Backfire

Some things just don't go according to plan. 

The plan was to give Mike a charcoal grill/smoker for his birthday.  That was it.  Just the gift.  Well, I also told him two weeks ago that I was going to give him coal for his birthday because it was becoming such a chore for him to come up with something to tell his mother for a gift suggestion.  Please, I could probably name at least 5 things that I would love for my birthday without even thinking.

The plan turned into a monster, requiring Mike to put together said charcoal smoker this morning and smoke for the first time for dinner and guests.  Smoking meat is not generally something you can do on the fly as it requires hours of slow cooking meat and tending to a charcoal fire.  And if you are Mike, it is also going to require hours of online research and preparation.  But yesterday when we were in Whole Foods, the boston butt just looked perfect and it started to seem like a good plan.  And then on the way home from Whole Foods, Mike actually said we should tell his Mom to give him a charcoal grill for his birthday.  Thanks, hadn't thought of it.  So I decided to give him his birthday gift early, which would have been easier if I had already bought it.  After a traffic filled ride out to Lowe's for what I thought was going to be an easy buy, I came home with something totally opposite.  And also decided that I probably didn't have enough meat requiring two more grocery trips this morning.  A trip to the farmers market to boot along with baking, frosting and decorating his cake, making cole slaw, collard greens and sweet potato fries and all the while Mike tethered to the smoker that wasn't quite working properly.  I knew it wasn't a good thing when I came home at 3 from the park with Ellie and Mike had already cracked a beer.  Needless to say, he wasn't quite loving the birthday present yet.

We finished the meat in the oven eventually but it still tasted great.  And we had a great dinner with friends complete with screaming kids, just like our parents birthday parties were when we were kids.  We certainly finished off our week of indulgence with our BBQ dinner as well!  Eventually I think Mike will take to the smoker, but probably not when I force it on him.  Oops. 

I promise to post about Napa tomorrow.

At one point the older kids brought Ellie into the dining room aghast because Ellie had gotten into a marker.  Her back was to us at the time so we were all thinking it wasn't a big deal.  When she turned around we realized their response had been appropriate. Turns out you should pay attention to what your kids are doing.  You should have seen her tongue.

Mike's cake.  It was a "replica" of his business card, with a few alterations.

Ellie was just psyched at this point that it was past her bedtime AND she was getting cake.

This was seconds before she put her fist into the cake to grab some frosting.