Ashes

Last night we had some friends over to eat dinner. The great thing about my husband is that if you let him grill out, he will handle the entire meal. And we're not talking simple burgers. If you tell him he can experiment, you often get steaks and seafood with gourmet sauces. So for Father's Day, I got Seth some cedar planks so he could make cedar plank salmon. Last night, that's what he was going to make. He soaked the planks for a couple of hours like he was supposed to. Then it called for him to preheat the planks on the grill for a few minutes before he put the meat on. Well, the planks had been on the grill no more than five minutes when our friend came running in to grab a cup of water. Apparently, the planks were on fire and flaming nicely. Seth thought that they might still be salvageable until they threw the water on them and they disintegrated. Guess you can't cook salmon on ashes!

Anyway, the salmon still turned out wonderfully. It had a garlic lime sauce that was delicious. Then he did a grilled asparagus with a red wine vinaigrette sauce. For dessert, we had grilled pineapple skewers. Yummy! And the best part is that when Seth grills out, he cleans up, too! I put the dishes in the dishwasher, and he did the rest. What a great night! Good food, good company, and a clean kitchen! The only thing I'd change is that we'll soak the cedar planks a little better next time!