Simply Tuesday...

Got a few things done over the weekend, but now it seems I'm getting a cold or really bad sinus problems because of spring and things blooming.

If it ain't one thing...it's something else...

B.D.

This & That...

I'm going to try and get some things done. Mr. Sunshine is out today, but cousin Windy will be here as well.

From the post below, it seems I made some folks worried, especially Julie. It's not as bad as it sounds. I think for the most part I'm just mentally tired.

And my body has said: Do you not realize you are not a spring chicken anymore?

A kid at heart, but an ageing body will win out 98 percent of the time. Most of you know me as funny and sarcastic and full of life and a young 52.

I just got the wind knocked out of my sails and I'm navigating rough seas right now. It will just take awhile to find a warm breeze and smooth waters again...

I have a four day weekend coming up and I'm looking forward to that. I may fire the pit up and break out the lab coat once again.

Four days away from that hell hole called a job will help. So...

One day at a time my friends...

B.D.

Ah...Friday...

It's been a long week...

I'm feeling better, but at the same time...I'm not. I have not been sleeping well at all for the past four or five weeks. I think I really hurt myself (bone wise) with that fall on the ice. I knocked something loose...

Not sleeping well has really caught up with me. I'm tired mentally...

I'm doing stupid things and making mistakes mentally that I have never done before.

This concerns me outright because my attitude has changed as well. I have a shorter trigger...and I have very little patience for things that bug me now.

I didn't hit my head, but I did hit the ground pretty hard. It may have rattled my brain...

I've been in pain before...and I've been sleep deprived many times.

I can't put my finger on this...but this is different. It doesn't feel right.

I'm tired, no doubt from lack of good sleep. But somethings not right. I just don't know what it is...

B.D.

Wordless Wednesday...

"I suppose it is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts."

Weekend Report...

I'm out of practice...

I did a rookie mistake yesterday, I let my brain tell me the time instead of letting the thermometer tell me the temperature. As most of you know, a brisket will shrink in size when the connective tissue collagen breaks down.

Meaning...the tough stuff in the brisket is melting away and making the meat tender. That's when you should start checking temps. My temp. is hit 185 and then double wrap and rest for an hour or two.

But no...my brain said this and I did not pay attention to that and I over shot my desired temperature on the brisket and beef short ribs by 25 degrees.

That is way over cooked, still eatable, but way over cooked.

When you haven't cooked in awhile, you do stupid things. Things you know better than that to do, but you do them anyway. On my instant read thermometer, when that needle takes off like a rocket, you're fixing to peg 200 easy.

It did and I knew that second I'd screwed up...

After a few choice French words directed at myself and my stupidity for doing this rookie mistake, I was, to say the very least...pissed.

I hold myself to very high standards and I K-N-O-W better than that.

But...when you make a stupid rookie mistake, it makes you angry enough to force you back into the caliber of cooking class you stumbled out of during the winter months.

And brother...did "I" stumble.

B.D.

This & That...

I trimmed and seasoned a 7 lb. brisket and some beef short ribs last night for smoking today.

I'm going to fire up the WSM for this task and just let her chug along all day.

Sides will be homemade pinto beans and mashed taters. Should be some fine eatin' at this house. I hope...

I've done beef ribs on the WSM before, but this will be the first brisket attempt on it. I've cooked briskets on the pit but not on R2D2. It won't take 14 hours on the WSM like it does on the pit, I do know that much...

Should be fine.

So, how am I body wise? Depends on what day it is.

I'm better...but I'm not.

If that makes you even more confused, join the club.

My take on it is I have a hairline crack in a rib that has been fractured twice before over the years and that hurt like hell. I have a sore tailbone and both hips are letting me know that they are there.

My spine and entire rib cage is sore. So in other words, the rib is not making me knot up like it was, but everything else is letting me know my age...

The doctors say you just have to tough it out.

It's really uncomfortable to sleep anywhere, the floor, the bed, the couch, sitting up or trying to lay down. My sleep is not straight through the night, it's broken up and that has made me tired and unfocused. I've also noticed my mind is not right sometimes. That bothers me some...maybe because I'm tired.

Besides that, everything is just lovely...


So, Julie wanted a brisket. Today will be perfect weather for it as Sunday will bring rain and cooler air moving back in.

