(Note, this post should have gone up back in the 1st week of June. Oops.)

A few weeks ago, while J was in Ashland, the power went out. It was only for an hour, and I happened to have rented a car for the weekend, so I wasn’t stranded. But it got me thinking: I have plenty of candles, and only in the bitterest ice storm would I have trouble keeping warm (good insulation, lots of blankets, and a DOG = plenty of warm). But without power NOTHING in this house works. I suppose the pilot light on the water heater stays on — but it’s connected to the household heating system so I can’t get hot water, or heat when there is no power. My stove won’t work . . . nothing works. I’d have to leave if it lasted longer than a day because I wouldn’t be able to eat much beyond cereal and sandwiches.

So I decided that we need a propane grill (other things too, but that’s a different post) so that even if we have no power, we can eat a hot meal and boil water.

We bought it on our Lowe’s card — 12 mos no interest, thereby costing me an additional $50/mo. Natch.

This weekend, we invited a few friends over for a grillout. The menu:

grilled chicken breast w/ one of three sauces: lemon/garlic, BBQ, honey teriyaki

potato salad

green salad

coleslaw

corn muffins

chocolate brownies

The traditional chips, celery, and carrots were served up as well, and we asked people to bring a drink or dessert (S. brought guacamole, which is just fine by me) so there was a nice selection.