Weekend Report...

Well, I hope the snow bunnies are happy...









In the top picture, you will see my charcoal chimney starter on the left. What you don't see is, it is sitting on top of a 4 inch deep aluminum buffet pan turned upside down.

So I would be safe to say we got 6 inches around here. Some counties got so bad yesterday morning that management shut us down and said go home.

That was mighty white of them but I'm sure that little move will become a trump card in holding some time down the road.

So we're dug in for a few days...

Plenty of beer, barbecue and cheese and crackers. Speaking of barbecue...

I'm always trying something I find in the store. I found a barbecue sold at Publix that is made in East Tennessee but is an Eastern Carolina Style.

This is some dang fine stuff if you ask me. Julie doesn't care for it because of the vinegar twang but I have been eating it a lot here lately. I like it.

The package gives you enough Q for 6 good sized sammies. I top it with coleslaw and go to town. It will never replace my Q but until Mother Nature calms down, it will have to do...

B.D.

Simply Thursday...

It's fixin' to get nasty...

The forecast for tomorrow and this weekend is not good at all.

Rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow. Oh lucky me...

And to top it off...the low for Saturday night...9 degrees. Oh gee, break out the hot toddies and the thermal underwear. I love this...

Not...

B.D.

Simply Tuesday...

Not much going on...

Besides cold weather and my loathing of this crap. By the end of the week it is supposed to rain, sleet and snow, according to NOAA.

We shall see...

As most of you know...I hate this time of year. Julie said it is the change of the seasons and she loves it. Well slap me silly and call me stupid.

I still hate it...

I never have liked cold weather. I'm just not built for it. I try to endure it, but alas, it's not my forte in the scheme of life...

Polar Bear...

I think not...

B.D.

This & That...

Today, is my brother-in-law Dale's B-day.



Dale is the same age as me, a young 52 but sometimes we feel like we're 62.

So I'm sure the grill will be fired up today.



It may wind up being too windy this afternoon as the Wicked Wind of the North and the Blow Your House Down Wind of the South duke it out and Sister Rain throws in her 2 cents tonight.



We are in that region of land that becomes a boxing ring for the elements this time of year. A push forward and retreat back, kind of dance...

Today's high will be 61, but the trade off is the wind and rain.

As the weather progresses into next week the temperature will drop, Sister Rain will have her way, Cousin Windy will get into the fray and an all out 'free for all' will commence. The high next Friday will be in the 30's with a chance of snow.

Now I realize that is a long way off forecast and subject to change, but around here, anything is possible come hell or high water. And right now...

Sister Rain is in a mood.
Old Man Winter is in a snit.
Cousin Wendy is a blowhard gossip.
Mr. Sunshine is on vacation.
Mother Nature is passed out on the couch.
Father Time is kicked back sipping on a cold one.

And we're caught in the middle of this family feud that happens every year around this time.

Anyway...

Happy B-day Dale.

We'll see you this afternoon and I'll bring the umbrella...just in case.

B.D.

Simply Thursday...

Just a quick update...

The grilled tenderloin was awesome for Robyn's B-day. My son and his wife came over Monday for smoked chicken thighs and wings and they turned out awesome as well.

I really like this new WSM smoker. R2D2 really cooks well and it was money well spent.

Bruce wants one, so I'm going to buy him one. He really doesn't have the money to buy one, but he wants to be like his old dad and cook some things.

This makes me proud that he wants to do this because we have not been on the best of terms since I divorced his mother years ago.

I was the bad guy...

But he has since learned why...and now...I'm not the bad guy anymore...I'm the dad once again.

Divorce is never a pretty thing and feelings get hurt. Kids don't understand...

There was her side...my side...and the truth. But I never gave up...

It hurt me for so many years that my son blamed me. Now he understands and our renewed relationship is a good thing. I don't like drama...

I also never liked a broken heart. But I put it behind me and moved on...

My son followed in his own time, and now the future is bright. He asks me about cooking and I said, ask me and I will teach you everything I know...

The world is right once again...

B.D.

Weekend Report...

Get me another bartender! is what General Half-Track ordered when Zero told him what the rocks were for.

Life can be that way sometimes. Here we are into a new year and work has lost its mind. Once again the Gods Kazoo and Kayos are in command. So I agree with the General...get me another bartender.

We did a peeled tenderloin on the charcoal grill (in the rain) last night for the birthday girl and the family. I thought we might have to pull it off and finish it in the oven but Dale grabbed an umbrella to cover the grill and we finished it off.

I could kick myself for not thinking out the outside cooking space any better than I did. To be honest...it never crossed my mind. But when you get wet a few times, it's time to do something.

I'm looking at options right now. This little problem will be solved this year...

My son wanted to cook today, but guess what? Yep...

...it's raining.

B.D.

Happy B-day Robyn...

Robyn turns 8 years old today. Woo-Hoo!!

We asked her what she wanted for her special day.

Her reply: Grilled birthday steak.

Grilled birthday steak...she's just like her Momma.

Happy B-day baby, we all love ya!!

B.D.

Simply Friday...

Get me another bartender...

Life is funny that way. More to come...

B.D.

Wordless Wednesday...

"When life gives you lemons, make grape juice. Then sit back and watch the world try to figure out how you did it."

Simply Tuesday...

