Culinary Adventure, the next chapter

Dear You,

A belated Father's Day gift arrived: six cedar plank steaks from my daughter. I'd never had one, but was still surprised these required no refrigeration. I saw there was a page of directions, but I never read directions, trusting on my intuitive gifts. Anyway, I put one on the grill, smothered in a nice sauce, and tried it.

Good thing I have excellent steak knives! As the package noted, it did taste strongly of cedar -- probably a kind of marinade, I judged -- but I simply wasn't able to finish the thing. And I took my time, including nearly finishing that nice bottle of zinfandel I opened while it was cooking. It's possible I'll try another one next week, probably lengthening the time of soaking in my own marinade and lowering the heat . . .

Anyway, my dentist says what damage I did can be fixed. And I'm hoping that my daughter gives more thought that I'm getting too old to chew tough food, and praying she will send something easier, like tenderloins, for my birthday. (Funny, I always thought they were called "flank steaks," but now that I've actually had one, I can understand why I was wrong.)