I hosted Game Night II last night… the inaugural one last April was a pizza party. Yesterday’s was a BBQ. Usually, John’s the grillmaster when we BBQ, so I never actually learned what to do– how to start the fire and how to prep/cook the meat. Luckily, earlier last week Pamela schooled me on the secrets of operating a charcoal grill. Haha, even John’s a little shaky on that (he’s used to the instant gratification of a gas grill). I think I have some pyromanical tendencies, because I really get a kick out of playing with fire. Starting the grill is somewhat challenging, but at least now I’m in on the trick: use an oil-soaked cloth to seed the fire. A basketball air pump (my idea) also comes in super handy for precise, targeted fanning. We got the fire so hot early on that we had to close the vents on the bottomside of the grill. That move bit us in the ass later in the evening when Joon had to grill two steaks… but all in all, the food was all good. Peppercorn/blue cheese steaks, Hawaiian chicken, pork/radish/mushroom dumplings… Who me? A former vegetarian? Poor John, he’s missing out on me in my carnivore heyday. Once I return to the States, I do plan to jump back on the veg bandwagon. California offers so many more veg options. Plus, the logic of Peter Singer simply cannot be denied. And I can’t quite cope with the long-term guilt.

But boy did we have a spread yesterday. In addition to the meats, we had salad, french bread, fresh popcorn (Pamela showed me how to do that on the stovetop as well), apples, banana bread, and of course a host of toxic beverages. Good times, but I need to get more boardgames. We’re going through the Taboo cards awfully quickly. How to restock in China? A quick search on Taobao returned Hustler Taboo. I don’t even want to know.