Just like a grown kid...you no sooner than get them out of the house and enjoy some peace and sunshine and they move right back in and clouds and rain reappear.

So goes the weather...

Ah...Mr. Sunshine just peeked around the corner. Time for me to go do my magic...

B.D.

Wordless Wednesday...

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another."

Happy B-day...

Happy B-day to Peggy Sue!



From all of us here at MacDaddy's Grill we love ya darlin'

This & That...

This weekend is pretty much a wash...

Off and on rain, wind and the occasional distant rumble of thunder. I've got a few things to get done, but for the most part, it's going to be a lazy weekend.

I've got some folks bugging me for BBQ sauce already. One pretty weekend and everybody jumps to conclusions that Winter is over. A friend said, "I got to grill three days in a row last week." And he was genuinely excited about it.

I wouldn't be such a quick shot my good people. Old Man Winter likes to play mind games...

I don't think it's time to polish up the rowboat just yet. But, I will go buy supplies for making my BBQ sauce today and maybe get a head start on this process.

It won't be Winter forever...well maybe at the North Pole but they don't grill out anyway, they just hop a reindeer and head for Florida.

It's true! I've seen 'um...them there funny lookin' sawed off pole people...

JETHRO!! This is a family blog. Sorry folks...

B.D.

Now what got into him? I seen 'um all gussied up in them there fairy suits with their little farmer tans sippin' on them things called Pine clotted...Pina cola...

JETHRO!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday...

"They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world. Someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for."

Simply Tuesday...

Okay...

I'm having good days and some bad days. A fractured rib, is not as bad as a broken rib. But it still hurts just the same. It is a pain I can do without...

This is never good because it tells you one thing...

Hey guess what? You ain't Super Man.

Super Man or not...this has side lined me by greatly hobbling my movement and turned out to be a real pain in the butt. Stupid ice...

But it must be worked through. You never realize how blessed you are until you can't do what you did everyday...

And that's enjoy life with no worries and no pain. When we are young, a boo-boo would heal in no time.

When we are older, a boo-boo becomes our shadow of pain that will not let go and becomes our worst enemy and our constant friend.

The body will heal, if it can, and the pain will go away, with the grace of God, until the next time...

Pain becomes our constant companion, our way of life, our curse, our nightmare, our downfall, our friend until the end.

I'll get better in the months ahead hopefully, but right now, you could shoot me dead and I'd dance at my own funeral and say thank you at the same time.

That's how bad I feel sometimes...

B.D.

Weekend Report...

I'm fixing to grill some leg quarters with sides of pinto beans and fried squash.

Yum...

The weather is fantastic for this little outdoor adventure.

Come to me my child. Big Daddy awaits your kiss of warmer weather.

I've grilled two nights in a row.

Woo-Hoo!!!

B.D.

(Yes I know the picture is of chicken, beans and corn instead of squash and pinto beans. I confess...there are only so many pictures you can take of chicken. Just use your imagination...)

This & That...

Robyn wanted steaks tonight. So I did my magic...

The weather was perfect for this little endeavor, so I went for it. I'm still in pain from my little (or big) fall on the ice. But...life goes on.

I just have to work through it. Grilling might help me get back on my game.

Hey...it couldn't hurt.

Well...maybe it did just a tad...

B.D.

Simply Thursday...

My good friend and buddy WhiteTrashBBQ (who is a good ole Brooklyn boy) posted on his blog, he has 15 inches of snow at his place.

Oh My Gawd...

That much snow around here would shut this state down for awhile. It's always funny around here because any forecast of snow, people make a run for the store.

Milk and bread...

Milk and bread will be wiped out, but there will be plenty of lunch meat and plenty of everything else. Why just milk and bread?

Me...I stock up on cold libations. If I have cold brew...I'm good, let it snow.

Why just milk and bread? Make a run on the store, stock up, fill that shopping cart to the max, grab everything. Milk and bread is like crackers and water...

I don't get it. But...that's what we do...

On Another Note:

I'm feeling better...but I'm still in pain. It will be a good six weeks before I start doing better. I will tell you honestly, this sucks. I'm not sleeping well at all and that in it self will catch up with me before long.

But I'm a tough old bird and I'll do the best I can. One day at a time...

B.D.

Wordless Wednesday...

A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.