Ms. Jan said that she would like to have grilled filet mignons for her Valentines Day supper. As added incentive W/D also had whole beef tenderloins on sale @ $10.99 lb. So grilled filets it is! Our sides will be baked potatoes and fresh Romaine salad topped with vine ripe tomatoes. Ms. Jan will also make her fresh yeast rolls. The rains continued throughout the night and are predicted to be in here for the largest part of the day. The back porch will nonetheless be quite accommodating. Ice cold longnecks and chilled wine will be permitted. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Since yesterday evening was a rain out for doing an overnight pork shoulder smoke we are having leftover chicken tagine for dinner tonight and I will try again for the overnight smoke. Seeing that pulled pork is on tomorrow's menu I made Carolina slaw and am in the process of making baked beans. Trying a new baked beans recipe. Removed the foil to give it a stir after four hours and it was too soupy. Removed the foil to continue the baking. I hope that works. My wife wants to know why I use the oven and not a crock pot for baked beans. I said they wouldn't be baked beans if I didn't use the oven.
I sometimes broil tomato slices with herbs and olive oil. I wish that we could get better tomatoes. Night time temps are not cool enough in the growing season to set fruit on the spectacular heirloom tomatoes that do so well further north.
Just pulled the pork shoulder off my KJ and it is now resting. Put it on at 9 last night so almost 14 hours cooking time. The temperature dropped a little over night (from 240 F to 225 F), but nothing wrong with that. Sure beats waking up at 3 AM to start a cook.
The wet/raw/windy weather that we’ve had the last two weeks continues on it’s steady path here today. Don’t know how the weekend weather here may match up to the Gainesville area by we have 28*—32* lows predicted for Fri/Sat. Tonight Ms. Jan will be cooking her Swiss steak and gravy with vidalia onions, green bell peppers, and sliced mushrooms. Our sides will be fresh pink eye peas w/snaps and fresh pod okra. We also have some leftover steamed yellow squash and onions. There will be a pot of white rice to mix in to the steak and gravy. The raw weather leans towards a bourbon and ginger ale over cracked ice for me with Ms. Jan holding strong for her chilled wine. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Predicting 34 F and 38 F here in Hogtown. But my yard is always a bit warmer. And my dog was paying rapt attention whilst I was pulling the pork this afternoon. I did break down and gave her a taste. Dang, a nine pound pork shoulder produces a lot of meat.
You know, I wasn't that worried about doing an overnight smoke where I would leave my KJ unattended for many hours while I slept. I have learned how it works. I know now how to build the lump charcoal pile (where to put the big pieces and where to put the smaller pieces) to get an even burn and avoid clogging the holes with ash. I should see if there is an online tutorial on that because I didn't get that 411 off the Internet. It was trail and error. Samuel Beckett was a writer but he could have been a scientist: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. Around 5 AM my wife poked me to take a look and it was good. A little cooler than I expected, but still very acceptable. Minor vent adjustments. Then slept until 7:30 and all was still good. The only thing that I didn't like was not having the ability to spray the meat with diluted apple juice every hour or so. But the pork shoulder was so fatty that it really didn't need it.
The cold windy raw weather continues here with a high of 46* and a predicted low of 28* tonight. My good luck is running good right on today as Ms. Jan told me that she was putting together a big pot of her homemade chicken’n’dumplings......we will have leftover pinkeye peas w/snaps and fried cornbread for our sides. Our back porch will have the tower heater running this evening as we will make our opportunity to enjoy our adult refreshments along with some fresh air. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Pulled pork sandwiches again tonight. We have a lot of meat to get through. One thing that is different from last night is no more baked beans. Even though I made a 150% batch is is gone. The new recipe is better for getting the texture of the beans correct, but still a little too sweet. I think that next time I will add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in to give some balance to the sweet.
The cold snap here in Houston broke a friend of our’s pipes. Their living room is now flooded. So I have 3 additional ladies (a grandma, mom, and daughter) joining the festivities this weekend. Now I have to re-think the menu. Surf and turf as well as chicken wings still play I think. Surf and turf will now have to include hot dogs. No big deal. Will have to come up with a couple different marinades for the chicken wings. The crawfish, I don’t know. My wife and I could do the crawfish and then come up with something different for the ladies. Not sure...
Thai take-out tonight. I felt a bit out of sorts after getting Moderna shot #2 yesterday. Feeling much better now than this morning when I had chills and body aches. Kind of like a mild flu. Still not 100%, but getting there.
Hang in there Lurk. I didn’t have any after effects but Ms. Jan had a 24 hr period of what you’ve described and then the next morning she was fine. Hope the best for you.
We are doing leftovers tonight. We will have the Swiss steak and gravy with vidalia onions, sliced mushrooms, and sliced green bell peppers. Our sides will be pinkeye peas w/snaps and pod okra and a pot of white rice. Fried cornbread will also be on the table. The back porch is ready for the evening activities including our ice cold longnecks and chilled wine. Life is good in Gator Nation!
I had 2 rounds of Pfizer and my wife 2 rounds of Moderna with no effects. But 30 years ago we both got so sick after flu shots we haven’t had one since (turns out we’re both allergic to the preservative Thimerisol)
Feeling back to normal today. Just made jerk marinade for 4.5 lbs of chicken thighs. I like to to marinade for three days before grilling. I like to grill them close and direct to get a light char and then high and indirect, but I think my KJ is not big enough to do that. Maybe I will fire up my old Ducane gas grill to do the sear and then transfer to the KJ for the finishing. Or just buy a second KJ. ;^) Tonight I am making chopped salad.
