This past holiday weekend, we went to a couple of BBQ picnics around town. The cupcake flag went to the first picnic. My camera went to the second picnic, which was at my parents’ cottage.

Here are a few photos of various things around the area:

 

  

There was a wasps’ nest above us, see that?

 

Don’t worry, the rust was all removed from the grill before we started cooking.

They had another grill they usually use, but I think it broke, so this old-fashioned one came to use.

   

If you would like the marinade recipe for these chicken wings, click here.

The secret to keeping these moist and tender is to bake them at 375 degrees for half an hour, then put ‘em on the grill just to get the skin crispy (approx. 10 minutes, flipping once halfway through), as shown in the picture below.

The extra step seems like a hassle, but I think it makes it easier to BBQ. At least for my parents.

Ribs, and shrimp skewers with peppers and onions.

 

Recipe for Portobello mushrooms here. With the correct proportions of ingredients for the marinade.

You’ll see what I mean when you read below…

Instead of cooking them on the George Foreman grill as I did in the previous post, put them on the grill as shown below.

 

You know how I botch everything I cook when I’m with my parents? Well, here’s my story:

Since my parents usually cook everything for the meal, I don’t bring anything. But I insisted that I bring Portobello mushrooms, because I had this great recipe for grilling them. My mom asked me what I used to marinate them, I told her the ingredients, and she said she had them at the cottage already.

And I should’ve brought my own marinade, because of course, she didn’t have one major ingredient (Italian seasoning). When I asked her for the seasoning, she gave me a packet of Italian dressing powder mix.

Me: What’s this?!

Mom: It’s Italian seasoning.

Me: No, it says it’s DRESSING mix.

Mom: It’s Italian seasoning.

Me: No, it says it’s Italian Dressing mix. This is different than Italian Seasoning Spice.

So I pour some powdered dressing mix into my marinade. With 2 tsp. oil and 6 tsp. red wine vinegar.

Mom: Are you sure that’s enough (vinegar)? It doesn’t look like enough.

Me: Fine. I’ll add more (botches the whole marinade).

I added a few too many teaspoons of vinegar. They came out sour.  I’m starting to understand why everyone thinks I’m a bad cook.

*Note to self*: Oh, why even bother. I’ll probably botch the next dish up anyway.

Hence the self-deprecating sense of humor you see quite often on this blog.

 

If you would like the recipe for Vegetable Casserole, click here.

The end.