Disappointed

Yesterday I grilled some great chicken breasts with the spices sent from Morocco by our friends Julie & Gerald Reimer. I did my usual trick of soy sauce on a couple of them just to have a baseline. The spiced one's were OK, but not the snap, crash, wizz and bang I expected. I never use direct heat on the grill and they were nice and smokey but the heat seamed to diminish the taste. I am going to try using a good marinade and putting the spices in an olive oil that is applies near the end. The smell was out of this world but it just didn't hit a home run with the taste. I tasted the spices in the package and they were wonderful but, I'm sure that it could have some of the hickory smoke that overpowered the spice but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Now on to bigger and better things. Today is the retirement party at School for Barb. After 27 years in one school she is finally ending her career. She did about 5 years at other schools also but the Tecumseh South school has been her school for a lot of years. She will miss it. We talked about a project to help Para-professionals get certified to teach. We will throw in a nest egg to get it started and explore the options with some of the local universities. Barb has had some wonderful helpers over the years and they should be paid for all the fine work they do. We'll see. I'm sure that we'll find out about writing grants and some lobbying with the Legislature this next year. It is such a good idea that it will work or else!
We had two Mother's day celebrations yesterday. In the afternoon I brought my Mom over and had a nice visit and served her brunch. Yesterday evening we had dinner for Dave and his wife. Nice tine was had by all. I steamed some corn, green beans and Vidalia Onions and man were they good. The best was the onions. I don't think there is any way to beat a good onion. These were sweet, tender and just darned good. Barb asked me to forgo the butter this time and even without the butter everything tasted good. I am sure that I could steam newspaper with the with butter and spices and make a great meal. For the things to have a clear and good taste without the yellow fat from the gods it is a true testament to the good food.
I hope the weather is fine for you there. It will be almost 90 today but nearer to 70 for the rest of the week. The grass has grown an inch in two days. I do need to do a little work on the mower to get it cutting at the peak. Oh well, sitting here won't fix that. Have a great week. MUD