Dinner

Check it out here. It is going to be a great week!

Water Smoker

I would be remiss in not writing an entry about the first use of our water smoker this weekend. For the 4th of July, I brought up our Char-Broil Water Smoker to cook up three sides of baby back ribs. I applied a dry rub to the ribs early in the morning, and a little after 1PM I lit the charcoals. The water smoker is quite simple in its operation. You fire up the coals until there is a light grey ash covering them, then put a pot of near boling water over the coals, then over the pot of water on a grill rack you put the piggies. Wait 4-5 hours and dinner is served. I put the ribs on at 1:30PM and waited. After about 2 1/2 hours, I added a little more charcoal to the smoker. Once you get the smoker up to temp, you really do not want to disturb it as any time you open it, you vent off heat and smoke and you add 15 or so minutes to your cooking time. Thus, I only added charcoal once during the cooking process.

At 6PM, I opened the top of the smoker and the ribs were clearly done. The rub, which consisted of brown sugar, pepper, paprika and garlic power, had carmelized and the ribs with a delightful deep brown coating. During the last hour of smoking, I cooked a home made BBQ sauced to apply on the ribs at the table. I am happy to report that my first smoking of the season went extremely well. The meat fell off the bones and the sauce was fantastic. If you like ribs and will be in the area soon, drop me a note and I will be happy to fire up the smoker and have you over for dinner.

Not so fast...

In a recent post, I made mention that I might be getting old as I am excited about the new windows which will soon be installed in our home. Just when I thought I was crawling down that dusty corridor towards death, my spirits improved. I was out shopping for some lamb chops for dinner tonight, and I also picked up a bottle of wine to compliment the meal. I got to the check out lane and patiently waited my turn to pay for the lambies and vino. Well, the clerk looked at me and said, "I will need to see your ID."

Seriously. I got carded.

I smiled, got our my wallet and gave my driver's license to the clerk. She looked at my birth date and said to me, "Wow. You were born the same year as my Mom! I guess that you are old enough to buy the wine."

I must say that to get carded when I am well into my 46th year on this planet made me smile. Life agrees with me.

THANKSGIVING

Deirdre and I are just a few days away from celebrating our twentieth Thanksgiving since we were married in 1987. However, due to the nature of my former job, we were not always able to spend the holiday together. The other day Dee and I sat down and looked back at each Thanksgiving holiday to see where we were and more importantly if we were together. Here are the stats:

19 total Thanksgiving Holidays
9 Thanksgiving Holiday spent together
10 Thanksgiving Holidays spent apart

So, of the 10 holidays spent apart, I was either deployed, had duty aboard ship or was not living anywhere near Deirdre. To put it in other terms, if I were a forward on a hockey team, my plus/minus rating would be minus 1. This is one of the reasons Dee and I are not going anywhere for Thanksgiving. We are spending here in EGR, together and quite possibly alone. Dee's goal is to spend as much time as possible this coming Thursday in her jammies, which I think I will be able to support.

As many of you know, Dee is not much of a cook. The responsibility for our Thanksgiving meal falls squarely on my shoulders, but I think I am up to the task. The past two years, we spent the holiday at our home aboard Naval Station Great Lakes, and we had what could be called "non-traditional" meals. Last year, I made Apple Curried Chicken Cous Cous, and the year before last I made Peppery Flank Steak. Well, this year Dee had dictated the following for our Thanksgiving meal:

Here is what I would like and I am MORE than willing to help. This is the one day of the year that I enjoy cooking.
Turkey Stuffing (home made - NO onions or celery - I will make this)
Cranberry sauce
Green bean casserole ( I will make a small dish)
Decent white wine
Your apple pie for dessert.

Looks like we are going to be a little more traditional this year!