BBQ! 🍖🥩🫑

Hadn't done a cookout with the friends for a while. So glad that J and L could host and almost everyone made the date. We hadn't hung out in a group of usually ten (twelve would be a full group) for a while. It was a happy night. 

Our hosts brought down a cooler box with chilled bottles of wine. We began with a light and easy champagne while waiting for everyone else to arrive. Then we moved on to a Grüner Veltliner, then a chablis. There was a sparkling shiraz somewhere too, but I skipped that. Didn't feel like mixing red and white. I kept the drinking to a minimal.

Didn't have to leash Choya to anywhere. I simply dropped the leash. She knows that she shouldn't run off. Ahhhhh... stay and recall. All the training that is so useful now. She was happily sniffing around, but didn't anyhowly lick stuff off of the ground. She was content to find a few corners to chill out at. She even got taken for a short stroll by Uncle D. 

We contributed cooked food in the form of a party box of sliders (beef and chicken) and Caesar's salad from GRUB. The man also marinated two pieces of raw flank steaks. Those were taken out from the marinade bag, patted dry, sprinkled with salt and pepper before going on the grill. They still turned out tender still without having been sous-vide. The big fire seared in the marinade beautifully. The sliced up flank was tasty!  

The hosts had thoughtfully prepped pork chops, ribeye, and some veggies. Those went onto the grill first. The rest brought satay and otah, and 7-up chicken wings and drumlets. Great bites. Since many here tonight are allergic to shellfish, we skipped the seafood. Eating slowly through the night meant that nobody over-ate and everyone was nicely stuffed. All the meats and veggies sizzled fine on the gas grill. Heirloom carrots, charred Brussels sprouts, etc. The corn was chopped into manageable pieces. I ate so much corn. Noms.