Mother's Day Part II

This one should be titled something else, but I will keep you in suspense. It does, however, deal with the cooking of the meal. And I don't feel I am doing it justice as I am supposed to be going to work now, so please add witty comments. We begin with the cook. Uncle Henry, showing heretofore unkown prescient abilities, planned a mixed grill that could be prepared (for the most part) on the grill (wonder if that is why they call it mixed .... oh, never mind). Why was this prescient and, in fact, am I using this word correctly, and will I ever get back to the story. Digression in spoken word is one thing, but in written word would seem unacceptable. In fact it reminds me of the time ... WAIT. STOP. Okay, back on track. So, do you remember from the previous post that we had lost power at 2650 Middle. But never fear. Good natural lighting from our windows combined with a few well placed candles only added to the ambience of the jazz tea in the living room and the work that had to be done in the kitchen and with table setting. The food was cooked on the back deck on the propane grill as planned all along.
Looks delicious, doesn't it. And it was! This is mostly the main meaty part (and fishy part - salmon in the aluminum foil). I would call your attention to the green beans in the pot over to the left. They went on first because the cook said they needed to be (and I quote) "hotter than the fires of hades"! To help accomplish this, the burners were turned to the max and in short order a roaring fire was present. Since we have never had a specific Selby family rule that someone must stay with an outdoor fire all the time (now that I think about it, I'm surprised, but glad, that we don't), we wandered back in to the kitchen. Presently Bayne and Uncle H. wandered back out on to the porch where the flames were reaching higher and higher. In a scene that must have resembled Papa and Uncle Bill Lorton observing Baby Bayne polishing off a long neck beer at the age of 1 1/2, B and H discussed different aspects of the fire, when to put the mixed grill on, pros and cons of leaving top of grill open or closing it.
Somewhere in this discussion B sensed rather than saw that there might be more to these roaring flames that a simple grill set on "high". Things then began to move a little more swiftly. Moving the grill out from the wall revealed parts of the house trying to participate in the cooking of the food. A picture at this point would have been nice, but in what probably represents good judgement, we decided to bring the fire under control immediately. John and Isabelle went for water and things were brought under control.

Well, pretty much under control. About 20 minutes later Isabelle or somebody noticed smoke still coming from the back deck. Further inspection revealed the pesky fire trying to hide in one of the decorative suppports. Approaching this from the outer deck we put it out for good.
The real culprit was later discovered by Uncle H doing his Junior Fire Chief review. The catch basin under the grill was chock full of what must have been a two year collection of grease and other detritus from previous outings now resulting in a sediment about 5 inches deep. This had been burning in a tremendous fashion. For most, disposal of this would have been another dilemma, but fortunately Grandma wandered in at this point, gave an exclamation of delight, quickly got a number of cans out of the Selby recycling and filled them all. She is currently cooking breakfast this morning for Dad and Beka with what she claims is better than plain old bacon grease.

One important point is that the fire did not impact at all on the timing and preparation of the food. In fact, it was kept secret from the Mothers till all had been resolved (and wasn't THAT an essential thing to do). Finally, dinner was served and was great. There was also much singing (some a capella) and other music playing, toasts, grace, and the usual. Lights came back on right after Hank made a toast, but by then we didn't need them. All in all, another great day.

Happy Mother's Day, Moms!