I was chatting with my parents during our usual Sunday phone call yesterday and they asked what we were having for dinner.
“Grilled meatloaf,” I replied, and launched into this lengthy narrative about how you preheat the grill to 350°, leaving one burner off, and place the meatloaf on a sheet of aluminum foil over indirect heat for 90 minutes, then let it rest for another 45, after which time you slice it, turn the grill back up to 450°, oil the grates, sear the meatloaf for three minutes on each side, slather on homemade barbecue sauce, let it cook for another minute, and then serve.
After listening to these complicated instructions, my mom said, “Now, why would you go to all that trouble when you can just throw a meatloaf in the oven for an hour?”
I mumbled something about “spreading your wings and expanding your culinary horizons,” but honestly, her response sent me tumbling into a bit of an existential crisis as I wondered whether I was overcomplicating my life. This was supposed to be my year of leisure, after all. Meatloaf is just about the easiest thing in the world to make, and yet there I was, turning a simple one-step dinner into an eight-part process so tricky you practically need a flowchart or Venn diagram to dissect it.
Don’t get me wrong: the meatloaf was delicious. But awfully labor-intensive considering the primary trade-off was a few well-placed sear marks. And I didn’t even take a pic, which is pretty much the entire point of pretty-looking food. Which begs the question: if there’s no visual evidence on Instagram, did the meatloaf even exist?
Random photo from my walk this morning. I loved the dramatic clouds and the rainbow. The fact that I was walking past a cemetery just added to the allure.
This was a harbinger for what was to come later. We got quite a bit of rain today thanks to thunderstorms that rolled through in the afternoon. Thankfully, there was no hail this time.
We’re working on narrowing down choices for our still-unnamed boat. I’m not sure if we love any of them enough to officially christen her, but I’d like your input anyway. Our top contenders are listed below. Please vote for one; at least that’ll give us some idea of the reaction we’ll get from other passersby (boatersby?) the next time we’re on the water.
My parents arrive tomorrow afternoon for a weeklong visit. It’ll be the first time we’ve seen them in over nine months so we’re looking forward to it! There’s beer in the fridge for dad (Crow Peak 11th Hour IPA) and wine for mom (Cupcake Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc), so I guess we’re pretty set!
Mark My Words 
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