like:

• craft beer,
• massages,
• football,
• shoveling dirt,
• grilling meat,
• a good dirty joke,
• my wife's voice in the morning,
• my brother, 
• pumpkin pie,
• a large popcorn at the movies,
• alone-time at a bookstore,
• nice pair of jeans and wingtip shoes,
• painting nudes,
• strong, hot cup a coffee in the morning,
• always be closing from Glengarry Glen Ross,
• fill your hands from True Grit,
• teaching from a great bible verse, and, of course,
• a good love session. 

That's a short list of mine. 

Now, take 10 seconds to think of a list of your own. Go ahead. I dare you. Here's the reason: to share that list of your personal likes with your lover.

Why? Why do I do that? So that my lover can use my list to her advantage. 

I'll say that again - so that my lover can use that list to her advantage. 

Can this list be used to bribe me? To con me? Sure. But my wife doesn't use it for that purpose. She doesn't play that game: "If I give Benjamin what he likes, he'll give me what I want." Nope. She doesn't do that.

Purpose

Here's the purpose of sharing your list with your lover: So that 2 become 1. That's actually a verse from my favorite source of life lessons (Ephesians). Ephesians teaches a man to join his lover so that the two will become one flesh. To most couples, it's a mystery how two can become one. Not to me.

Ephesians 5 is written for us men. You better read it. Ephesians 5:21-33. 

When I have a need, my wife is right there. She knows me well. She sees my feelings from 20 feet away. She anticipates my moves to support me. She doesn't allow me to be in a place that I don't want to be in. She knows how to make me smile. She knows what I like, what I love, what I need. Her and I can look at each other from across a crowded room, and know what each other is thinking. We're connected. 

Are you connected with your lover? Are you? Huh? 

My wife and I are joined; we're connected; we're one.

She gave me her list, and I gave her mine. Do the same, gents.