Story of a birthday dinner disaster

So, being that Eric was studying all day for an exam he had today in one of his MBA classes, I didn't get to make him a fun dinner for his birthday last night. So I decided to do it tonight. On the menu...Giada's balsamic chicken drumettes, a recipe I've wanted to try for quite sometime.

I made up the marindade last night and used actual chicken drumsticks instead of the wings. All day long at work, all I could think about was making my birthday boy a nice dinner. The result was a complete disaster!

Witness Exhibit A:

This plate of chicken is black on the outside and raw on the inside. The drumsticks spent the last 24 hours marinating in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, honey and brown sugar and in a momentary lapse in sanity, I decided to throw them on the grill instead of in the oven....yeah, hi...the first thing they did when the hit the grill was burn to a crisp.

Witness Exhibit B:

While I was outside fighting with the chicken, the marinade was cooking on the stove so I could use it as a glaze when the chicken was done. It boiled over, burned to my stovetop, and quickly became the consitancy of road tar.

AND, if that wasn't enough...enter a freak summer thunderstorm that completely drenched me from head to toe before I could run for cover. Eric, who had been out at the auto parts store, came home and found me standing in the kitchen, dripping wet, holding a plate of inedible chicken over one helluva mess on the stove...bawling my eyes out because I had ruined dinner.

After nearly an hour of cleanup, we went out had pizza and beer. Chalk it up to lesson learned. Another kitchen mishap for me...I'm sure it won't be the last!