BBQ Season

Spring has sprung and with the impending visit of my sister and her boyfriend in a week, M. and I decided it was time to get our yard in shape for summer. We have been talking for a few weeks about what we would like to do with the yard and porch given that we don't know how long we will be here but knowing that while we are we want to be able to spend as much time as possible outdoors while the weather is nice.

A couple things were not up for debate. We wanted to have some patio furniture to be able to eat and lounge around outside. We wanted a grill. And the yard itself needs some serious help but as we both are traveling for work so much we know we can't be full time gardeners.

Last weekend we went and had a look at the local hardware shop for grills but weren't really impressed with anything they had. We also met with a gardener to get an idea how much it would cost to have the heavy lifting done in the yard so we could use our limited time for the fun stuff. This weekend was decision time.

My father, who is the best BBQ chef I know, uses the Weber kettle grill with charcoal and as far as I am concerned there is no need to look elsewhere. So I encourage M. to have a look online and see who in the area sells Weber grills. We found a few shops and I went to get ready to go shopping. Big mistake.

By the time I came back a monster had been created. My boyfriend had morphed in the time it took to throw on some shoes and fix my hair. Gone was the sane, down to earth, cautious and practical German I knew, replaced by something wild and unstoppable. Hence was born Grill Master Man.

No longer was there a need to go to the store to look at grills. It was already purchased. The One Touch Gold Weber Kettle grill from eBay. But it doesn't stop there. 40 of the most relevant grill accessories had also been ordered. Mitts, spatula, tongs, charcoal chimneys and more.

I looked into M.'s eyes to see if I could pull him back from the brink. But it wasn't to be. He was babbling nonsense about Slide Asides, Chicken Roasters, Rib Racks and Skewers. I suggested we go to Ikea now that the grill was purchased to see about some lawn furniture. We drove about a mile down the road in the opposite direction from Ikea and I realized I had been hijacked. We weren't going to Ikea. We were going to the garden center. So M. could see the grill in person until it gets here. Have you ever seen a dog humping a person's leg? That was M. at the grill display. I couldn't tear him away. Next thing I knew we had a utensil rack and a vegetable griller. Little friends to welcome the grill when it gets here.

We finally made it to Ikea but not without hearing about the fantastic grilling opportunities in store this spring. We found a nice table and chairs and headed home where I had to watch video clips on line of grill masters preparing vegetables and beer can chicken. It finally seemed like it was over but he just wanted to have one quick look at amazon.com in the US to do a price comparison.

Lord help me.

Everything was half as expensive. And guess who conveniently happens to be coming from the US next week? M. put two and two together and developed an elaborate scheme in which my sister and her boyfriend should bring over as many grill accessories as they could smuggle into their bags.

"I am not asking my sister to bring a rib rack across the ocean with her!"
"Please?"
"NO!"
"Ok, well maybe then the Slide Aside?"
"NO!"
"Ok, skewers and some American BBQ sauce"
"I'll ask for BBQ sauce"

I called to finalize plans with my sister and we could barely talk. There was a rabid future Grill Master yelling out the names of random grill accessories the whole time. In the end, she agreed to bring the BBQ sauce and M. decided to send a package of grill accessories to my parents so I can bring them back with me in May. It was the only way I could make it stop.

Now it's my turn to obsess about the garden. Grill Master Man and Garden Woman, Spring Powers Activate!

Posted from Munich