Cookout at Canterbury
Tim Allen once said, “Real men don’t need instructions.” At our LPCM cookout that we had on June 3, we soon learned better. First thing to happen, Spencer and I, the so-called “real men”, tried to start the coals in the grill, going by the seat of our pants. First we got the grill into place, got the fire extinguisher just in case, poured the coals into the grill, got a bunch of lighter fluid, and dug up some matches (all two of them). So we put some lighter fluid on the coals, struck a match, it hit the metal grille, and went out. Take two. Same result. So now it was panic time. We didn’t want to light the grill with the lighter we found directly, so we lit some paper towels and put that on the coals. That got something started! Flames. And then as quickly as they started, they died down. So we added more lighter fluid. BIG flames! And as soon as the lighter fluid burned off, the flames died back down. Repeat a few rounds. We knew something was wrong with our fire, since it had no staying power. What to do…
Then we found what the bag of coals contained: directions. We’re supposed to stack the coals in a pyramid, then soak the coals in lighter fluid for 30 seconds, and only then light the coals. So what to do with the whole thing is the next question.
This is what happens when Kathleen leaves us to our own wits to cook our own dinner. Things get really interesting really quickly, as we try to wing it.
First thing we did was to smother the old fire. So we put the lid back on and closed the vents.
Meanwhile, while we were waiting for the flames to die down, Maggie took the hamburgers inside and tried to broil them in the oven. It was a valiant try, but all that managed to do was smoke up the kitchen and set the smoke detector off.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions!
Mark shares a Bible verse (1 Kings 11:31-38).
It takes two to stack these coals!
“Once we get this pyramid built, Dick Clark will be proud.”
Somehow, Mark is holding something made of meat between two halves of a bun, and I dare say it’s edible! Seems that Maggie got something cooked sufficiently.
Here I am stacking the coals…
Maggie says goodbye, and the fire department whizzes by as we wonder whether someone called the fire department on us, considering the size of our flames at the time they flew past. But hey, we got the coals lit!
“It works perfectly when you do it the right way!”
And as Tanya demonstrates, we managed to get a completed burger off the grill. And Tanya lived to speak of it, which means it was cooked well enough.
Rabbit rabbit?
And more hamburgers cook on the grill…
Funny how when you do these things right, they actually work…
