Up in Smoke

It occurred to me that I never shared about Frank's latest hobby, smoking meat. He's a natural when it comes to grilling. So, I no doubt he'd jell with smoking meat too. After our last trip to Austin - in November, seems I never mentioned that either - he was eager to test his skills as pitmaster. He and my dad, dusted off the one my brother bought over a year ago that was still sitting in the box. It got the job done, but it was not the right tool for the job. Still, he managed great results with a brisket. You'd never guess it came from Albertson's.



Sometime between his birthday and Christmas he chose to buy his own on Amazon with an offset vertical charcoal smoker. It is this one, but the price has gone up a bit since we purchased it. It was delivered in two days, you gotta love Prime. And his smoking game was immediately upped. He has since toyed with various wood chips, injections and perfected his technique.







He's had success with brisket, meatloaf, ribs, lamb and pork belly. The star, though, is the pork shoulder. More often than not his have been better than what's offered at the best places around Vegas.

Bring the Heat!

I loathe winter. The only thing that's worse is day light savings time. I hate that I get robbed an hour of daylight. So much so that I refuse to change my alarm clock. And, I may have written Nevada legislature urging to forgo it like Arizona (and Hawaii) has done. We haven't opted out yet, therefore I curse the days I commute in darkness in the morning and evening. I have a vitamin D deficiency as it is. I could really benefit from that extra hour of sun.



I have been soaking it up since the time change. Not only has that beautiful ball of light been shining bright, it's also brought warmth. Well, at least, to my neck of the woods. It's been near 90 since Sunday. It's been glorious! I wish it would stay like this forever. Last year, the kids didn't get into the pool until St. Patrick's Day. We beat that this year. Solar panels are wonderful, by the way. We hosted a pool party on Sunday. Friends and the family swam and soaked up the rays.



Frank put his pit master skills to use and smoked a couple pork shoulders for us all to enjoy. It was the perfect way to kick off the first of many sunday fundays.