Grilling Out

This week while doing some grocery shopping, my friend Kendra and I ran across some marshmellows, which of course put the idea in our heads that we NEEDED smores! I have a grill on my patio that I hadn't used, so we decided it would be the perfect time to try it out. I invited a few more friends, and we turned it into a grilling adventure. And an adventure is what it was! I'd heard that charcoal doesn't burn as well here because of the humidity, so Gretchen and I decided to light the grill early, before anyone else even showed up. The only problem was, we didn't really have much to light it with. We stuck some papers under the charcoal, and tried lighting them, but even the paper wouldn't burn. Soon, the others arrived, and Steve helped out by gathering dead plant parts from the random plants on our patio and adding them to the "fire." This succeeded in creating a lot of smoke, but not much coal action. Next, we tried carrying the coals into the kitchen and sticking them in the flames of the gas stove, and then when they started to glow, carrying them back out to the grill to try to catch other coals on fire. This was a little more successful, but still, not nearly enough to cook on. So, finally, Kendra and I headed off to the store to try to find lighter fluid to start the grill. When we got to the store, we did not see any lighter fluid....just some gas for a small gas grill. We asked the lady at the counter, and she was very confused. She said "You want gas" No, we don't want gas, we want lighter fluid to light the fire. "Oh, you want charcoal" Nope, we already have that....we want something to make it burn. "Oh, you want starter?" It's amazing what happens when you have the correct vocabulary! Instead of lighter fluid, she gave us fire starter cylinders and about 12 lessons on how to use them. She demonstrated with items in the store..."put the starter here, here, here, and here...not here" and "Put the coals like this, not this" Then she demonstrated with the actual starter from the box...and on and on. We headed back to my flat, where the house was still very smoky from the earlier attempts, and Steve was able to get the grill started. It ended up being a lot of fun, and great food. By the time we got around to making the smores, the coals were perfect, and it was a success. In the future I know what to ask for, and what words to use!