Barbeque Grilled Asparagus

My Second Birthday- June 10, 1988

Remember when you were little, and your parents would ask you, "What do you want for your birthday this year?"   A Barbie Corvette, an Easy Bake Oven, Beanie Babies, Cupcake Dolls, a mountain bike, Nike Roller Blades... oh, the possibilities!  Well, you know you're growing up when, instead of Gak or a Super Soaker, your mind goes straight to things like a clothes dryer, hardwood floors, or a grill.


My 2nd Birthday, "Big Bird" Themed- June 10, 1988
Thanks to my big bro, Geoff, for dressing up like Big Bird, even though it scared me to death!

For my 2nd birthday, I got baby doll clothes for my doll, Ashlea.... For my 22nd birthday, I bought myself a washing machine for my own clothes (but couldn't afford a dryer yet).  When my Lowe's delivery arrived, a dryer was also delivered with a note that said, "Happy Birthday! Love, Mom and Dad."  Yipee! No line drying for me. 

Last Christmas, instead of Lion King sheets and stuffed animals to update my room, I asked Santa for hardwood floors- to update my house.  Well, Santa, I believe.  Those hardwood floors were just as exciting to me as the silver bell from the Santa's sleigh (and I didn't have to worry about them falling through the hole in my pocket!)

For my 23rd birthday, instead of a Little Tykes Kitchen set, I asked for a grill.  

Geoff, me, and my mom at my parents' house for my 3rd Birthday- June 10, 1989

Of course, being a fan of both a good product and a better bargain, my dad dragged me to Lowe's, Home Depot, Sam's, and Costco to see their grill selections.  This was a far cry from my Toys 'r' Us days.  I remember thinking, 'Well, does it heat up?  Does it cook food?  Good, then it'll do the job.' but not my dad.  Nooo way.  He was asking all kinds of questions about temperature, maintenance, electric v. propane v. charcoal, built-in v. stand-alone... all of the "important" questions.  Hey, as long as it cooked food, I didn't really care. 


My 4th Birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese, June 10, 1990

All of our birthdays are right in a row- June 9th, 10th, and 11th, so we don't just have a birthday in my family, we have birthday week.  Well, birthday week arrived, and I was opening presents to a sunset at the cabana, hoping that I would walk outside to find a grill with a bow on it.  No such luck.  I opened a bag full of grilling utensils.  "Ha, good one, Dad," I said.  "Well, since you didn't find a grill you liked ('I liked them all, I don't care about which one! Just pick one!), I thought you'd like your own set of stuff to use on this grill here at the lakehouse."  Disappointed, I threw on a fake smile and said, "Yeah, no, that's great- thanks a lot!  I appreciate it."

My 4th Birthday at my parents' house- June 10, 1990

Well, pouty me shouldn't have been so quick to disappoint.  Thirty minutes later, I pulled into my driveway and opened the garage door.  The beam of my lights hit something and reflected back, practically blinding me.  After I recovered from my temporary sight loss, I squinted and realized that the shiny thing standing in the way of my parking place was a new grill! I was ecstatic.  I actually thought to myself, "Gosh, I know I already ate dinner and all, but I could probably manage to grill up and eat a little chicken breast or something!"  My fat-kid id was quickly tackled by my rationalizing super-ego, which assured me that I did NOT need to grill at 11:00pm, so I decided to wait.

I have used this grill for the past three years, time and time again.  In fact, many of my friends who have used my Char-Broil Infrared grill have gone on to buy one for their own homes.  That Char-Broil has blessed me with chicken, steaks, burgers, pork chops, veggies, and fruit galore... until last week when the propane ran out.  I had convinced myself that I had somehow landed a-hold of a never-ending propane tank, until our attempt to heat it up one night for steaks was a failure.


At the Jimmy Buffett concert in Frisco, Texas, for our 25th, 63rd, & 68th birthdays in June 2011-
My dad's birthday is June 9th, mine is June 10th, and my  mom's is June 11th!

Last night, Andy, being the always helpful boyfriend and grill-master that he is, took my empty propane tank to Kroger and came home with a new full propane.tank- or so we thought.  I had the Honey Mustard Salmon ready to grill up and the Barbecue Grilled Asparagus ready to barbecue... but no grill.  No barbecue.  No heat.  No luck.  We weren't sure what was going on with the propane tank, but 8:30pm was not the time to try to figure it out.  Luckily, I still have my George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Grilling Machine (seriously, that's the full name of it) from before I got my grill.  I was nervous about cooking fish and veggies on the George Foreman, but they turned out absolutely delicious.  Although it is much more difficult to clean, the George Foreman cooked our meal in under 10 minutes total, and made for one frustrating, but healthy and memorial night!

Barbeque Grilled Asparagus
Kate Strickland
Servings: 4, Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 1





Honey Mustard Salmon and Barbeque Grilled Asparagus


• 1 c water
• 1 lb asparagus, trimmed
• 1/4 c barbecue sauce
• 1 tbsp Creole seasoning

1. Bring water to a boil
2. Place asparagus in water, cover, blanch for 2 minutes
3. Drain asparagus & let cool a bit
4. Sprinkle with seasoning
5. Place asparagus on grill
6. Brush on barbecue sauce
7. Grill for 3 mins

Keep on cookin'!
-Katherine