How to grill your way to a good day

Yesterday, our little ol’ yard was delicately dusted yet again with 6″ of white fluffy stuff.

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Way to go, Ol’ Man Winter, nice handiwork on the 2nd day of March, “Bring it on, we can take it.”

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Fluffy stuff is easy to move.  And it melts fast.  In March, we know we’re on the tail end of Winter.  We take March’s snowstorms in stride, ‘cuz melting happens.

It creates a desire in Mr. to light up the grill.  He grabbed a shovel and shook off the winter blues by making an adorable little path to the grill.

Meanwhile, I took photos…of ice melting…even caught a few drops.

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And grew with anticipation for the trip – Mr. deserves a break from all of this snow moving stuff.  And he’s right, there’s no reason not to grill in the winter, as long as you can get to the grill.

Plus we were celebrating the single digit dance for our trip.  It put us both into a good mood.  All excited, we pulled out the luggage to get ready to pack and discovered that somehow the checked luggage bag’s hard side supports had disintegrated over the years of use and abuse of baggage handlers tossing it around.  We’ve only had it 30 years or so.

Mr. looked at my poor me expression and said, “Do you want to get a new one?”

“I guess so.”  Thinking to myself, it is our 30th anniversary year, I guess I can pass up pearls and diamonds and we need luggage instead.  I’ve always been a practical kind of gal when it comes to gifts.

I volunteered begrudgingly to go to the store to pick up a new one.

I was NOT the only person shopping.  With all of the crappy weather we’ve been having around here, it appeared other families had been going stir crazy too.  The first nice sunny day on a weekend was like Black Friday shopping.  Holy Shmoly the crowds were insane.

I dodged and weaved through families, kids, wheelchairs, carts, and workers, and found my way to the luggage aisle.  I inspected all the options.  Surprisingly that aisle wasn’t crowded.  I took my time picking out the most industrial looking one.  It was a toss-up between a pretty floral pattern and industrial black.  Being it is an anniversary gift, I wanted to make Mr. proud of me, and to give those baggage handlers the message of, “Don’t mess with our stuff .”  Yep, I chose the monster looking one!

I verified the maneuverability of it by pulling it through the swimsuit section.  Because, you know, they just put them out so there’s quite the selection.  And I’m still going back and forth about a bikini now that I don’t have one.  I glanced past a few and held one up, imagining how awesome someone else might look in it, and saw the long lines at the check-out.  I sighed and put the top I was tempted to buy back on the rack.

It was a great opportunity to test out the turning radius on the luggage.  We both smoothly navigated our way to the checkout lane.  As I stood there I couldn’t wait to get the hell outta the store before I picked up some bug from all the hacking kids in carts and those walking all over the place touching things…

While I waited in line I glanced back at the swimsuit section.  Told myself to keep moving forward, “Honey, you don’t need a bikini!”  Plus there was a lot of henpecking going on in the swimsuit section from the mom’s telling their teenage daughters, “This one looks cute, try it on.”  I miss those days with our girls…

I got through the long line.  At the exit door, I looked down at the monster and out at the messy parking lot.  Oh, dear, it’s new, I can’t let it get dirty yet by dragging it through the slushy snow.  Yeah, then it hit me, that’s why I wanted Mr. to come along – to carry the beast to the car.  Luckily it was only a little over 11 pounds empty, and I had chosen one with sturdy handles.  I hoisted it in the air, dodged and weaved my way through the slush puddles, and cars, and tossed it in the backseat of the car to make sure it could withstand the tossing motion.  So far, so good.  I can make good choices after all.

I jumped in the front seat, started the car and waited for a break in traffic through a steady stream of cars coming, and going through the lot.  I texted Mr. “Got luggage and I’m heading back home it’s like Christmas shopping weekend.”

“Ok.  See you soon.”

I chuckled to myself.  I hope soon is right, I really have to pee, and my bladder better hold-out for me for 30 minutes…

I pulled into the garage, grabbed the beast, took it inside, and yelled, “Honey, we’re home” and ran past Mr. to the bathroom.

Mr. was impressed with the monster’s apparent durability.  I told him the wheels are what sold me on it.

He carried it upstairs and sat it next to the pile of clothes needing to be packed.  He offered to pour me a glass of wine to celebrate surviving the excursion.  I happily accepted it and said that I was just going to sit, relax, and maybe read a book for a bit.

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“Yes, dear, you should.  While you’re at it, practice chilling and relaxing like you’re on the beach already.  You’ve been worrying about way too much stuff for way too long.”

I have been stressed.  Plus I knew he’d be setting up for dinner soon.  I wanted to be ready to capture the moments of our first grilling session of the year.  The cedar planks had been soaking in water for a couple of hours; dinner wouldn’t be far behind.

I, of course, took more pictures.

Cedar Plank Salmon (Mr.’s recipe)

Sprinkle salt and pepper on each fillet, brush with Dijon mustard, and sprinkle brown sugar on top.  Grill for 15 – 30 minutes depending upon the size of the fillets.

This is wild caught Coho salmon; recipe also works well with Atlantic Salmon or Steelhead Trout.

Grilled asparagus – drizzle first with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt, then grill until done – doesn’t take too long.

Served with the leftover side from the night before.  Shrimp, Leek and Spinach Pasta (recipe found on Realsimple.com)

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It was a good and grilling kind of day.

Post inspiration – I took the other meaning of the word prompt for Lens Artists #35 – Architecture

PS – Do you grill in the winter, too?  By the way, the dinner was delicious, I ate every single bite, and had Tostitos too…