getting my grill on

You guys – I don’t know if you know this… but we live in a really beautiful city. The mountains are just an hour away, the beach is RIGHT THERE, it’s nice out about 80% of the time… it’s a wonder we don’t spend more of it outdoors. When my grandpa moved out here to live with us, I found that he loved to just sit outside in our backyard enjoying the warmth, the breeze and the sunshine. It reminds me that I really need to get out there and do that more often.

bay-at-fiesta-island

Over Memorial Day weekend we went over to Fiesta Island to do a little grilling and to enjoy a little bit of sunshine. We parked on the calmer bay side where it was a little less crowded and away from the jet skiers. 

jake-and-maya-and-t

Here’s Jake, Maya and T (and my shiny car) right after we had dragged everything out of the car and set up. 

mini-grill-setup

My little setup with our tiny, tiny grill. On the one hand it’s nice because it’s compact and easy to carry around. On another hand this sucker doesn’t have a lid so the fire doesn’t last quite as long.

Things I wish I had remembered to bring included:


– A larger blanket
– A roll of napkins
– A gallon of clean water for washing off various things
– A container to just hold my stuff (tongs, seasonings, etc)
– Beach towels just in case someone goes in the water (cough, cough)
– A larger cooler

grilling-chicken-on-the-beach

Despite not having all of the creature comforts I managed to just sit on a blanket in the sand and grill. This is some marinated chicken we picked up from H Mart. We were going to do Mexican tacos but instead did Asian tacos.

smoky-grilling-short-ribs

And short ribs (also from the BBQ section from H Mart). Hello, smoke. I was happy to be upwind. 

grilling-corn

And we also had grilled white corn! The corn is ALMOST perfect. It could have been a touch sweeter but it was still really yummy. 

maya-on-the-beach

We went to Fiesta Island mainly so Maya could be there off leash. She’s good about just hanging out with us and not wandering. She ran off two times after some other dogs. The first time she only went about half way before she realized the dog was much larger than her and the second time she ran over to another family with her tail wagging. She LOVES people. This is not an understatement in any way. 

grilled-meats-and-corn

Lucky for me I still had this plastic bowl from the bake sale still in my trunk and I used this as my serving platter. It took me awhile to cook everything since my surface was so small, but we weren’t in much of a rush. I also ended up having to add more coals halfway through since the fire started dying on me. Stupid lack of a lid. 

watermelon-smiles

For dessert we had a mini watermelon (also from H Mart). Here are the boys showing off their best watermelon smiles. 

chicken-taco

We didn’t have any toppings except cilantro, and that was actually okay with me. The chicken had plenty of flavor and didn’t need much else to go with it. 

bbq-grilled-corn-on-the-cob

My favorite thing about summer: grilled corn. I can’t wait to make corn salads, put it in potato salad and just grill it all summer long. 

throwing-game  

Jake and T were playing some game that T made up that involved throwing rocks at a piece of wood. And then they started seeing who could throw the farthest into the water from their seats.  As chef, I got to sit on the sideline and just tend to the food.

maya-fiesta-island-selfie

It was a really nice, really perfect day to be out. Must do more grilling (preferably on the beach) this summer!


6 thoughts on “getting my grill on

  1. You’re such a badass chick. I don’t know very many DUDES that even know how to BBQ using charcoals. Where did you get that little bbq? I wanted to buy one over Easter but we couldn’t find one ANYWHERE. Best friend and I used to have a cheapo charcoal Sunshine (?) one that made THE best bbq ever.

    KBBQ tastes SO much better over charcoal. I want that sizzling Galbi.

    How do you bbq raw corn? Usually I have to wrap in foil so that it doesn’t burn.

    We are quite luck to live in beautiful SD aren’t we 🙂

    1. Hi Faye – I think my mom actually got this little mini BBQ as a giveaway from one of the casinos. It’s this little BBQ that is also in an insulated cooler. It’s pretty cute/handy but it needs a lid! Maybe Big Lots would have little ones now that it’s summer? The BBQ tasted really good – I agree it tastes so much better cooked over charcoal! For the corn, I just watched them like a hawk and turned them constantly so they wouldn’t burn. Didn’t take too long to cook them over the charcoals likes that.

  2. Nice Mary! Makes me want to grill some corn, or have Bert grill the corn!!!! I haven’t bought the marinated meat yet from H-Mart (or Zion) but now I want to. I need to enjoy our backyard more often.

    1. Hi CC – I love grilled corn! I like grilling extra, too, so I can use the leftover corn in other recipes. The marinated meats at H Mart are really good – we’ve about tried all of them. The pork belly strips are good, too, though a little on the spicy side. It’s good for when you’re feeling too lazy (or forgot) to marinade something haha.

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