Well everything is about back to normal. The dry ice snow is gone and toward the end of the week it will be in the upper 50's. (flip flop weather) Woo-hoo!

I might have to throw some road kill on the grill.

American Idol is back on. (oh my gawd not again)

Julie loves the auditions, I hate them. Either you can sing or you can't. Act like a fool for your 15 seconds of fame, get squashed like a bug and say "everybody said I can sing!"

Guess what...they lied.

Get a clue, buy a vowel and don't quit your day job just yet...

B.D.

Robyn's House...

This is Robyn's house...



Gingerbread House that is...



Yummy...

B.D.

Weekend Report...

I feel better today...

I never ran a fever and I know it was not the flu, so it must have been some little inconspicuous bug that hitched a ride or my immune system was low from stress.

Now, I ain't no Doc, but I do know my body. I'm thinking it's a combination of everything.

My buddy WhiteTrashBBQ told me this in a comment from the last post:

When I was 11, my piano teacher's husband gave me the best cure for the common cold I ever experienced. He made me a 7 and 7. Worked like a charm.

Still does.

I know things like that work. When I was younger and had a cold or the flu, I would drink a gallon of Donald Duck Orange Juice and a pint of Vodka. Ain't nothing Vitamin C and Vodka wouldn't kill or cure.

7&7 is a good cure as well. And you know way back in the day liquor was the cure of choice for everything.

Arthritis-take a shot
Rheumatism-take a shot
Toothache-take a shot
Tummy ache-take a shot
Shootout at high noon-take several shots

Well you get the picture...

So Robert's piano teacher's husband was a wise man.

What is it they say?

Starve a cold, drown a fever
Feed a cold, starve a fever

Slap whoever gave you this crap...

B.D.

This & That...

I know I haven't posted anything all week.

I haven't felt very well all week because of the cold, and now low and behold, I have a head and chest cold.

Great...

Hopefully, this will be short lived as I don't need to be sick right now in this extreme cold that we are having.

Now, it ain't nothing like the Mid-West and up North with wind chill a bone numbing -50 below (that should be against the law) but we have had some wind chills in the low -5's and more ice than snow.

Ice around here in Tennessee because of the hills, back roads, and valleys is like trying to drive on frozen Popsicles. You're going to hit something, somewhere, sometime, somehow, or somebody is going to hit you.

When I drive in conditions like this, I am not in one bit of a hurry...I'll get there when I get there.

When the weather guru calls for 1 to 2 inches of snow, everybody makes a beeline to the store for milk, bread, and gas, acting like uncouth heathens with no upbringing.

Chill out people...It's too damn cold for me to be putting up with your lack of upbringing.

It's when they call for flurries that you make a mad rush to the store. Why?

I've lived here all my life...1 to 2 inches of snow forecast when it's this cold...zip...more like sleet.

Forecast for flurries when it's 32 or 33...knee deep my friend.

Even people in Florida are walking around in wool socks.

Come on Spring...

B.D.

Weekend Report...

Well I had to break down and fix a small batch of chili yesterday.





It wasn't done on the grill or the smoker, but it was still good just the same.

My son called and said he was going to smoke some chicken breast. I said good luck with that because it was too cold for this old hillbilly to be outside. I haven't heard how that turned out yet.

It was his first attempt with a Brinkman water smoker. I'm sure we'll have to make a few modifications to it from what I've heard about them. But at least he's trying to follow in his old dads footsteps.

It may be a good year after all...

B.D.

This & That...

Holy crap Batman...

Yes indeed Batman. It is colder than a female well digger wearing a brass bra in Alaska.

That's cold my friends...

I need to invent Thermonuclear underwear for just this occasion, I'd be a rich hillbilly. I know they got long johns and battery powered socks but that just slows down the cold weather.

But Thermonuclear underwear would be the ticket. And powered by green technology too!

I'm almost afraid to ask...what green technology?

That's easy.

You know they use corn to make ethanol as an additive for gas, so we'll just make our own gas.

Now I am afraid to ask...how are you going to make gas for warming underwear?

That's easy.

Green beans...an unlimited source of green gas routed into a built in micro processing methane combustion converter that is piped into a thermal transfer nuclear fusion reactor that transfuses the green gas into heat for the seat and therefore becomes Thermonuclear combustion resulting in warm undies.

It must be a slow day...

How can you tell?

B.D.

A New Day...

And visions of Sugarplum fairies danced in our heads...hey come on over here sugarplum, I got something you can dance with...hey, who turned on the light? What the...



A new day, a new year. The past died with a roar and the future enters with a whisper.

Come to me my child...

I don't make New Year Resolutions and I don't make promises I can't keep. I do change...in my own way. I make adjustments here and there. And here are the adjustments.

I've decided that work is not going to rule my life this year.

I've decided that I have been out of BBQ competition long enough, it's time. I've decided to sell the pit and get an enclosed trailer. I can build a kitchen in it and carry two vertical smokers and everything I need to compete.

I've decided to be less stressed about things. My decisions use to come natural to me. In the past few years, I have (just like many other folks) had to analyze every little aspect of every decision made.

I've got to get away from work dominating everything in my life. It has me pacing like an animal in a cage. Screw that...

I've decided to slow down and make my decisions with a clear mind. No more noise...

I've decided to take charge and lead. No more following.



It's a new year and a new attitude...

B.D.