Dad's Birthday/Father's Day BBQ

My Dad was heading out of town around Father's Day, but since his Birthday is the 2nd of July, we decided we'd roll it all together and hang out today for some BBQ in their backyard. My folks - my Mom in particular - are continually adapting their large yard, and the most recent change was to turn the hot tub into a koi pond, and turn the previous koi pond (which had begun to leak) into a barbeque area. They buried half a metal barrel in the ground and surrounded it with a patio area with a block wall/bench. And they do all this themselves. It's like an HGTV makeover out there now. If anyone wonders where I get my crafty side, wonder no more.



My Dad repurposed a couple old Weber grills to create a two tier system inside the barrel, so the coals sit on a lower grill and the meat on the top. It works great! He cooked up some burgers and brats on it for us - our first BBQ of the year.



Once the meat was cooked, we retired to the deck to eat - where my Mom had set up a full spread of condiments and hooked Dan & I up with Margaritas.



I couldn't pass up the Wasabi Mustard they had - which added a little kick to my burger.



I've always been a mustard lover, but combining it with wasabi is genius. I'm gonna have to make a special trip to Metropolitan Market to pick some up.



A little later, we enjoyed some angel food cake topped with strawberries - a popular favorite this time of year when the strawberries are fresh and juicy and the weather is warming up (finally), making a lighter dessert more appealing.



After we all walked around the yard and split some plants for Dan & I to take home to our yard, my Dad got the BBQ coals started back up and my Mom brought out these:



EXTRA GIANT Marshmallows. Strawberry flavored. Of course I had to try them. I mean, even the Extra Giant Strawberry Marshmallows can't resist eating other Extra Giant Strawberry Marshmallows - just look at the bag if you don't believe me. Apparently, Marshmallows are cannibalistic.



To give you some idea of how big they are, I took this photo of my Extra Giant Strawberry Marshmallow next to Dan's roasting stick with 2 normal marshmallows. These things are enormous!



Perhaps even too enormous. They're also so big that there's really no way to get them roasted throughout. Instead of a crispy outside and melty inside, you end up with a crispy outside, melty magma layer, and an uncooked core - a little like Earth.

I think they'd work well for just roasting and eating - enjoying the outer layer then returning the marshmallow to the fire to cook another layer. Working your way down until it's normal size and will actually fit in your mouth.



Cuz trying to shove one of these guys in a S'more was a little ridiculous - as this photo my Dad snapped of my face after trying to eat one illustrates.