Eat my words

Wednesday was our second to last Family Dinner with Grandpa in the house and when Ted asked what he wanted, he said chicken. In my head I said UGHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOO I hate chicken. Even though I've had amazing chicken cooked by uncle Ted, my first reaction to the word chicken is ALWAYS blech what a waste of time. Chicken shmicken.

Of course, I said nothing aloud because a free meal is a free meal and Ted has never disappointed at family dinner. But internally, I was thinking, 'chicken, really? WTF!?!'. So When I got to the house on Wednesday, I was excited to see what else we were having with dinner. the first smell to hit me was the sweet, tangy aroma that could only be German Potato Salad and sure enough, this great recipe was cooking away on the stovetop.

Morgan and Ted were sitting at the nook and Grandpa and Eddie were out on the deck. I noticed a big tray covered with foil and got the faint smokey scent of something having been on the smoker. It smelled good as my stomach growled in anticipation of dinner. Hitting the gym before hand is good, but makes the waiting tough sometimes! To curb my appetite, Ted made me a cocktail. Always good on an empty stomach. Hooch + mango + lime = delish.

Grandpa and Eddie migrated in from the deck, because while it is warmer now, it's still not WARM at 6pm yet. Behind them came Jessie, Mark and Charlie, and that rounded out our group for the night. As the resident salad tosser, when Ted got out the big yellow bowl and bottle of dressing, I knew we were close to show time. Everyone migrated to the table and I caught Ted slicing up the chicken. As much as I don't like to admit when I've made a quick judgement, that chicken smelled and looked about as good as a chicken can smell and look. Golden, crispy skin over the perfect pink tint of smoked perfection. UGH! Chicken! I think I'm going to like it!

As people settled and plates filled, we settled into some nice conversations. There is lots of bike racing, camping, marathon training and general outdoor love going on for the group right now. And of course, we talked about food. Particularly oh the chicken was absolutely perfectly cooked. Even the white meat was flavorful and moist, for lack of a better word. you know what I dislike more that (most) chicken, the word moist. ANYWAYS, I have to give it up to Grandpa, good call on the chicken. It was the B-O-M-B. We also had the german potato salad, a green salad and baguette. Oh! As if the chicken needed any more flavor, Ted made barbecue sauce, too!

If you've ever had barbecue at a Bratrude house, you know that we are a bit specific when it comes to the all important barbecue sauce. No bottle of pre-made will do with this group. It's homemade or nothing. And we've all come to our own recipe from Grandma Corinne's basic recipe. On Wednesday, Ted added a hint of vanilla. Tasty!

Now, usually at this point there's a little time for clearing dinner and plating dessert, but when Jessie walked in with a beautiful strawberry rhubarb pie, we knew there would be no dilly dallying. Grandpa made sure we got pictures of the dessert before slicing in and you will be drooling as soon as I post those. Topped with a little vanilla ice cream, we were all convinced that a big piece was necessary. So good. So worth the uncomfortable expansion of my stomach.

We've got one more family dinner with Grandpa in the hood and I hear there's rumor of salmon. Now salmon is something that I get VERY excited about. But I have to eat my words because that was the best damn chicken I've ever had and now I know that I'd request it too.