When the seasons officially changed, I really felt that spring was around the corner. I could smell that distinctive spring aroma (95% dog poop, but 5% hope). Things were melting, the ice on the bay opened up, our well thawed (yay!), the skating rink that is our driveway became a little less treacherous. I was so convinced that winter was over, that I ordered some very spring appropriate goodies from Wayfair – only to wake up to a surprise snowfall before I could even pick up my packages. Meanwhile, my neighbors really ramped up the winter activities: skiing, snowmobiling and ATV-ing across the (still very frozen, apparently) bay.
I, on the other hand, have chosen to ignore the lingering snow and ice. I’m not waiting for spring. Just recently, Hubby and I seized the day with the first bonfire of 2018 – we were both so eager to try out our new folding cooking grate from Wayfair. I just happened to find the perfect grate for our fire pit, which was a real stroke of luck because we made our fire pit with custom dimensions. Wayfair really does have everything for outdoor entertaining. Everything!
(While browsing, I also spotted some gorgeous enamelware mugs that I couldn’t resist.)
This folding cooking grate is so awesome because you can cover the entire fire or flip it in half, so you can still poke and manage the flames while cooking. You can place it over any fire pit that’s smaller than 40″.
I learned to cook on an open fire, working at a historical park as a teen, so I am pumped to rekindle my romance with camp style cooking. My skills are rusty but we experimented with one massive steak and some veggies. Everything turned out tasty but the dogs HATED us because we left them inside to gloomily watch us through the windows, while we ate steak in the snow (their dream life).
After so many months of hibernation, I LOVED sitting out here in my beat up coat, sipping hot cocoa and listening to the ice groan and heave. Despite the snow, it was a pretty mild day. We did this on a weeknight so the snowmobilers and ATVers were gone and without them, winter is always so much more peaceful than summer. It was an awesome way to unwind after work!
Get ready for a ton of outdoor cooking adventures…
Thanks to Wayfair for sponsoring this post and encouraging me to get outside! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Love this post! We spent “spring” break nursing colds in Northern Wisconsin – had 6″ of snow as our parting gift. Came back to Illinois to go back to work and were greeted by 30° temps and 2″ of snow this morning. We did grill brats last night for a taste of summer before the snow fell. You gotta do what you gotta do! We will thaw – eventually!
Author
So happy you liked this post! I see so much sunny picnic content from bloggers in the Southern States and that’s so not my life. I’m still wearing boots, my parka, haha. Happy you can relate. Seriously, with warmer seasons so short you just gotta get out there and force spring. And now I’m craving some brats….
Your story looks exactly like what I remember from living in far-far northwest Minnesota! So beautiful, but so piercing… And then the mess when things you’d rather not remember just happen to have their snow overcoats melt… Love the look of the fire pit and especially congratulate you on finding such a good, sturdy grill to fit. We don’t have to shovel rain here in Oregon, but it’s harder to build a fire in the grill with a downpour going on.
Author
Hi Oona! Oh yes, I can see rain making a fire much harder to build than snow, haha. And I can imagine a cozy bonfire would be nice on a cold, rainy day to warm up. Does that rain at least do a good job of washing the dog poop away…?
We do a lot of cooking over our fire pit. Our grill is not nearly as nice, a buddy in the metal fab business built it out of scraps 🙂
Do you eat cheese? Somewhere i found a recipe for a Brie, thin apple slices, nuts and a bit of brandy or whiskey, all wrapped in heavy duty foil to soften over the fire. Scoop up with chunks of crispy bread. It’s a hit at our cabin. I have made it with cheddar in a lodge pan as well.
Author
I LOVE cheese – that sounds amazing!!
I just wish that there is snow in my country for me to do this kind of outing, love it.
Author
I hear that a lot from people who don’t get snow where they live. I guess we always pine for what we can’t have, right? I tend to take the snow for granted, but it really can be quite beautiful and peaceful.