The Dangers That Lurk
We decided to have barbecue. We would do sirloin um, sirloin hamburgers. Lean meat, no fat to speak of. Mindful of our intake of red meat. Of which we partake perhaps once a week. And at this time of year, when it's hot and humid why use the kitchen facilities? What've we got a barbecue for, anyway? Especially one that has a direct gasline. No muss, no fuss. Beloved of our little dogs. Who take second dibs, of course. Well, needless to say we're watching their waistlines too. Ours aren't too bad, but it's got to the point where I'm actually counting out kibble for the toy male Poodle. Sixteen kibbles for him, twice a day. Augmented, of course, with grated cheddar, chopped up (leftover) hamburger, and cooked chicken thigh (left over from making chicken soup).
So barbecue it was, sirloin hamburgers. To which we would add corn on the cob, (gotta share the corn too, since both the she and the he of the Poodles are wild about corn) sliced sweet onion (Vidalia of course), sliced plum tomatoes, and lettuce leaf. And for dessert, fresh blueberries sprinkled liberally over vanilla ice cream. Niiice! Good cool-off mechanism for such a hot day. Not only hot, my friend, but the smog! It's to kill, the highest on Saturday-Sunday of all of Ontario. Most unusual for the Ottawa area. But we have it on good authority that this dreadful, lung-murking smog arrived via nasty winds from south of our border. Industrial pollution from the great hew hes hay.
Have I yet mentioned how favourite a venue the barbecue is for our sniffing, snuffling little dogs, post-use? Ah, the delectable aromas, the frantic search for any wayward bits and pieces fallen to the floor of the deck. Generally a hopelessly vain search, but one our little dogs are compelled by their hopeful natures to pursue regardless. How were we to know that other animals pursue the same agenda?
No, we haven't been visited lately by any bears, although there have been sightings of late of just such creatures within the greater Ottawa area. The barbecue chef extraordinaire lit the gas and flash! Would you believe it! Of course not, nor did he, but he's a fast thinker, and immediately shut off the barbecue. Just in time to realize that a beautiful little mouse, sans whiskers, was running frantically amok in the belly of that aluminum beast.
And in the little movable crittur's frantic efforts to escape the clear and present danger, he made himself quite impossible to corner, lift and remove to safety. The game plan was swiftly altered (Irving is nothing if not nimble-minded), so hands were removed and the poor little thing settled down to his own rescue. Which was to evacuate that metal belly and take himself off to nurse his singed whisker-less face.
Nice little dinner-time story, isn't it? We all enjoyed our sirloinburgers.
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, June 20, 2006
<< Home